April 29th
The
Lord predicts Peter’s denial
31: Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus
said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32: If God
be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall
straightway glorify him. 33: Little children, yet a little while I am with you.
Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so
now I say to you. 34: A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one
another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35: By this shall
all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. 36:
Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him,
Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me
afterwards. 37: Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will
lay down my life for thy sake. 38: Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy
life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow,
till thou hast denied me thrice.
Only when Judas left did Jesus reveal certain
truths. First he said NOW is the Son of man glorified. God was going to reveal
himself to mankind in a manner that mankind has never known before. Here is
love vast as an ocean. Christ was going to be revealed to the world in a way
that is unsurpassed. And God was going to be revealed in it too. The Second
thing he said was that he was going away for a little while and you will seek
me but you will no find me. Then the Third thing, he said, l want to give you a
new commandment, that you love one another; as I have loved you. This goes way
beyond the commandments of the Law. They are to love one another in the same
way that Christ loves them. How was this going to be possible? The love of God
was going to be shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit. This was going
to be the sign of who is a disciple – if they have love one to another. The
Disciples did not understand what all these things meant but later they would
know the Holy Spirit would remind them and open their eyes. Then Peter replied
to the second thing Christ had said, he said where are you going? I will follow
you and lay down my life for you. Peter had good intensions yet he didn’t have
the courage and the empowering of the Spirit of God to back it up. Jesus
replied, Peter, will you? I am telling you the absolute truth before the cock
crows you will deny me three times. How heart breaking.
Steve
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