Betrayed...Denied

~~~ Isaiah 49:1-6 ~~~ Psalm 71 ~~~ John 13:21-33, 36-38 ~~~ 

For now the LORD has spoken

who formed me as his servant from the womb...

I will make you a light to the nations,

that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

The prophet Isaiah speaks beautifully

 of Jesus being 

formed in the womb, 

as we know the womb of Mary.

We also are known by God 

while we are yet in our mother's womb.

Because God has this intimate connection with our soul;

we are wonderfully made.

God made Jesus the light for all generations.

Since we are united with Jesus

we too must be a light to others.

Holy Week is not a time for us to walk 

around in sadness,

but rather for us to accept 

how much we are loved by God.

Jesus, knowing his time is drawing near,

begins his good byes.

He loves these twelve men very much.

It must cause him much heartache

to acknowledge that one of them would

 betray him that very evening.

In addition to betrayal he also knows

 that his most trusted follower, Peter, 

would deny him three times.

Not once or twice, but three times.

Peter said to him,

“Master, why can I not follow you now? 

I will lay down my life for you.”

Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me?

Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow

before you deny me three times.”

Peter wants to immediately go with Jesus.

He loves Jesus so much that he 

is willing to die for him.

The words of Jesus pierce the heart of Peter.

His words penetrate into the essence of Peter.

He has no concept of how he could 

possibly deny the one he loves and 

admires above everyone else.

There is no way we can predict how we 

would respond in specific situations.

Jesus is the light of the world.

We must keep his light shining within our hearts.

Jesus did not cease to love Peter or Judas.

We know Peter laments his denials.

We do not know if Judas did repent in the end as well.

One thing we can be confident of

is that there is nothing we could do that

 God would not forgive.

Neither betrayal or denial can keep

 us from being blessed with God's love.

You have been loved since you were formed 

in your mother's womb.

~~~Peace~~~

Rejected and Dismissed

~~~ Jeremiah 26:1-9 ~~~ Psalm 69 ~~~ Matthew 13: 54-58 ~~~

Jeremiah and Jesus both rejected and dismissed by those in

closest proximity to their hometown.

"...When Jeremiah finished speaking
all that the LORD bade him speak to all the people,
the priests and prophets laid hold of him, crying,
"You must be put to death!"

Jeremiah had been given the inspired words of God, but the people rejected him.

Often when the truth is revealed to us we prefer to deny what we are hearing.

When our ears hear words that are not flattering to what we hold as truth

we tend to turn away.

We so want to believe what we want to believe no matter what.

It is a common struggle we all face.

Jeremiah was trying to warn the people...

God was giving them a chance to change, but they would not listen.

They remained hard headed which translated into

hardness of heart as well.

It must have been very discouraging for the prophets when they were

dismissed as speaking foolishness.

Years later enter a humble and lowly man, Jesus.

The son of a carpenter; not well schooled by their standards.

"Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter's son'
Is not his mother named Mary..."

After all the scribes had all of the knowledge. They were the highly

educated. What did this man know? Who was he to be telling them

how things were?

Where was he getting his foolish ideas from? Who had he been hanging around?

He was obviously confused about the truths.

Jesus had no idea about branding and market research.

Even though The Father had sent him and the Holy Spirit had conceived

him in the womb of Mary; he was not a person of authority.

At least not to the synogogue officials.

They were puzzled by what they were hearing and his actions.

When something is puzzling it is much easier to ignore.

Think about the things you do not understand...

Do you really take the time to investigate and research or

do you just leave them for others to deal with?

It was inevitable that Jesus would need to leave his familiar surroundings.

The farther away he got from those who knew his background

the less likely he would be rejected.

Those in his area had created biases within themselves

especially the synogogue officials.

Let us join in prayer with the psalmist...

Are we willing to be outcast and insulted for the Lord?

Are we zealous for the Lord?

We cannot dismiss the words of the Lord.

It is these very words that bring life and joy to our soul

in times of tribulation.

You are free and open to believe without bias against this

lowly carpenter's son....

JESUS.