Matthew 26:75 Suddenly, Jesus' words flashed through Peter's mind: "Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me." And he went away weeping bitterly. The reading the last few days has been so difficult. I don't know, if it is because we know what is coming or the fact that the disciples walked with Jesus and still messed up. The pain that Peter must have felt knowing that he did exactly what Jesus told him he would do and the realization of how badly he failed and disappointed. The word "deny" in the original text was aparnhsh, which means to deny, to affirm that one has no acquaintance with someone. How could this happen to the man that walked on water? The man that watched miracle after miracle? Imagine the pain Peter felt the moment the words left his mouth! The word for weeping was "klaio" which means to weep in grief, weep for to mourn. Peter was in pain like the death of a loved one. He knew how badly he messed up and he was hurting so bad. How often do we deny Jesus? Oh, maybe not in the exact way like Peter did, but what about the time that you feel the Spirit tell you no and you proceed anyway? What about the time that you turn your head to a wrong rather than speak the truth? Do I walk away feeling klaio? Do I mourn like I've lost a loved one? The absolute truth is no, I don't….I pray that in the future I will be diligent to the wrong that I committed… by remembering the other scripture from Matthew about taking the plank out of my own eye??? Loving Jesus, Debbie
Monday, November 2, 2009
Are we all in denial?
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Debbie, we talked about how emotional the reading has been in the last few days for us. It is hard to hear or imagine all that Jesus endured. We have heard or read this before, but this time the journey seems different.
Poor Peter, the disciples all deserted and fled Jesus but Peter did follow behind to see what was going to happen. He must have been so afraid and then he denies knowing Jesus. And before I judge Peter, I will be thinking on the question that you asked us, Debbie. "How often do I deny Jesus?" Just how often?
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