Peter Wept.

Mark 14:53-72

Can you imagine such a strong, vital and faithful servant of Jesus weeping? When I see that rugged fisherman, I don’t think of Peter as a person who weeps…cries buckets of tears maybe, but I don’t picture him as weeping. It just doesn’t sound quite right, does it?

We know that Jesus wept. However, the circumstances were quite different. Jesus wept because his friend Lazarus had died, and Mary and Mary were in distress. He wept because he was sad.

Peter is a different story. In Mark 14: 29-31 “Peter declared [to Jesus], ‘Even if all fall away, I will not.’ ‘I tell you the truth’, Jesus answered, ‘today…yes, tonight…before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.’

But Peter insisted emphatically, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’ And all the others said the same.”

I feel certain that many of us have said that we would not disown Jesus. But I think we do so all the time. And I think perhaps we deny him by omission as much as by commission. We have ample opportunity in our daily lives to stand by/with/beside/for Jesus in our relationships with friends, acquaintances, and strangers as well.

But do we take advantage of those opportunities? I don’t think so. How often do you hear people standing up for Christ? If we are not standing up for him, we are denying Him.

I know I have done that very thing…and I am not at all proud of it. I didn’t realize how often I denied Jesus until recently. But I have backed away from discussions of our Lord. I have neglected to praise him. I have kept my mouth shut about his glory and the glory of God. In doing so I deny him. If we are not for Jesus, we are denying him. There is no gray area.

I understand why Peter wept after realizing that he had denied Jesus three times. He said he would follow Jesus anywhere, and many of us say the same. We generally are not in physical danger as Peter was when he denied Christ. But he understood that Jesus not only predicted but knew of his denial, and Peter wept. If we would have been in Peter’s shoes at the time, we undoubtedly would have wept too. It was upon Peter that Jesus was building the church.

Today Jesus is building the church upon us. We either accept that challenge of building the body of Christ, of fulfilling the Great Commission…or we do nothing and in doing so, we deny Christ.

Carol

Bible Breath: I will never / Disown You