God wants us to trust Him even in the trials of life. This daily devotional looks at the time when Jesus’ apostles were betraying Him, yet He spoke reassuringly to them.
Nuggets
- Wanting to follow Jesus should not be somewhere He does not want us to go.
- Our troubled hearts are calmed by faith.
Devotions in the Living Life Connected to Christ series
We are looking at the Upper Room Discourse in our Sunday Morning Bible Study series. We’ve gotten through Judas up and leaving.
Now we are heading toward Peter being told he would betray Jesus. Let’s jump in.
Let's Put It into Context
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
Where Are You Going?
“Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.’ Peter said to him, ‘Lord, 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? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times” (Jn. 13: 36-38 ESV)
Wanting to follow Jesus should not be somewhere He does not want us to go.
Jesus had just told the apostles in verse 33 that they couldn’t go where He was going. “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come” (Jn. 13: 33 ESV).
The next words out of Jesus’ mouth were telling them about the new commandment to love. I wonder how much of that Peter heard because he turns the conversation right back to Jesus’ leaving.
When I read Peter’s words, I was reminded of Adam when he was younger. There were times he, being a toddler, that he just couldn’t understand why he couldn’t go everywhere with me.
We tend to think it is separation anxiety in the young. I think, as we get older, it turns into our not wanting someone else to have secrets.
Maybe Peter was reacting out of hurt. He probably understood why Jesus didn’t want the Pharisees to go where He was going.
But, come on. Peter was in the inner circle. He had been allowed to witness things the other disciples hadn’t.
Why wasn’t he getting to go with Jesus?
Besides, Jesus had told Peter to follow Him. Why was He now telling him to that he couldn’t go?
Sometimes, God does keep secrets. He doesn’t always tell us how He does things.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
God hasn’t told us how He created the universe. He just tells us that He did.
We don’t always get the plan for our lives in one unveiling. Sometimes, God gives it to us by piecemeal.
Oh, we are quick to cut Pete some slack. He was probably leading with love. He didn’t want the three-year journey to end yet. He wanted to continue being in Jesus’ presence.
That doesn’t take into consideration Peter’s impulsiveness and narrowmindedness. But we can overlook that because of his loyalty to Jesus.
God has decreed that we don’t have to know everything. We should just accept that.
More than likely, Peter was just running on feelings. We do that.
We need to run on faith. Faith is a gift from God that enhances the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives and distinguishes us from others.
Jesus didn’t start biting on Peter for reacting incorrectly. He acknowledged that Peter would eventually follow Him.
But there was a kicker first. Peter was going to betray Jesus.
No, it wasn’t to the Judas level, but Peter was still going to deny Jesus three times.
I think what Jesus was really meaning was that Peter didn’t have the faith yet to follow Him. Yes, he thought Jesus was the Messiah and the Christ.
Peter just didn’t have think Jesus was the Savior of our sins yet. He was getting there. He would get there quickly after the resurrection.
At that moment, Peter wasn’t there yet.
That doesn’t mean Peter was behind or going the wrong way. I think Jesus would have been biting on him more if Peter was going down a wrong road.
Right now, Peter was obedient. It was okay for now.
Parker agreed. He wrote, “Obedience now is revelation afterward.”
Resource
We keep saying that Scriptures are an introduction. After we become children of God, then He reveals more and more of Himself as we navigate the Sanctification Road.
Glossary
Sanctification is the transformation of mind, body, and soul, which begins with regeneration, gradually changes our nature and morals through the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and ends with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness.
- Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal new birth and requickening that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit to give us new character.
- Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
In other words, God wasn’t finished with Peter yet. Peter still had a job to do. He also had a lot of growing in knowledge and grace to do.
Why Are You Troubled?
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me” (Jn. 14: 1 ESV)
Our troubled hearts are calmed by faith.
Next, Jesus starts the verses of comfort. He may have been looking at Peter when He said this, but He is talking to all of His guys.
Jesus didn’t want them to have a troubled heart.
Let’s face it. What Jesus was telling the apostles would have been hard to swallow. Jesus wasn’t just going on a cruise without them. He was going to die.
It might have started to sink in that their Leader, their Teacher, wasn’t going to be around anymore.
This was on top of Judas getting pegged as a betrayer and running out and Peter branded as someone who would deny knowing Jesus.
I bet it felt like the whole fabric of their lives was tearing apart.
What did Jesus tell them to do to not have the troubled heart? Believe.
Believe in Him.
Jesus had told them a lot of things in three years. Yes, they were supposed to believe in what He said.
They were also to believe in Him personally.
- That He was the Son of God.
- That everything He had said was true.
- That events were going to happen as He predicted — even if they may have been on the fantastical side before they happened.
- That He could and would save them from their sins.
Jesus knew they were going to have a rough next couple of days. He knows we will have those days, too.
What Jesus is saying here is to hang on. He’s got this.
Think about it. If our heart is troubled, that means we don’t think Jesus has this. We think whatever this is, is bigger than God.
God calls us to not doubt. He calls us to believe.
Isn’t that what it is about? How much faith do we have when the trials start flying.
We have to remember that Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel — all of them — would have been raised to believe in God. Jesus was just expanding that. “… Believe in God; believe also in me” (Jn. 14: 1 ESV).
What was expected was the same level of commitment.
But think about it. All throughout the Old Testament — which the apostles would have known — were prophecies that pointed to Jesus.
The apostles had the head knowledge. They just needed to apply it to Jesus to get it down to the heart level.
When we put our faith and trust in Jesus, we won’t have troubled hearts. When we follow God’s Will, we have peace.
Oh, yeah. We will get troubled hearts. In fact, Sibbes wrote, “The best Christians are subject to be troubled more than should be.”
But we have can grow our faith to ease our troubled hearts. You know, that is what sanctification is all about.
Making the Connections
Watts gave an explanation that is right on as to why Peter couldn’t go with Jesus after the Garden of Gethsemane. He wrote, “The high priest only could enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, and Peter might not understand, but we do, that the great Day of Atonement had dawned. On to the cross, into the tomb, within the veil, only Jesus must go.”
Resource
Peter didn’t have a clue at this point as to what was really happening. Really, how could he have?
Oh, yes. Jesus had told the apostles point blank that He was going to be hung on a cross, die, and rise again.
Seriously. Who would really believe that? It hadn’t happened before and hasn’t happened since.
There were just some things that had to wait until Jesus had been resurrected to be believed. Then the Plan of Salvation would be complete.
Then Peter would understand.
But until then, Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled …” (Jn. 14: 1 ESV).
Think of the level of comfort that Jesus was going for. He wasn’t brushing away the apostles’ feelings.
Jesus was genuinely trying to calm them. He Himself was calm.
Wait! What?
Yes. Jesus knew Judas was out conspiring with the Pharisees. He knew the cross was looming.
And here Jesus is, telling His apostles to have calm hearts.
How Do We Apply This?
- Evaluate our lives to determine when we would lay down our lives for Christ and when the rooster would crow for us.
- Walk by faith, not sight.
- Walk in the Spirit.
- Have the mind of Christ.
- Seek Jesus, not popularity.
- Make sure that we have confessed our sins to God.
- Believe in Jesus.
- Stand strong during Satan’s initial onslaught after conversion.
- Find the sin in us that is troubling our hearts.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Resources
Father God. You love us so much. Jesus loves us. He loved His apostles so much that He was comforting them when inside He had to be anything but calm as He faced His death. We know trials will come to steal our peace. Thank You that — when we do face trials — they help us grow our faith. Amen.
What do you think?
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