John 18:11 Jesus commanded Peter, "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?"
I used to fence with swords when I was a teenager. My friend Graeme and I somehow managed to purchase two foils in a second-hand shop. I think we originally bought them for a play we were doing, but we got so hooked on the swords that we started to fence outside in my backyard.
It was good fun, but we didn’t have any masks or protective clothing, so it was pretty painful at times. The foils were tipped, but if they scraped across our open skin, it left a scar for days. We even worked out a staged fight and used it to entertain the local kids.
And then one day, Graeme lunged at me and hit me in the face. He hit the corner of my right eye, which left a nasty red mark across my face. If he had hit me a quarter of an inch to the left, I would have lost the eye. It was a very painful and poignant moment. That night we put the swords away and decided to take up jujitsu instead.
In the Garden of Gethsemane when Christ was being arrested, Peter just wanted to protect Jesus when he lunged at Malchus with his sword. Out of all the disciples, he was the only one who defended Christ. It was an impetuous and impossible thing to do. The high priest’s posse had arrived with clubs and swords, so no matter what Peter did, Jesus would still be arrested.
Strangely enough, Jesus didn’t rebuke the posse. Instead, He rebuked Peter, which must have seemed harsh at the time. It’s only later that you realize Jesus was protecting Peter from being arrested, too. By insisting that Christ had to drink the cup of wrath from God alone, Jesus was giving Peter a way out. He was diverting the mob’s attention away from the big impulsive sword-wielding disciple and turning it back toward Himself. It was an act of grace. It was a gift of mercy from God.
Sometimes, as Christians, we get all fired up and are full of zeal for the Lord. We want to protect Him from all of the discredit and damage that the world still wants to cause Jesus, but in the process, we act irrationally and put ourselves in danger. We seem to forget that Christ alone has the power to make all things right and that one glorious day, His justice will prevail.
Point to ponder
When have I acted impulsively in an effort to defend Christ? How would Jesus have responded?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we love You and we want to please You. Forgive us when our zeal blinds our reason and our strident ways diminish our faith. Grant us the godly gift of discernment, to know when and how to say and do the right things, as opposed to doing them at the wrong time, in an un-Christian way. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.
John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to ask questions or make a comment about today’s message, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com. You can read the church website at www.erinpresbyterian.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment