What does denying Jesus look like? How does it sound?
We who are striving to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Ghost are aware there is a time coming upon the earth (that has already begun in many places) when believers will have to choose to deny the Lord or be killed. We know a man of sin is to be in power who will require a mark to be taken by all living upon the earth in order to buy or sell, but to take it will be to damn one’s soul to hell.
We are fully assured that we will stand for Jesus to the end, if we are doing our best to obey and serve Him now. I want to be ready for what is coming on the earth and be serving God with all my heart in this hour, to be ready for that hour.
The idea of denying Jesus is on my mind this week since reading the gospels’ accounts of Jesus’ arrest and Peter’s responses. Jesus had just told the disciples they needed swords (Luke 22:36). They told him they had two, and Jesus said, “It is enough.” Not surprisingly, one of them belonged to the bold and sometimes brash Apostle Peter.
Peter was no doubt sure of his course of action as he faced a multitude from the high priests and Pharisees carrying swords, torches, and lanterns. He drew his own sword and made a stand, though greatly outnumbered. Though Jesus rebuked Peter for this response and allowed himself to taken into custody, we see that Peter’s desire to fight for his Lord was strong.
No doubt confused and uncertain where this would lead, Peter followed the crowd from afar. John records another disciple being there, but all the rest had all fled. I cannot claim to understand what Peter was thinking; we only know what he said and what he did with what was going on around him.
Think on Peter a moment. Here is a man who has been told he would deny his Master. He had vehemently insisted that this would not happen, and then had demonstrated his readiness to fight when the first wave of danger hit. As he stood by the fire in the hall where Jesus was held, his thoughts had to be on what the Lord had told him: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat…” Luke 22:31. Jesus had warned them all that they would be offended, and when Peter protested Jesus said, “…this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice,” Mark 14:30.
Peter, I believe, would have been on guard about Jesus’ warning. Knowing a pit is ahead should, in theory, enable you to avoid falling in, right? What if Peter intended to watch for an opportunity to grab Jesus and get out of there when they let down their guard? We know he was watching what he could of the proceedings, and I imagine he was playing out in his mind the scenes that might occur. If Peter and I have anything in common, he would have been the hero in every one.
Would this be a possible reason for his brushing off questions from the crowd watching Jesus as he was? The ones questioning him were not officials, just servants or other members of the public as far as we are told. If Peter intended to make a stand for Jesus, even one where he could lose his own life, surely he pictured it being with the high priest or some other official demanding to know his allegiance, don’t you agree? These minions standing around the fire with him were not who he had come to stand against.
Could we pretend for the sake of creating a picture of his mental processes that he was trying to keep his cover intact so that he was not escorted out of the hall, or else arrested and kept from any role where could have helped?
Make no mistake, I make no excuses. I am only wondering whether Peter recognized too late that these small occurrences were what mattered so much to Jesus. Peter had in fact denied Jesus three times before he realized the real test of his allegiance had already come.
Perhaps in his bitter weeping, he remembered some of the words of Jesus:
“He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much,” Luke 16:10.
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heave,” Matthew 7:1.
“Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are: depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity,” Luke 13:27
The spirit of the words of the Apostle Paul would pen later could been in his spirit as well:
“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him…,” Titus 1:16.
Peter knew in that moment that nothing of what he had said for Jesus could redeem his failure to act on His behalf in what may have seemed mundane at the moment.
Peter had intended to stand, and had even made a stand. Perhaps he failed because he was unable to recognize that this scenario mattered. He was ready, he felt, for the big moment when he would show his fierce devotion, but he tragically overlooked the little things that mattered to Jesus right at that moment.
Jesus turned and looked Peter in the face as the sound of a cock crowing rang out in his ears.
Are there things in the Word of God you are overlooking while holding on to the image of walking boldly to the executioner to take your stand for Jesus? Are you being faithful with what is put in your hands: time, money, or the intercessory Spirit Jesus longs for you to use?
Worse, yet, have you undersold the idea of whether obedience to the commandments of Jesus is even essential to see Him in peace at His return? I submit to you that unless you are committed to being diligent in obedience, you will never make it through the the things that are coming on the earth, not the least of which is the prominent spirits of lethargy and apathy.
Obedience matters.
Details matter.
Holiness matters.
Will you take a closer look at how you have viewed your obedience in the light of how Jesus views it? Have you stepped over the original message of salvation in favor of a more modernized version that doesn’t make as many waves? Are you sure your obedience qualifies you to hear, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant…” when Jesus returns?
Check out these other ideas on standing for Jesus or denying Him:
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