John 13:37-38

Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You." Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a cock shall not crow, until you deny Me three times.

 

Notes:

1. Peter objected to the thought of being unable to follow Christ right away.
1. Peter thought he was willing to give his life for Christ.
2. Jesus questioned Peter’s willingness to lay down his life for Jesus.
1. Jesus knew that Peter would actually deny Him, and told Peter so.

 

God knows our hearts. Intimately. Better than we do. Peter expressed his desires. He expressed his ideals with regard to his own intentions. At that moment, Peter truly believed that he would be willing to lay down his life for Jesus. Because Peter thought he was so faithful to Jesus, he thought he deserved to go with Jesus wherever He went.

 

But Jesus had already expressed that this mission was for Him alone. And Jesus knew Peter better than Peter knew himself. Rather than merely denying Peter’s claim and saying, “No, you wouldn’t lay down your life for Me,” Jesus made a claim of His own: “Truly, truly, I say to you, a cock shall not crow until you deny Me three times.” Of course, we’ll find out that Jesus knew better than Peter.

 

Father, I have the same tendencies. I like myself, and I would really like to think I’m a nice guy, even a noble guy. As a Christian, I understand that I have sinned far too often and that you had to save me by Christ’s death, but I would like to believe that I am much improved now. That I can sometimes stand on my own two feet, without Christ’s help. Sure, I was in trouble before Christ saved me, I think, but He has pulled me out of the mire and now I stand on firm and sure footing. I should be able to stand on my own. Right? Is it too much to ask to maintain an idealistic picture of myself like this?

 

I find over and over that it is. Whenever I begin to claim my own strength, my own love, my own righteousness, You show me again my weakness, hatred, and sinfulness. I need You no less now that I’m saved than I did when I did not know You. Christ is still everything to me. Without Him, I am a total failure. Help me to remember this day by day so that I do not idealize myself the way Peter did. I want to walk in humility rather than in pride. You prove my pride wrong so easily, and it hurts every time You show me how much I have trusted pointlessly in myself. Help me to remember that I need You so that I depend on You day by day and trust everything You say, even if I feel like it makes me look bad. If You say that I am insufficient, then I am insufficient. May I not defend myself, but renew my determination to cast all my hopes on Jesus Christ, my sufficiency.