SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/5/2024 7:57 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “Peter’s Collapse”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matthew 26:69-75a
Message of the verses: “69 All this time
Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a maidservant came up to him
and said, "Weren’t you too with Jesus, the man from Galilee?" 70 But
he denied it before them all, saying, "I don’t know what you’re talking
about." 71 Then when he had gone out into the porch, another maid caught
sight of him and said to those who were there, "This man was with Jesus of
Nazareth." 72 And again he denied it with an oath — "I
don’t know the man!" 73 A few minutes later those who were standing about
came up to Peter and said to him, "You certainly are one of them, it’s
obvious from your accent." 74 At that he began to curse and
swear — "I tell you I don’t know the man!" Immediately the
cock crew, 75 and the words of Jesus came back into Peter’s
mind — "Before the cock crows you will disown me three times.’”
Now as we look at the words of the servant girl in
other gospels they are slightly different which suggests she made the same
basic statement on several occasions, and the fact that Peter denied it before
them all indicates that many people in the crowd had heard her accusation. Now the order of the denials also seems to
vary among the four gospels, which could be explained by the writers’ reporting different aspects of the three incidents of
Peter’s denial, each of which may have lasted several minutes or perhaps even
longer as the involved considerably more dialogue than is recorded in the
Scriptures.
As we look at Luke 22:57 which says “Woman, I do not know
Him, and then to the others (them all) who had been listening, “I do not know
what you are talking about.” The truth
is that Peter had been called by Christ, lived with Him, learned from Him, and
witnessed thousands of miracles performed by Him. He was not a young or new convert but the
veteran of three years of very intensive discipleship and was the leader of the
Twelve. However this intimate friend who
only a few hours earlier had vowed to die before he would forsake Christ now
denied even knowing Him. I have to say ashamedly
that I have lied on occasion and when that has happened there was a pain that
went on in my mind, as it came from my conscience, and that is truly an
uncomfortable pain.
MacArthur writes “Had Jesus commanded Peter to physically
stand beside Him and defend Him whatever the cost, perhaps Peter could have
mustered the courage for such a heroic display.
He had, after all, drawn his sword and started to take on the entire retinue
of soldiers and Temple police singlehandedly.
But he stumbled when a much less dangerous demand was made of him. He may have planned how he would defend
himself if confronged by soldiers in the courtyard, but he was totally unprepared
when caught off guard by the much less threatening challenge that now faced
him. He was prepared to do battle on his own terms but not on Satan’s and much
less on Christ’s. Because of his
self-assurance, he had neglected the Lord’s admonition to be on guard and to
pray. Consequently he was vulnerable to
a blind-side attack from a source he never expected.”
Now as I quote more from MacArthur’s commentary he talks
about believers today or it could also be about earlier believers in the church
age. “In much the same way, Christians
can plan detailed strategy for evangelism or for the defense of a cherished
doctrine or moral standard, only to be confronted by an issue or circumstance
they had never considered and for which they are totally unprepared. Like Peter, we often carefully prepare on the
basis or our own wisdom and resources while neglecting the guidance of God’s
Word and the empowering and leading of His Spirit which He provides through
prayer.
“Peter was like Elijah, who was brave when facing the 850
prophets of Baal and Asherah, but who, after he left the mountaintop of victory
foundered in fear over what one woman, Jezebel, might do to him. Peter was a living illustration of Paul’s
admonition ‘Le him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall’ (1 Cor.
10:12). In the courtyard his valiant
protestations were no longer heard, and the arrogant hero shivered into a
cringing coward. His self-preserving
instincts prevailed, and his boldness evaporated.
“A person’s involuntary response to the unexpected is a
more reliable indicator of his character than his planned reaction to a
situation he anticipates. It is when we
are caught off guard that our true character is most likely to show
itself. Peter’s proud self-confidence
was his Achilles’ heel, and that, of course was precisely where Satan aimed his
arrow of temptation. Peter’s stubborn
trust in himself and his unwillingness to fully
trust in the Lord made him vulnerable to the simple taunt of a young
servant girl.
“To escape embarrassment, Peter inconspicuously ‘went out
onto the porch’ (Mark 14:68), which apparently was near the gateway. He probably walked away slowly so as not to
attract attention or give the impression he was running away after being caught
in a lie. The porch, or vestibule, was
the second warmest place in the courtyard, protected by a wall in back and a
roof overhead. Perhaps Peter wanted to be
nearer the exit in case a Temple officer tried to arrest him. It was also darker there, and he would less
likely be recognized than by the fire.
But despite his precautions, a little later’ (Luke 22:58, another
servant-girl saw him.’” And with that I
will end this SD, but Lord willing will pick up more in my next SD.
7/5/2024 8:31 AM
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