FAITH WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me, for it is written:

“‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown Me three times.”

But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with You, I will never disown You.”

And all the other disciples said the same.

Matthew 26:31-35

“You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown Me three times.”

But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with You, I will never disown You.”

And all the others said the same.

Mark 14:27-31

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with You to prison and to death.”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know Me.”

Luke 22:31-34

Simon Peter asked Him, “Lord, where are you going?”

Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow You now? I will lay down my life for You.”

Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for Me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown Me three times!

John 13:36-38

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It’s been said that it’s easy to have faith when things are easy but the true test of faith is when things aren’t going well.

After living more than 60 years of life, I think I tend to agree with that statement.

It’s really a saying grounded in intuitiveness. When things are going great, we tend to not worry about anything. Life is good and faith is sort of pushed off into a corner of our existence, ignored but not forgotten because we know circumstances can change, sometimes on a dime, thrusting us out of our place of comfort and into the storm.

In support of this, I reflect back on the disciples and Jesus on a boat, transiting the Sea of Galilee. Everything was good at first. The disciples were at peace and Jesus was getting some rest below decks when suddenly a great storm came, causing waves to sweep over the boat.

What happened to the disciple’s faith when this occurred?

It was washed overboard. For the scriptures tells us that the disciples quickly went to wake up Jesus, afraid they were about to capsize and drown.

Now, just think for a moment how ludicrous this sounded to Jesus.

After all, it was He who led His disciples into the boat so they could go to the other side of the sea and continue their ministry work.

Would Jesus really lead His disciples into a boat and then sleep while they all perished in the storm?

Seriously, it was all too ridiculous to even think this but that’s what happens when we abandon faith. And so it’s little wonder that we find Jesus admonish His followers saying, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” before He easily rebuked the winds and waves, bringing nothing but instantaneous calm.

When the chips were down, the disciples lost their faith and Jesus showed them that if they just trust in Him, He could bring miraculous peace, the kind of peace the world couldn’t offer.

You would think the disciples would have learned a lesson or two from this but as we’ll see in today’s scripture passage, Simon Peter, one of Jesus’ first called disciples would once again fail to have faith it mattered. We know this well before it happened because Jesus called it.

The stage for Jesus’ revelation came as night had fallen on the day before Jesus would be crucified and die. He had just finished His final Passover meal with His disciples and then provided them with some final teaching before they departed for the Garden of Gethsemane where Judas would betray Jesus and help those who had come to arrest Him. Knowing He was in His final hours, Jesus made sure His disciples know they would depart from Him when things started to fall apart saying:

“This very night you will all fall away on account of Me, for it is written:

“‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

Quoting the prophet Zechariah, Jesus made sure that the prediction regarding their pending scattering was not from Him. It had been foretold well before.

Indeed, Jesus was the Good Shepherd as He had made clear and His disciples were clearly part of His flock. Soon the Shepherd would be arrested, hauled into an unjust trial with the scales of justice tilted far from Him, sent off to be beaten and brutalized by Roman soldiers, and then sentenced to a criminal’s death, all within less than 24 hours time. And when this happened, the sheep would scatter but one member of the flock, Simon Peter, rejected this notion proclaiming:

“Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

In Luke’s account, we read where Peter said:

“Lord, I am ready to go with You to prison and to death.”

Jesus knew otherwise. For although it would be bad enough that none of Jesus’ faithful disciples would stand by His side through His darkest hours, Peter would do even worse than that. For Jesus tells him that he would actually deny knowing Him, a complete act of disownment, not once or twice but three times. There wouldn’t be a lot of spacing between these denials as Jesus tells Peter they all would happen that same night and before the rooster crows twice. In other words, Peter would turn away from Jesus in the worst way possible, refusing to admit he knew Him, and do so three times before dawn.

Well, Peter was indignant regarding what Jesus said. He boldly asserted that Jesus’ accusations would never come true, even though He knew that Jesus had never told a lie. He declared:

“Even if I have to die with You, I will never disown You.”

The scriptures tell us that all the other disciples said the same but none of them would deny Jesus by losing faith when the chips were down as Peter did.

You see, Peter talked a good game and maybe we do the same more times than we care to confess. For how well do we handle issues when they come? How well do we maintain our trust in a Lord who can do all things when difficulties come our way? Do we run to our Lord in times of need or do we run away and scatter, like the sheep who had lost their shepherd?

Friends, when the storms of life come upon us, Jesus is still there to bring calm and peace. All we need to do is unconditionally place our faith, hope, and trust in Him, now and forever, no matter what.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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