What is My One Sentence Bible?
12-17-10:
Even in the face of being betrayed by one of his best friends, Jesus faithfully continued the task given to him. Mark 14:17-26
There are just some things that we have to carry for ourselves, no matter how much those closest to us want to help. Mark 14:27-31
When you feel that living life is a worse sentence then death, just keep praying and surviving moment by moment. Mark 14:34
Much love.
Just a dude trying to learn how to live and love. 
{ 3 comments }
Andrew wrote: There are just some things that we have to carry for ourselves, no matter how much those closest to us want to help. This was pertaining to: Mark 14:27-31 KJV
“And Jesus saith unto them, ‘All ye shall
be offended because of me this night: for
it is written, I will smite the shepherd,
and the sheep shall be scattered. [28] But
after that I am risen, I will go before you
into Galilee.’ [29] But Peter said unto him,
‘Although all shall be offended, yet [will]
not I.’ [30] And Jesus saith unto him,
‘Verily I say unto thee, That this day,
[even] in this night, before the cock crow
twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.’ [31] But
he spake the more vehemently, ‘If I should
die with thee, I will not deny thee in any
wise.’ Likewise also said they all.”
My take on this is two-fold. First, the declaration by Peter that he would be the exception to the ‘all’ that Jesus spoke about really revealed how he saw himself as invulnerable and therefore completely above the others. Wasn’t he the one who received a direct word while on the mountain of transfiguration? Wasn’t he the one who received the keys of binding and loosening based on his revealed answer to Jesus?
I view this as one very priviledged desciple who knew what it took to stand with his LORD as a loyal friend. Nevertheless, such love would become tested to the extreme later that night. It would take Greater Love than this form of loyalty.
Second, Peter saw himself as a unifying role model with strong leadership. He knew he needed to step-up to this challenge and he was willing to volunteer himself for taking charge. This dedication to taking the lead would also be tested beyond his wildest imagination that night as well.
Jesus asked His disciples to believe, not lead. The LORD would send His Spirit who would lead us into all truth and rememberances. He asked them to receive, not just be loyal.
Jesus would be risen as the Good Shepherd. Let us not deny His Leadership, His Calling based on His Love to sustain us when we are tested to the point of breaking apart. Let us endure with patience and find favor with God.
Peter saw himself as a unifying role model with strong leadership. He knew he needed to step-up to this challenge and he was willing to volunteer himself for taking charge. This dedication to taking the lead would also be tested beyond his wildest imagination that night as well.
Matthew, of course, has a similar passage at 26:31-35
And yet in Matthew at least, didn’t Peter perhaps have some expectation of of taking on this role? Matthew 16:17-19 (where Peter receives his name) as you yourself say.
Is it not possible that Peter could not have taken on this role as the “rock” of the church if he had, in fact, remained faithful that night, since he might have been put to death before his time?
In that interpretation, might not Jesus have used this prophecy to offer Peter a way out of the conundrum and preserve his future role?
Great line of inquiry, Geoff G! I have not considered
this connection previously. I was viewing the exchange
listed in Mark 14 as a follow-up or expansion of the
general clue-less-ness of Peter listed in John 13 verses
4 through 11.
I believe Peter wanted despertly to determine who was
‘unclean’ and therefore become the source of eliminating
any betrayal. It was completely consistant with the revelation
later about changes in this new covenant to begin including
Gentiles (unclean) into the Kingdom. Peter needed to learn
how issues of unclean, betrayal and inclusion into the Kingdom
would ultimately not be based on stereotypes, cultural bias or
his own level of personal control.
In this way, Peter’s struggle for recognizing this change would
help him get past the class-warfare issues. I see how Peter’s
heart was in the right place and how he fiercely defended his
LORD with his very life. It was not enough, however, to battle the
onslaught of evil heading towards Jesus.
Peter needed to cease from his own control issues and find a
new place of trust in Him. He encountered such interpersonal
collapse, bitterness and acknowledgement that his own issues
were a source of betrayal against his own loyalty, his own sense
of right and wrong, his own place as leader.
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