24/05/11

Denying Jesus

Mark 14:66-72
66 And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest:
67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.
68 But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.
69 And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them.
70 And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.
71 But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.
72 And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.


We all know Simon who was called Peter loved Jesus very much and at times was the over enthusiastic about Jesus yet we find he denied Jesus three times as foretold.

Today as I was reading this again I noticed the Lord giving us a message for today not about we denying Jesus but also how we go about denying Him.

The first person whom Peter denied Jesus was a maid of the High Priest, someone connected to the Church (at that time). After that he denied Jesus to the people and later his nature became aggressive and abusive when he denied Jesus to the people again.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ the first time we deny Jesus is always in the Church and then we carry on this denial to the people. Once we have denied Jesus to the people then we overcome the guilt in us and the nature of Adam starts to overtake us then we behave unlike children of God.

It is when we come together in Christ as one Body the Lord speaks to us. We as one body need to have very close bonds with those from this body, like we keep with our own family members. A person who says he or she loves their family members more than those from the Church is not a true Christian. No doubt our responsibility towards the family members would be more but the love need to be the same towards all Christians.

For example, when we start to deny showing love to people from this extended family we soon would be having problems showing love to the other people of this world. And when we get used to not showing love to the people of this world then another nature inside up overtakes us and we start to hate and be violent towards people.

Let each one of us ask ourselves how many times have we denied Jesus when we denied helping another believer. Because we do this we do not feel guilt for the times we denied help to the people of this world. Let us not wait for the time when we are totally immune to our guilt and we start to behave unchristian.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, we thank You for Jesus Christ Who has been an perfect example for us when He was man on earth. Lord Jesus, You showed us how to love and from where to start. Lord, teach us to firstly love those who are believers the way we need to love them and how to carry this love unto others who do not know You. Help us to be an example like You and let they world know the greatest part of God for creation is His love for us. We are not called to die on the crucifix but we are all called to die to our carnal self - our flesh. Harden not our hearts that we overcome our guilt and be dead unto it...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scripturesr ]
1 Corinthians 8:3
3 But if any man love God, the same is known of him.

Galatians 5:13-15
13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others. (All rights are with God)