daily java

Daily Java:

On the way, Jesus told them, “All of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say, ‘God will strike[a] the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.” Peter said to him, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” “No!” Peter declared emphatically. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the others vowed the same. (Mark 14:27-31)

All of us have in our minds how we would act if we were tested for our faith. We would like to see ourselves as strong and powerful for God, standing resolute in the face of persecution, refusing to bend in our faith towards our God.

We see ourselves like Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego in the book of Daniel. When told they would die if they did not recant their faith in God, they said: “our God will deliver us, and even if he doesn’t, we will still not deny him.”

Strong words from a strong faith. And we would like to be like that. Standing strong, refusing to recant.

But the problem is, we do not know what we will do until after we have done it. We just don’t know what our response will be until after we have made it.

I would like to think that I would be strong for God, but I don’t know what I will do if or when the situation would arise.

I was in seventh grade, in Mr. Tisdale’s science class. He started to talk about evolution, but before he did he asked the class, “Does anyone in here not believe in evolution?” Little Johnny Cliver, the good Church of Christ boy, raised his hand automatically.

As I looked around at the children who had their hands raised, too, it dawned on me that there were no children but me with their hands raised. I was the only one.

Mr Tisdale said, “Okay, Johnny, tell us why you do not believe in evolution.” I lowered my hand and said “Never mind.” He pressed me and I continued to say never mind. Finally, he left me alone and continued his lecture.

The man was a fool. Anyone who would badger a seventh grader from a position of authority in a classroom full of neutral children is a bully and a fool and should have been disciplined. But nonetheless, I recanted.

I have never forgotten that day nor how it felt to find myself the sole apologist for the Christian faith. And I have never forgotten how it felt to lower my hand and refuse to say anything.

Peter, in this passage, knew what he would do if Jesus was attacked. He would defend him with his life. And he did. When they came against Jesus, just a short time later, he pulled a sword and made the first blow, cutting off the ear of the High Priest’s servant.

This servant, more than likely an officious and pompous little bureaucrat full of his own importance, had probably grabbed Jesus and shoved Peter aside. Peter was ready to fight.

Instead, though, Jesus picked up the ear, put it back on the guy and turned to Peter and said, Stop it! Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword!

It took the wind totally out of Peter’s sails. He dropped his sword and ran.

He was ready to die for Jesus. But he didn’t know how to let Jesus be captured without a fight. He didn’t know how to live for Jesus.

There is the problem. In many ways, it would be a lot easier to die for Jesus than to live for him. I read a blog by a woman for a while who made the comment in her bio section, “she could probably be a martyr as long as it didn’t take too long.” That was Peter.

Jesus told Pilate, the Roman governor, at his trial, that his kingdom was not of this world. if it were, he said, then his servants would fight. But the apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5:  

We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

Capturing rebellious thoughts and teaching them to obey Christ is what he wants. Once Peter figured this out, he became great in the Kingdom.

But for a while, his learning time was horrible. And not only was it bad for him, everybody else knew he had denied Jesus three times. After all, it got written up in the Bible for people to read for 2000 years.

However, he became a great man of God. In the book of Acts we see a man who is now resolute in living for Jesus, even to the point of being beaten for him. As far as we know, he never denied him again.

I have never forgotten that moment in Junior High. I hope that I have become a better man in Jesus because of it. And I hope that I will stand for him strongly if the time comes.