Denying Jesus
Scripture Passage: John 18:12-18 (NASB)
12 So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him, 13 and led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14 Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people.
15 Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, 16 but Peter was standing at the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter in. 17 Then the slave-girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves; and Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself.
SUMMARY
When Jesus was arrested, He was brought to the high priest Annas. Two of His disciples followed Him (Peter and another disciple). Peter stood outside the door when Jesus entered the court, and he spoke with the doorkeeper. The doorkeeper asked him, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” Peter replied, “I am not.” Peter then warmed himself up with the servants and officials around a fire. Even though Peter told Jesus he would be faithful to Him, he denied Him because he was fearful.
MEDITATION & REFLECTION
When Peter pretended he did not know Jesus, it made me think about the times when I could have spoken up to my coworkers as they were criticizing Christianity. I could have easily spoken up but I was scared that the conversations would transition into arguments. If I could go back in time, I would speak up in a loving way, telling them more about the Gospel. It wasn’t even a life or death situation for me, but I was still scared to speak up. Imagine if I was in a life or death situation, I would probably have been ten times more terrified.
I could not imagine what Peter was going through in that moment and how terrified he must have been. I would have probably said the same thing as him if I was terrified for my life. It makes me think about how gracious God is even though I have disappointed God many, many times.
This also just shows how easily man can change their minds and how easily my thoughts can change. Peter repeatedly told Jesus he would be faithful to Jesus, but he still denied Jesus in this situation. At times, I can be very grateful for God but suddenly have doubts in my mind. I have to remember how God has been so faithful to me in the past and how He has worked in my life. Having those thoughts of God’s faithfulness helps keep me grounded in my faith.
APPLICATION
This encourages me to learn more about God so that I am able to defend my faith. My roommate sometimes asks a lot of challenging questions and there are times I honestly do not know how to answer. My answer sometimes ends with, “We just do not know, only God knows.” I do not want to keep answering his questions that way but be more thoughtful with my answers. In order to do this, I would need to spend more time in Scripture and really understand what I am reading.
I plan to read more Scripture outside of doing my QT. For example, I would like to start a Bible study plan and discuss what I read with my mentor. He texts me frequently to share his reflections on the Scripture passage he read that day. It has really helped to strengthen my faith, but I would like to return the favor and send him my reflections on what I have read that day.
PRAYER
I pray that I am given more courage to share the Gospel when given the opportunity, especially to my coworkers who are not believers. Also, I pray that my parents’ hearts can be softened. My parents are nonbelievers and have watched Sunday service four times in a row now and I really think that this is a miracle. I pray that the messages from this Sunday service will truly speak to their hearts and make them more curious about God.
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