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.
- What sort of person was Peter?
- What does the New Commandment mean to you?
- Would you follow Christ to the cross?
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