31 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
33 Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”
34 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.
My physics teacher would get frustrated with our inability to get the assignments completed correctly. In a huff he’d say “OK, I’ll show you how to do it…just this once”. He would take the entire hour…and the entire blackboard (including the two side boards)…solving our physics homework for us. When he got to the end, he would invariably step back, ponder his work, and say…
“Now we can all see…this this is not the correct answer”.
Eventually, nobody bothered to pay attention. There was no point. I don’t know, maybe that’s how physics works…even the teacher can’t do it.
I’m glad I’m not a physics teacher…
We’ve all seen it…just after the “smartest guy in the room” proclaims his status he does something really dumb. It’s axiomatic. If we’re going to put ourselves in an exalted position we’d better be able to “walk the walk” or we’ll be embarrassed.
Even that doesn’t stop some people…
Peter is the guy to whom Jesus said “get behind me Satan!” Propriety might suggest that Peter would tone it down a bit after such a rebuke. But then…if he did, he wouldn’t be Peter.
I won’t criticize Peter because the moment I do, I’ll do something spectacularly stupid. I do have a lot of sympathy for him, though.
One way to avoid all this is to “let(ting) this mind be in (us) that is in Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God, did not see equality with God as something to be grasped, but…humbled himself” (Phil 2). People almost never have to apologize for being humble. And…they almost never embarrass themselves.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
This is really about our inability to withstand spiritual assault. We all hate to be reminded of our lack of spiritual resolve…even if it’s God who does the reminding. We protest loudly and say “I will never fail!” Well, never is a long time.
I suggest we’d all be better off if we exercised a little self-restraint (humility) and said “There, but for the grace of God, go I”. That way, when the inevitable happens it isn’t such a public spectacle.
Live boldly out there today…
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