SHARING BREAD
57 Those
who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the
teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. 58 But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the
courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see
the outcome.
Matt
26:57-58 (NIV)
Is it not sadly true that sometimes, like Peter, we simply follow
Jesus “at a distance”? Concerned for our own safety or our
reputations or our standings we don’t speak up or stand up rather we lag behind,
laugh at the lewd or agree by our silence concerning untruths regarding our
Savior. We become proficient fence
walkers. We are not willing to ruffle
feathers or cause ripples by standing up for Jesus rather we choose the easier
route and simply blend with the world.
This proves a poor decision on our part – just ask Pete.
“It looks ill, and bodes worse, when those who are willing
to be Christ’s disciples, are not willing to be known to be so. To follow him afar off, is by little and
little to go back from him. There is
danger in drawing back, indeed, in looking back.” Matthew
Henry
Make no mistake about it, the Truth will be confrontational. Darkness does not favor light. To be sure, we often “love” people into hell
by our unwillingness to risk sharing about the Savior simply because we are
afraid of the reception our words might receive. Yet, there remain more people willing and
wanting to hear Truth than we are willing and wanting to share it. Believers are to earnestly contend for the
faith entrusted to the saints as Jude 3 states – the preaching and the teaching
that has been handed down and passed on.
Oh, that we would all be as Andrew who, when he found the Christ, immediately
sought out his brother Simon (Peter) and brought him to Jesus:
41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother
Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. John 1:41-42 (NIV)
“It cannot but grieve gracious souls to see what pains men
take to go to hell. They know the evil
of sin experimentally, and they are alarmed to see others flying like moths
into its blaze. Sin makes the righteous
shudder, because it violates a holy law, which
it is to every man’s highest interest to keep; it pulls down the pillars of
the commonwealth…An awakened heart trembles at the audacity of sin, and stands
alarmed at the contemplation of its punishment.” Charles
H. Spurgeon
Seriously, whose side
are we on anyway? Jesus desires for us
to make a clear and resolute decision regarding being His follower. He tells us earlier in Matthew:
30 “He who is not with me is
against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” Matt 12:30 (NIV)
Our Lord had sought to prepare Peter for such a time as
this. Indeed, the Master had warned him
to watch and pray as he would deny Him three times yet Peter’s ears could not
hear because his continued boasting was so blaring. Instead of listening he was blabbing of his
own power over his actions fearing not the weakness within his own self. Too much confidence in our flesh will
ultimately lead to our downfalls. Too
bad for Pete, if he had only listened rather than waxed long on his future
actions it is unlikely he would have denied his Lord. Jesus knows the future as perfectly as the
past. He sees everything. We need only to remain humbly seeking His
will and listening for “His still small voice”.
“”O My beloved, do not be anxious concerning tomorrow. You shall encounter nothing of which I am not
already aware. My mercy is concealed
within every storm cloud. My grace flows
beneath every crosscurrent. My wisdom
has conceived a solution to every perplexity.”
Frances J. Roberts
“Jesus Christ, being God, is omniscient, possessing total
knowledge. He knows thoroughly and
completely the most minute fact about every microscopic organism in the deepest
sea, and the exact chemical composition of the largest star in the
universe. He knows the future as
perfectly as the past, and we can hide nothing from Him. Nothing can happen to
us He does not see. He knows what’s on
the surface and what’s out of sight. He
knows our thoughts, motives, hurts, circumstances, feelings, and needs. He cannot learn anything for He already knows
everything, being both infinite and intimate.”
Robert J. Morgan
8 “Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you
rebels. 9 Remember
the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am
God, and there is none like me. 10 I
make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to
come. I say: My purpose will stand, and
I will do all that I please.” Isaiah
46:8-10 (NIV)
It was in the middle of the night when our verses for today
took place. These scribes and elders
assembled in the dead of darkness to gratify their hatred and malice against the
Lord Jesus. The teachers and elders were
the principal rulers of the Jewish church and sadly they were Christ’s most
bitter enemies. Earlier in this same
chapter of Matthew we are told:
3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people
assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and
kill him. Matt 26:3-4 (NIV)
Lastly, it was fitting that the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem
through the Sheep Gate as that was the way into town from the Mount of
Olives. It was called the Sheep Gate as
sheep who were appointed for sacrifice were brought that way to the temple. The Baptist’s words come to mind:
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and
said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29 (NIV)
What I glean from this:
· It is easy
to fall into the pattern of following Jesus at a distance.
· Truth is often
confrontational.
·
If I am not with Jesus, I am against Him.
