The lead up to Easter Gethsemane

Mathew 26: 31-46 Mathew 26: 69-75 Jesus told the disciples that they would all fall away that night. Peter said that he would not. He said that even if everyone else fell away, he never would. They all said the same. None of them could conceive of themselves letting Jesus down. They had followed him for three years, how could they let him down? Not only did he say that they would fall away, he said they would fall away that very night. They were all so confident in themselves. HOW DID JESUS KNOW THAT THEY WOULD ALL FALL AWAY? It is found in Zachariah 13:7 Here is something baffling. Not only were the disciples not as strong and loyal as they thought they would be, the fact that they fell away fulfilled the old testament prophecy. I expect they did not understand that at the time that Jesus quoted it, but when Mathew wrote about it later and shows us how Jesus quoted that prophecy, it was then that he understood it. WE FINITE CREATURES OFTEN ONLY SEE THINGS RETROSPECTIVELY. Jesus knows every little detail. He told Peter that before the cock crowed, he would deny him three times. In spite of the fact that he knew they would all fall away, he took all the disciples to Gethsemane to pray, sat them down and then selected three of them to be with him as he prayed. He selected James and John, and he also selected Peter, whom he had just told would deny him three times. ( Remember he had told Peter he would deny him that very night, Yet Peter was still chosen to be in this privileged position). If I wanted some encouragement, I do not think I would select people whom I thought would betray me, and in Jesus case, he knew that they would definitely fall away. Among them was the one who thought to well of himself that he boasted that even if everybody else fell away, he never would. He over estimated his ability. Even as they were with him, they still let him down for they were told that his soul was deeply grieved to the point of death, please keep watch with me, yet they fell asleep. The did not keep watch. It must have been a tiring day to fall asleep in the open. It is from this passage we get the saying, “THE SPIRIT IS WILLING BUT THE FLESH IS WEAK”. They were willing to keep watch, and I expect they wanted to, but their bodies were not up to it. Each time, Jesus prays, he asks the Father if it be possible to take this cup from him, yet not his will but the fathers. It is at this point that I see difficulty and no conclusive answers. The father, son and holy ghost are one, yet Jesus seems to have a different will to the father. How can that be? He then says not my will but yours. He is submitting his will to that of the father. He knew that he had come to earth to die, yet at this point, he agonises. It is almost like at this last hurdle, he is looking for another way. Remember at the start the devil tempted him and told him to turn the stones into bread when he was hungry or throw himself off the temple roof. I think that it is like that here. Jesus is wrestling with temptation. He had the power to pull out if he wanted to, yet he submitted to the father. The devil was trying to present another way for him, but there was no other way, only the fathers. A few weeks ago, James touched on this. It is not reciting bible verses that make the devil run away. It is submitting to God, and that was what Jesus was doing. He was submitting to the father. He was not going to fail at the end. V69 Peter is in the courtyard when he was approached by a girl. I think that when Jesus told Peter that he would deny him; this was not the scenario that would come to mind. I think that he would have thought about being arrested and questioned and withstanding pressure from questioning. Here was a simple recognition by a girl. He was not being heavily questioned. It was just one statement in front of other people. Jesus was arrested by now, a large number of Jews were now against him, and presumably many of them were present when the girl made this statement, and Peter instinctively denied Christ. In the gateway, another girl recognised him and made a similar statement in front of people. Again, peter denied Christ Then by standers came up to him and accused him of being one of Jesus disciples. Not only did Peter deny Christ, he denied him vehemently swearing oaths. Then the cock crowed, and Peter remembered what Christ had told him, and he wept bitterly. He had done the very thing he said he would never do, even if everyone else did, and not only did he do it, he did it three times and emphatically. I wonder if there are times when we are like Peter. We know that we are failures. We do not just feel like it, we are in fact failures. Peter was restored. He went on to be a leader in the early church, and he did die for his faith. Even though sometimes, he still failed such as when he showed favour to the Jews over the gentiles and the apostle Paul had to reprimand him. Paul said, “I WITHSTOOD HIM TO THE FACE” He still worried at times about what other people thought. Pauls intervention I presume paid dividends, and it would be known the church that Paul had reprimanded him. God accepts and uses failures. Which I am glad about, for I have failed many times, yet I am still part of Gods family and he uses me. Let us take heart, if Peter could be restored and mightily used of the Lord, then he also accepts us Easter is only three weeks away; Let us give thanks for what God has done for us in sending Christ, the saviour of failures. Let us not however just remember Easter once a year, let us remember it every day in our hearts. It is generally thought that the reason churches meet on Sunday, is that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, which is Sunday. Happy Easter when it comes

Warhorse

It is Friday, and I plan to have a lovely afternoon tomorrow stewarding for the live stream of Warhorse.

Rod Stewart - "You Wear It Well" (Live 2012)

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march the 4rth

March the 4th, Murray, my great Nephew was born

Superstition

I think my eyes have been opened in the past week. I played a small part in the latest play, "Six characters in search of an author". I have come to realise that there are some people, who do things that are nice. It is charming, and it feels good, but there is more to it than that. It is superstition. It has a deep grip on them. One lady comes to the dressing rooms and greets everyone before the performance. Another gives small gifts to people after the final performance, and tonight I heard her say, "It is a tradition, I HAVE GOT TO DO IT". I think these words say it all. They are lovely ladies and I love them, but one has the appearance of faith in that she is a church goer, an Anglican. the other is not. However they both have things they have got to do connected to the theater. It seems innocent, but I now see there is the Dark power of the devil behind it. I also feel there is physiological barrier between me and them. If that could be torn down then perhaps I could open up to them and let them see that Jesus Christ died for them to set them free from sin, death Hell and the spiritual superstitions that bind them.