In the above focus we see something that challenges our own belief in God, for we see Peter in prison under the guard of 16 soldiers. These soldiers knew their own lives were at risk if they allowed Peter to escape from prison, so they were alert, ready to turn away anyone who would try to interfere with Peter’s imprisonment. However, in this horrific, challenging time for Peter, we see him asleep: Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. How many of us would be asleep before the day of our execution? Peter knew already that one of the Sons of Thunder, a nickname given to them by Jesus, had already been beheaded by Herod. James and John were aggressive men. When a Samaritan town would not welcome them for the night, they asked Jesus to destroy the village. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them. Then he and his disciples went to another village. (Luke 9:55-56) James had just been beheaded by Herod, a type of Lucifer. Now Herod desired to behead Peter also because Jame’s beheading pleased the Jewish elite. However, Herod did not want to contaminate the Passover celebration by killing Peter during that week, so Peter’s beheading would happen the day after the celebration of the Passover. In the above focus we see Peter asleep, not praying, not filled with anxiety, but asleep. Peter knew Jesus had promised his disciples that their lives would be filled with troubles, trials and persecutions. For them, the championing of the cause of Christ might even mean death. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Matthew 16:24-26) Now Peter was about to lose his life. If James would be beheaded, who was one of Jesus’ dearest disciples, a disciple who even was present on the Mount of Transfiguration, why not him. But rather than stew about his precarious position of being killed the next day, he rested in sleep. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. Maybe Peter went to sleep with the words of Jesus in his mind: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” (John 14:1-4) After the resurrection, Peter knew the place where Jesus had gone; He went back to his Father in heaven. Before the resurrection, Peter recanted his belief in Jesus; he told others that he did not even know this man Jesus. But after the resurrection, he was completely onboard to the reality that salvation, eternal life, comes only through Jesus the Son of God, SO PETER SLEPT, CHAINED BETWEEN TWO GUARDS.
Our minds in times of trouble sometimes have great difficulty in accepting the words in Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:1-6) In times of smooth water we read these words and stake our lives on them, claiming great faith in them. However for some of us, there is not rest in our souls because of these words, for we see our problems as intractable, without any solution. All doors seem to be closed to any escape from our problem. How can what we face be considered anything good? How can the love of God be seen in these trials? No way can this be good for us. But Peter knew where Jesus went. He knew Jesus loved James. He knew the purposes of God are designed for eternal life, not the temporary life we live in the flesh, so he trusted the words of Psalm 23, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. As Paul discovered in his life of trials and persecutions, we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) Peter was asleep the night before his execution; he was at rest. The man who had denied Jesus before men because of his fear of them, thought maybe they would arrest him too and whip him, spit upon him, tear his beard out. Maybe he would suffer like Jesus was suffering. No, that was too much for him to face. So he swears before heaven, including God in his fear, that he knew not this man, Jesus. But now we see him asleep, with the knowledge in his mind that tomorrow he will be beheaded. Do we really believe what Paul wrote in Romans 8: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword (beheaded)? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39) Peter lay asleep with that assurance in his mind. He was so asleep that the angel had to strike him on his side. We do not know if he kicked Peter or hit him, but we do know he STRUCK Peter to wake him up.
How much of the world is in us? Are we like John’s warning, living so much in the world that the love of God is not in us. Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17) Are we trying to win the world for some good purpose or for some selfish reason? Are we obeying Jesus’ teaching or our own rational thinking? Jesus said of himself: I am the way and the truth and the life. (John 14:6) What is the truth, the way and real life; all of that encompasses Jesus. It is interesting to know that as we read the New Testament we see not the world dying and being persecuted, but we see Christians dying and being persecuted. We see the lion devouring others, and the sheep of God dying for the cause of Christ. As people of the flesh, we want the tables turned. We devour others, not them devouring us. We do not like the fact we are sheep in the lion’s den. We do not necessarily accept the fact that there is a third person in that den, Jesus. Peter accepted that fact. He was willing to be a front man for Jesus. He was willing to work in the lion’s den for the cause of Christ. Now we see him in the hands of sixteen soldiers, bound for death. The Christians outside of that prison were praying for Peter. The church was earnestly praying to God for him. In rational thinking maybe the Christians would be better off by organizing a mob to attack the prison, to set Peter free. Maybe that would be a better decision. We are tired of being the sheep; we want to be the lion. We will use force, but that was not the way of the cross. “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. (John 14:23-24) As Jesus, the Lamb of God, we are to emulate the Father’s will. Our hearts are to remain soft to God’s will. The Spirit of God has been given to each Christian. We are to take on God’s will for us, which Paul describes so beautifully in Galatians: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The Spirit says to us in times of trial, discouragement, and desperation, do not harden your hearts as the Israelites did in rebellion during their time of testing in the wilderness. (Hebrews 3:7) One of the times the Israelites' faith and dedication to God was tested was at Marah. After three days without water, the Israelites were led by God to Marah, but the water there was undrinkable; it was bitter, useless for drinking. The meaning of Marah is a place of bitterness; grief; misfortune, calamity. Of course the Israelites were desperate and their cry against God and Moses was great. Why did you lead us here where there is no water for us to drink after being without water for three days? What kind of God is this: definitely not a good God? God does sweeten the water for them, so that they might drink and survive. Peter’s survival is on the line, but he was sleeping under the wings of a good God. He knew the God of the universe. He knew the love of Christ for him. Therefore, he would rest in the hands of God. Dear friends around this breakfast table, we need each other to know God and his rest. Some of us are at Marah, trying to figure out why we are there. But God is saying to our spirits: rest, I am with you. I will never leave you or abandon you in this desert. Listen friends to the soft voice of God, that is who He is, A GOOD GOD!
No comments:
Post a Comment