Have you ever been slapped in the face? Like an actual slap? It hurts! But have you ever been slapped in the face with someone's words? Yeah, often that hurts much worse. Jesus is about to experience both.
Not only will someone physically slap Jesus, Peter, one of Jesus' beloved disciples is about to deny he ever knew Jesus. Three times. Jesus' response inside with the High Priest is perfect not only for those who are watching Jesus inside, but also for what Peter is doing outside. "... if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating me?” Do we do this to Jesus? Do we smack Jesus with how we live our lives sometimes? Is denying that we ever knew Christ really that bad? Is living like Christ hasn't changed us at all really that bad? Is it all really a slap to the face? Yes. Yesterday, we read Jesus was ready to die, but now it's a little different... Jesus was ready to die for those who deny or refuse to see who he is, despite seeing them for who they really are. Jesus was ready to die. For them. For you. ***Note: Blue represents what Peter is going through. Green is what Jesus is going through. Both things are happening simultaneously.*** "Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the disciples. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus. Peter had to stay outside the gate. Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate, and she let Peter in. The woman asked Peter, “You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?” “No,” he said, “I am not.” Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire. They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself. Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them. Jesus replied, “Everyone knows what I teach. I have preached regularly in the synagogues and the Temple, where the people gather. I have not spoken in secret. Why are you asking me this question? Ask those who heard me. They know what I said.” Then one of the Temple guards standing nearby slapped Jesus across the face. “Is that the way to answer the high priest?” he demanded. Jesus replied, “If I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating me?” Then Annas bound Jesus and sent him to Caiaphas, the high priest. Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire warming himself, they asked him again, “You’re not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it, saying, “No, I am not.” But one of the household slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?” Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed." (John 18:15-27 NLT)
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AuthorThe Pastors of Cornerstone Wesleyan Church Archives
July 2017
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