journey onWord with us

When was the last time an event or circumstance triggered emotions and passions which were nearly overwhelming? We can all remember one such event that took us by storm, and definitely caused an eruption of emotion and passion … 9/11!  We all remember where we were and the horror of watching the World Trade Center collapse. Without a doubt, Christ-followers around the world were praying and mourning. The thought of those days will never leave us, and I’m not sure if any of us have ever had such a sense of nationalistic fervor.  Those days surrounding September 11, 2001 came to mind as I’ve been reading the story of the man Nehemiah, as captured in the Old Testament.  Nehemiah was confronted with the sad state of those who had survived the Babylon exile.  The walls of Jerusalem had been reduced to rubble and the city gates had been consumed by fire … the sight and thought of it overwhelmed him. Look at his response:

When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted and prayed to the God of heaven.
Nehemiah 1:4

Nehemiah mourned, fasted and prayed to the God of heaven. We all were emotionally struck by 9/11, but consider the depth of Nehemiah’s response. Along with his mourning, Nehemiah fasted and prayed. My purposes in mentioning 9/11 are not to draw attention to nationalistic pride (although it is admirable), nor to revisit the horror of that day.  Rather, I believe it provides us some measure of context in which to better relate to the man Nehemiah and his unique story. He has always been a favorite character of mine in Scripture because of his passionate response to a devastating situation, and the amazing story of his leadership in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days. But there is far more to this man than his leadership or passion. The book of Nehemiah is saturated with prayer.

Careful reading of the book of Nehemiah should cause us to see how this man consistently went to the Father in prayer. I have heard it said that this book could be used as a manual on leadership. After spending time reading this week and last, I certainly couldn’t argue with that.  However, I’d also be quick to suggest it’s an equally excellent reference for great principles on praying. There are 12 references to Nehemiah praying in the 13 chapters that make up the book. Nehemiah didn’t just have an emotional response to Jerusalem’s plight and then go on with his life. He fasted and prayed for days, and was then led by God to do the seemingly impossible.

There’s no question that Nehemiah was a man of great faith, and possessed great confidence in God. Prayer was a part of his life, and I believe an integral part of his success in the monumental accomplishment of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. But what about us, and what about now? Our lives are not dominated (although there is much to pray about) by massive nationalistic issues like the one that Nehemiah faced, but we are embroiled in everyday issues which can become overwhelming and very emotional. How do we process or respond to those issues? How is our faith worked out in family, personal and work struggles that we face daily? How do we pray, and do we even consider fasting?

To be perfectly honest, I was personally struck by the words fasted and prayed when I read Nehemiah chapter one. Although the issues that I face don’t rise to the level of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, they are very important to me. I certainly pray about them, but are they worth fasting about?  I know the answer for me! What about you?! There is not a question in my mind that when we genuinely pray and fast, God moves. The question is, are we willing to really seek God this way in the big issues of our lives?

Nehemiah was burdened, and he did something about it. The results were astounding for his people. If we would be just as focused in fasting, praying and leading those around us, what would happen?

Truth be told, most of us want to live tidy, comfortable lives. We are willing to give to special causes, and to even be involved in those causes to a certain extent, but there are often limits to how much we want to be involved. You may even find yourself in a tug of war between opportunities to serve and minister, and your own personal desires.  If you are a Christ-follower, make no mistake, you have been called to serve.  Because of your willingness to read devotional articles, I am taking for granted your willingness to step beyond your own personal comfort and genuinely seek to impact others. Could I be so bold as to ask, “Are you sensitive to the leading of the Father in ministering to others?”

He wasn’t a priest or a prophet, but a lay person like most of us.  He was exiled from his homeland and, quite frankly, had made a good life for himself.  Nehemiah, a Jewish exile, had every human reason to simply enjoy the high position as a cupbearer to the king. After all, he was more than 700 hundred miles from the city of Jerusalem, still living in Babylon. Couldn’t he just have affected lives for good right where he was living? Wouldn’t it have been okay for him to have kept blinders on and not ask questions about what was going on in Jerusalem? Sometimes we think our lives will be easier if we just don’t ask questions, because the questions tend to create a battle between personal comfort and God-given opportunities.  Not Nehemiah!  

Nehemiah’s brother Hanani had returned to Jerusalem when the exiled captives came back to Babylon with some other men.  Nehemiah asked some questions about the Jews who had escaped the exile and about Jerusalem.  He got his answer in Nehemiah 1:3-4:

And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

The answer to Nehemiah’s inquiry was not “convenient.”   People were suffering, and the wall of Jerusalem was in rubble.  The city gates had been destroyed by fire.  This could have been one of those times of great regret over having asked the question.  Nehemiah, however, was moved deeply.  He wept, mourned and began fasting and praying.  God prompted him to do something about the plight of Jerusalem, and he obeyed.  We read the story and see the epic work that Nehemiah led, but I wonder how much emotional pressure he endured in staying the course, working for the king of Persia. He, no doubt, knew the road he was taking (back to Jerusalem) would be one of less comfort. Yet he chose it … and did it!

The book of Nehemiah could qualify as a leadership manual — Nehemiah led the people well. It could also be a manual for faithfulness in prayer and great confidence in God. The book tells the great story of the walls of Jerusalem being rebuilt against opposition in 52 days. Miraculous!  When he was faced with the sad story of his homeland, Nehemiah chose to seek God, pray, fast and take action. The results were nothing short of astounding.

My subject, as I began writing this post about Nehemiah, was prayer (stay tuned later this week). By the end of the first paragraph, I felt the Spirit leading in a different direction.  All Christ-followers are confronted with the emotional conflict between comfort and obedience to the Father’s leading.  If you are in the midst of that conflict today, choose to follow His call … whether it’s a gentle nudge regarding an everyday decision or the heavy burden of a career change, relocation, etc…  If He calls you, He will guide you!

How incredible would it have been to be 1st person in this scene?  Elijah is on the run; he is running for his life.  He sweeps away to the desert and finds shade under a broom tree (yes, I just said that).  Elijah tells God, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” (1 Kings 19:4b)  He falls asleep and is visited by an angel two different times.  The angel’s instructions both times is “Arise and eat.”  Elijah obeys and is given rest and nourishment enough to sustain him for forty days and nights on a forward journey to Mount Horeb.  This is miraculous enough a tale, but there’s more…

Elijah finds refuge in a cave on the side of the mountain.  He is out of sight and protected there.  Out of sight, that is, to all but God.  While in the cave, the voice of God speaks to Elijah.  God asks Elijah why he’s there.  It’s always interesting to me when God asks a question like that.  It’s obviously not for His own information, but rather for what the question and the answer works out or reveals in the heart and mind of the one being asked.

God answers Elijah’s answer with instructions to go out from the mouth of the cave, because He was about to pass by.  How incredible it would have been to have looked out the mouth of that cave the day God revealed Himself to Elijah.

And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.
1 Kings 19:11-12 (ESV)

Can you even imagine experiencing the force of the wind that “tore the mountains” and broke rocks into pieces, to feel the earth shake in a manner befitting of God’s presence, to feel the intense heat of that fire?!  And then the low whisper … what must that have “felt” like?  When God is in something, I cannot help but believe that more than one sense was engaged.

And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
1 Kings 19:13 (ESV)

Elijah did not respond to the epic forces of wind, earth and fire, but the moment he heard the low whisper, He obeyed God’s instruction.  We needed to be told that God was not in those epic forces, but Elijah didn’t.  He knew the presence of his God.

This story is not unfamiliar.  I would guess you’ve read or heard it taught many times — God as a still, small voice.  I wonder if you or I would have responded as Elijah did.  Do we know the presence of our God?

I love how God asks Elijah the same question as he stands outside the mouth of the cave, and how Elijah does not hesitate to respond as he did the first time.  This was God knowing His child, and the child knowing his Father.  What an amazing truth God revealed to us all that day.  He is the low whisper, the still, small voice.  I have experienced God this way.  I have lived Elijah’s story (although not with the same detail).  I have felt and heard the still, small voice of God.  I hope that you have, too.  And if you haven’t, I pray that you seek Him and begin to know Him – know Him in a way that allows you to hear Him in the sound of a low whisper.

History has recorded the stories of countless individuals who had it all, then lost their way. We are left to wonder what causes a person to make decisions that violate the very principles which contributed to their success. There is, perhaps, no greater example of this than King Solomon. Everyone knows of his wisdom and favor from God, but for all his epic wisdom and wealth, his journey was wrought with disobedience. Viewing the whole of his life would cause one to ask, “How could someone who had it all fall so far?!” None of us will ever be as wise or as rich as Solomon, but his descent from God’s favor instructs us all.

I Kings 4:29
God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.

I Kings 6:11-13
The word of the Lord came to Solomon: “As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, carry out my regulations and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.”

I Kings 10:23-24
King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.

I Kings 11:1a
King Solomon, however …

The words “King Solomon, however” begin a very sad chapter in the Bible. This man of greatness violated the design of God and took multiple wives and concubines (700 total), and he took them from heathen nations, in direct rebellion to the command of God to the nation of Israel… “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” (I Kings 11:2b). Chapter 11 continues on to tell of God’s anger with Solomon, and the eventual division of his kingdom. Our righteous God will always deal with us according to our obedience.

Solomon’s wealth and wisdom were unsurpassed, but unfortunately, his temptations and sins were on an equally epic scale.  Though our’s may not be in similar areas, of the same scale, or quite as public as Solomon’s, we are confronted with parallel choices every day.  What, then, can we learn from this learned man?

I believe we can learn the lesson of Genesis and the garden …  that however blessed we are of God, we are not God.  Also, although we have the Source of divine wisdom at our disposal, we do not possess it.  We do well if we pray to God for His strength in not repeating Solomon’s failures, choosing rather to follow the incredible counsel included in the words of Proverbs 4:23.  Words that God authored, but allowed to come forth from Solomon’s own lips:

Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Finally, Solomon’s choices were not made or felt without consequences … neither are ours.  The choices you and I make will directly affect others, whether they are wise or unwise.  If we are not careful, we will view the wisest and wealthiest with a bit of envy. Choose instead the counsel of the one true Wisest and Wealthiest.  Seek Him, base your choices on His Word, then rest with His results.  It is a daily choice … above all else, guard your heart today!

Think about what your response would have been. God comes to Solomon in a dream with this offer:

That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”
I Kings 3:5

In response, Solomon asked for an understanding heart so that he could govern God’s people well and know the difference between right and wrong. Of all the things he could have asked for, he chose an understanding heart (The Message calls it a God listening heart). If God gave you and me that offer, what would we have requested? Wealth? Beauty? Fame? Because of Solomon’s response, God chose to give him a wise and understanding heart. The Wisdom of Solomon is legendary, and wouldn’t it be nice if our own legacy would be wisdom. Well, it can be!  Proverbs 4:7 gives us a great picture of God’s view of wisdom.

Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment. (NLT)

If it’s such a big deal, we should all be seeking it! But what does a man or woman of wisdom look like anyway? When I think of a wise person, my mind goes to the person that doesn’t speak the most or the loudest, but when they speak, I want to hear every word.  Their thoughts are typically reasoned and balanced. They have a handle on the subject matter being discussed, and an understanding of how to apply their knowledge.  A right and proper definition of wisdom to me, is the mind of God revealed. A person can possess abundant worldly wisdom and skill in certain areas, but the wisdom that transcends those characteristics is wisdom that looks at life from God’s perspective. None other than Billy Graham once stated, “Knowledge is horizontal, but wisdom is vertical – it comes down from above.”

I don’t believe for a moment that any one of us will approach the greatness of Solomon’s wisdom, but our capacity to tap God’s unlimited resources is far above what most people ever seek or experience. I am convinced that men and women who genuinely seek wisdom will find it. All Christ-followers should embrace and live the wisdom words from Proverbs 8:17…

I love all who love me. Those who search will surely find me.

Solomon showed great wisdom when two mothers came to him, and he was confronted with the question of who was the true mother. His response was classic and very wise, if you remember. We are not Solomon, but we will be confronted with incredible circumstances, and by God’s grace we can respond with true Wisdom.

Corrie ten Boom tells a fascinating story about her father’s wisdom in her book, The Hiding Place.  Consider this…

As a child, Corrie once traveled with her father by train from their home in Haarlem, in the Netherlands, to Amsterdam. Her father was a watchmaker and traveled to repair parts for new watches that he had sold. He carried a large, heavy briefcase with his parts and tools. Corrie had seen the word “sex” written somewhere and couldn’t understand what it meant so she questioned her father as they traveled. She asked her father to define the word “sex”. He turned and looked at her, but said nothing. At last he stood, lifted his heavy briefcase from above and put it on the floor. “Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?” he said. “It’s too heavy.” she said.

“Yes,” he said. “And it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load.  It’s the same way Corrie, with knowledge.  Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it.  For now you must trust me to carry it for you”.

Wow, what wisdom! Corrie’s father was thoughtful and didn’t shun the question, but gave his young daughter a reasoned and profound answer. We can all learn from his response.  I am sure he was a man who took in the Word, prayed about life, and applied the truth he knew. And at a critical moment, his words were wise.

If God would grant you any request, what would you ask for? Would you ask for wisdom? Ask anyone the world over about the Wisdom of Solomon and they would understand what you meant. If you are following Christ and passionately seeking wisdom ….the people in your world may view your legacy as wisdom. Think about it … seek it!

It’s a new day, a new week and Easter is over, but the implications of the resurrection of Jesus Christ should always resonate in our hearts.  Before I transition to today’s article, I must say that I was personally blessed by the writing of our Journey partner, Mark Robb, over the last week. It takes lots of effort to write two articles in a week, and Mark just gave us articles for eight straight days! They were especially well written and very meaningful this year. Thanks Mark!

I am very much attuned to making right choices; I just don’t always make them. There are various excuses that I call upon to justify my actions (so do you).  It’s not always the obvious bad choices you might think of that plague me, but things like: being absent-minded, not listening in general, not listening to good counsel from my wife (and the list goes on).  A good example of one of those happened just a few weeks ago during one of my trips. I took a sports coat with me, and I stored it in an overhead compartment near my seat. My wife (knowing my history) reminded me not to walk off the plane without it. No problem!

I was actually very relaxed on the plane.  I did some reading, then headed out for three appointments.  At 11pm that evening, I had the “aha” moment.  Yep …. the one where I say, “Hey, where’s my sports jacket (that my wife bought me and reminded me earlier today not to forget)?!”  The next day I ventured to the Tampa airport and somehow they had left my coat at the gate.  After a few anxious moments and a walk through security, I was reunited with my blue sports coat. God is full of grace and my wife is full of patience, but why do I let things like that happen?  And why do followers of the resurrected Savior walk way below our spiritual capacity?

Over the last few days, I have been reading about Solomon’s wisdom and failures. Admittedly, he frustrates me. God gave Solomon great wisdom, yet he made some really bad choices.  As men and women of faith in the resurrected Savior, we often make choices that don’t reflect the power available to us in Christ. There’s a world around you and me that needs the certain hope which is ours in Christ.  Our choices, attitudes and responses to life’s struggles give great testimony to how we are allowing the resurrected Savior to lead us.

Colossians 1:11 in the Message speaks to my point…

We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy. 

On the Monday after singing about the glorious Risen Savior how are you feeling about your journey? His strength has the power to move any Christ-follower from living below spiritual capacity to enjoying the journey.

The apostle Paul speaks of the resurrection power available through Christ in Ephesians 1:19-20. Look at what you and I have available to us….

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

If the power that raised Christ from the dead is available to all Christ-followers, what holds us back?

Let’s make this a no excuses Monday.  He is risen, and you and I can make a difference to a sin-cursed world. We must be intentional with our choices, attitudes and responses to reflect what the risen Savior has done for us. People are watching.  Sure there will be moments of failure, but we can aim to maximize our spiritual capacity and take hold of the power the Risen Savior makes available to us.  The wise choices we make for kingdom good will always outweigh the benefits of never forgetting a sports coat.

He is Risen!  He is Risen as He said!

Those rapturous declarations are the headlines of this day, and their truth forever changed the world and the hearts of all those who believe! The suggestion is, once again, strong to leave those words to stand on their own in this space.  How can anything stand beside them or even in their shadow?

There is, however, one detail of the day which will not leave me.  That detail finds its setting just outside the empty tomb, where Mary Magdalene stands overcome with grief.  As Mary weeps, John 20:11-12 says, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.  The angels ask why she’s crying.  She’s certain someone has taken Jesus’ body and she hasn’t the first clue as to where.  As Mary finishes, she turns around and makes eye contact with Jesus (except, she doesn’t recognize him).  This is where the single detail begins.

Mary mistakes Jesus for a gardener and is silent as she looks at him.  Jesus asks the question, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”  Just as I am certain that His choice of Mary as the very first person He would reveal Himself to was neither random nor trivial, neither was the way Jesus addressed her.  In speaking to Mary, Jesus says, “Woman…”  Nothing has yet changed in Mary, so she responds, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”  And then all at once, everything changes!

With only a single word, Jesus removes the scales from Mary’s eyes.  Where once there were seven demons responsible for her blindness, some measure of flesh had taken residence and was blinding her once again.  Just as He had once spoken the words to cast out seven, Jesus spoke one to make her see.  “Mary,” was all Jesus had to say.  In an instant after hearing the Master speak her name, she knew Him.  The voice which had spoken “Woman” was a stranger, the One which spoke “Mary” was her Savior.  Can you, in this moment, relate?  Is your ear tuned to the voice of Jesus?  Have you ever heard Him call your name?

I’m absolutely convinced this is where the singular detail walks up next to “He is Risen!” and rightly stands.  As I typed those three questions, it was instantly clear why that detail wouldn’t leave me.

What if you are reading and your answer to any of those three questions is “No”?  What if your answer to that final question is “No”?  As monumental as today’s celebration should be for one who believes, it is an infinitely larger welcome and invitation to someone who has not yet believed.  What Jesus did by dying for us and defeating the power of death forever by rising again can change EVERYTHING for you.  As you’re reading these words are you beginning to hear the voice of Jesus?  Is there is a small voice in your soul, or that place you might call your conscience, that is trying to be heard?  If so, this “detail” about Mary Magdalene and Jesus’ voice was just for you.  Don’t wait to respond back.  He’s listening.  Cry out to Jesus, and He will hear you.  And please know we are here to help you take the next step.

Resurrection day is not the exclusive possession of the believer.  Shouting from the street corners and mountain tops today are the equal voices of celebration and invitation. What Jesus did, He did for all.  What began on Friday and began anew today changed EVERYTHING!  He is Risen!  He is Risen, indeed!

I sit in silence as I write.  I sit in silence as does scripture in telling the story of this day.  I sit in silence as did all of creation on that sacred Sabbath that followed Jesus’ death and preceded His glorious resurrection.  I sit in silence as Jesus did while being accused, mocked, degraded, brutally beaten, and, finally, crucified.

I cannot begin to fathom what those who loved and followed Jesus were experiencing on this day.  I cannot, because I look back at Saturday and see Sunday morning first.  I choose, today, to sit with those who had not yet seen Sunday.  I choose to experience: the unprecedented quiet which followed a force of suffering, separation and death which shook the earth and tore a 60-foot-tall, 30-foot-wide, 4-inch-thick curtain in two; the unrest and distress likely felt by those who loved Him most in this world; the profound challenge to hope which hung in their balance.

EVERYTHING is about to change, but it is not here yet.  It was finished, but it’s only getting started!  Redemption awaits its fulfillment; its breath of new life.

Resurrection belongs to each of us, but also belongs to tomorrow’s dawn.  Stay present in today.

The following is an entry from my 2015 Lent journal.  The text was written after meditating on the scene which begins with Jesus being brought before Pilate and ends with the cries of “Crucify!”

There are four distinct voices shouting “crucify!”  The first, and most obvious, two are those of the chief priests and the crowd.  The third, and most painful, is mine.  I cannot escape the guilty verdict of my humanity.  I must confess the visceral hatred my flesh feels when confronted with its need of redemption.  If I do not hear my voice amongst the crowd, I do not see myself truly.  The fourth, and most powerful, is Jesus.  With his deliberate silence, Jesus shouts “Crucify!”  He knows any ground short of it means the death of every screaming, cursing face He came to redeem.  He sees my face as He scans the crowd.  He will feel my sins soon.  Jesus shouts, “Crucify!”, because it is the only way.  Thank you, Jesus.

How hard is it for us to imagine the Creator of the Universe having the word “Crucify!” on His lips as He spoke the world into being and breathed life into Adam?  But it is nonetheless true … “Crucify!” was always been the plan.  Sin would require a perfect sacrifice, and Jesus was the one and only spotless Lamb.  With every bit of power at His disposal, Jesus could have forgiven and vanquished every sin with the force of His hand or the command of His voice.  There were a million, trillion other ways He could have done this … but Jesus on a cross had always been the plan.  Would I have willingly created my own boys knowing that one day I would have to die so they might live?  God did.  He loves us that much!  He created us knowing that, one day, He would have to give up EVERYTHING to win us back and breathe life into us a second time (the first at our natural birth and the second at our eternal one).

As many times as I’ve read, heard or experienced the story, I can honestly say I’ve never heard that fourth voice.  I’ve heard the sharp-witted Jesus as He spoke directly to Pilate and the silent Jesus as Pilate demanded answers, but I’d never heard him shout “Crucify!”  By His willful submission, I believe He did.

This entire week, I have challenged us to see ourselves in this story.  This Story is our story.  Today I challenge you to turn your eyes upon Jesus and tune your ears to His cry of “Crucify!”  He did not choose the road more traveled; His journey was a solitary one.  Not even his Father could go with Him to its end.  He did that for you, and He did that for me.

Silence and unrest belong to tomorrow, stay present in today.  Observe and experience the darkness which fell on the land.  See His willful obedience to his Father’s plan.  Hear the fourth voice (the very voice of Jesus himself) shout “Crucify! … Crucify! … Crucify!”

There is, perhaps, no more resonant character in the Passion narrative (or maybe in the whole of the Bible) than Peter.  He’s been on my mind a great deal lately, and his name keeps popping up in my personal Lent study.  He is a central figure in the central events of this particular day of Holy Week.  The disciples will eat a sacred meal with Jesus and then follow Him to Gethsemane to stand watch (okay, fall asleep) while Jesus prays.  In the middle of both major events, stands Peter armed with a sharp tongue and even sharper sword.

We completely get Peter, right?!  He is so much like we are, or maybe we are so much like he was.  Full to overflowing with good intentions, yet so quick to fall.  So loyal, so well meaning, yet so weak in the flesh.  I came across a truly profound statement in my Lenten readings this year.  It sourced from the occasion of Peter’s bold declaration to Jesus during the Last Seder, but made me wince as I felt the rightful wound it inflicted on my own heart and life.

But great love risks a greater pride.  For the very strength of their loving sometimes dazzles and flatters them – until they trust that love more than its Lord.
Walter Wangerin, Jr. : Reliving the Passion

In a nutshell, this was Peter … and this is me.  The “love” becomes the thing.  The ferocity with which it’s felt and lived out becomes the nearly impenetrable veil that masks our pride.  We do not intend it, rarely do we see it, but it is absolutely real.  I can genuinely say that I have experienced a fleecing of my pride, and it came as an absolute shock.  As the Spirit began to peel away the veiled layers, every single one spoke and showed “love.”  Until, that is, the final one was removed during an early morning walk.  What I saw as that final layer was peeled away stopped me dead in my tracks (literally).  My great love was lovingly revealed as pride.

“Even if all fall away, I will not.” Peter says to Jesus. (Mark 14:29)  A tender “Oh Peter,” is the look I see on Jesus’ face as He says “… today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.” (Mark 14:30)

In that moment, I believe Jesus looks into the heart of Peter and has compassion for the love which Peter is trusting more than its Lord.  The very next verse says, “But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.”

How many times have I said the same in my heart?  How easily I can replace the image of Peter at the Last Seder with myself.  But as true as this is, my meditations on Peter have borne some equally important truths.  As quickly as we may judge Peter for his denials, I believe we should even more quickly acknowledge his presence in the battle.  From the moment Peter made his impassioned declarations to the moment the rooster crowed, Peter was never far from Jesus.  He fell asleep in the garden; He drew his sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the High Priest; He milled among the crowd as Jesus was dragged from trial to trial; He denied Jesus three separate times … but in every scene, Peter was there.  How gracious God was to Peter, and how gracious He is to us.

As Peter hears the rooster and remembers what Jesus told him the evening before, he broke down and wept.  He did not join the crowd in fear for his own life.  He was overcome with grief and he wept.  The Bible doesn’t go any further in describing this intimate moment, so I’ll be careful not to characterize it or speak my own voice into it.  Can you go to that deep, dark place with Peter?  Can you conjure the torment he must have been experiencing?

Praise God that this wasn’t the final punctuation of Peter’s story, just like the cross is not for Jesus.  There are two future occasions where you see evidence of God’s grace and Christ’s limitless forgiveness.  As the small group of women arrive at the tomb on Resurrection morning, an angel sits waiting inside the tomb.

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
Mark 16:6-7

Did you take any special notice of who the angels sent the women to look for?  “But go, tell his disciples and Peter.”  Yes, God sees into the repentant heart of Peter and begins the restoration process with an intentional instruction to the angel to speak his name.  But God isn’t finished yet.  Jesus appears to His disciples a few times after His resurrection and before He ascends into heaven.  One of those times, He specifically turns to Peter and asks him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  Peter answers, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”  Jesus asks again, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  Peter answers in the same way again.  Jesus asks a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  Peter is a bit hurt, but answers “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” (conversation from John 21:15-17)

Jesus sees the hole in Peter’s heart that has yet to heal.  With the same question asked intentionally three times, Jesus heals the hole, restores Peter and invites him to “follow me!”  A broken servant, a healing Savior … what a perfect picture of who we are and who He is.  Tomorrow’s trials, darkness and crucifixion belong to tomorrow.  Stay present in the challenge to not trust your love more than its Lord.