WORD From The Woods
Mark 14:53-72
“And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, “We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows. And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.”
This passage is about when Jesus went to trial before the high priests when they were trying to find evidence that he had committed a religious crime deserving of death. I think this is very similar to the trial that our world today puts the Lord through. We live in a country that was founded by Christians who framed this nation with biblical principles. Today, this same nation puts God to the test in nearly every decision. Whether people want to admit it or not, the things that are going on in this country from massive amounts of debt to rampant promiscuity and abortion, are all ways of saying, "is God really who He says He is, and is what He says really true?" We're in a scary place in this country when every step we take as a nation, is taken while shaking our fist at the Creator and Lord of all. When the high priests asked Jesus if He was the son of God, He said, "I am, and you will see the son of man, seated at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." The reason that this infuriated the religious leaders so much is that they knew Jesus was using judgment language from the Old Testament, not only was He claiming to be God but He was telling them that He was coming in judgment against them. And if you study first-century history, you'll see how that judgment unfolded. As Christians, we can see the world around us challenging our Lord in everything, and I'm sure that judgment looms on the horizon. The question I have is, when we are asked the same question that Peter was asked, what will our response be? Remember, Peter assured Jesus that he would never deny his Lord and that he would go to the grave before doing such a thing. Peter lived with Jesus and knew him face to face and he still fell into fear and denied Jesus three times that night when Jesus was on trial. If the apostle Peter could fall into fear of persecution, then it would be very possible for any one of us to do the same. The challenge I take away from this passage is to stand up in our culture and be a confident witness for Christ when the world around us is putting Him on trial. When we see the world persecuting our Lord what will our response be? Our Lord is most definitely on trial in this culture and if we choose to boldly follow Him, we will face persecution, but it's only temporary and the spiritual blessing we receive from Him will strengthen us to endure to the end!
God bless and have a great week! -Terry-
Mark 14:53-72
“And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, “We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows. And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.”
This passage is about when Jesus went to trial before the high priests when they were trying to find evidence that he had committed a religious crime deserving of death. I think this is very similar to the trial that our world today puts the Lord through. We live in a country that was founded by Christians who framed this nation with biblical principles. Today, this same nation puts God to the test in nearly every decision. Whether people want to admit it or not, the things that are going on in this country from massive amounts of debt to rampant promiscuity and abortion, are all ways of saying, "is God really who He says He is, and is what He says really true?" We're in a scary place in this country when every step we take as a nation, is taken while shaking our fist at the Creator and Lord of all. When the high priests asked Jesus if He was the son of God, He said, "I am, and you will see the son of man, seated at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." The reason that this infuriated the religious leaders so much is that they knew Jesus was using judgment language from the Old Testament, not only was He claiming to be God but He was telling them that He was coming in judgment against them. And if you study first-century history, you'll see how that judgment unfolded. As Christians, we can see the world around us challenging our Lord in everything, and I'm sure that judgment looms on the horizon. The question I have is, when we are asked the same question that Peter was asked, what will our response be? Remember, Peter assured Jesus that he would never deny his Lord and that he would go to the grave before doing such a thing. Peter lived with Jesus and knew him face to face and he still fell into fear and denied Jesus three times that night when Jesus was on trial. If the apostle Peter could fall into fear of persecution, then it would be very possible for any one of us to do the same. The challenge I take away from this passage is to stand up in our culture and be a confident witness for Christ when the world around us is putting Him on trial. When we see the world persecuting our Lord what will our response be? Our Lord is most definitely on trial in this culture and if we choose to boldly follow Him, we will face persecution, but it's only temporary and the spiritual blessing we receive from Him will strengthen us to endure to the end!
God bless and have a great week! -Terry-