Speaking Truth to Power ...

Pilate once asked, “what is truth”?  Jesus once said, “I am the truth, the way, and the life”.  I wonder when we talk about speaking truth to power, are we talking about the ever popular “my truth”, or are we talking about “the Truth”?  Our society seems bent on creating a version of truth that finds its center in “me”, that is to say, in each of us.  It is as if facts, viewed through “my” lens of perspective, create a version of truth that could care less what anyone else thinks.  Somehow, we come to believe in “my” truth with near total certainty ignoring the possibility that an application of the slightest degree of objectivity might actually result in revealing “my” truth as being nothing more than an amplification of “my” selfish desire.  What “you” want does not matter to “me”, only what “I” want, since after all it is “my” life.  We then get pretty brazen about our discovery of this new personal truth and share it ad-nauseum with any who cares to listen.  But none of this is speaking any kind of real “truth” to any kind of real power.  It is just another form of narcissism masquerading as self-discovery.

The idea of being true to one’s-self, is tantamount to the idea of coming to accept ourselves “just as we are”.  Usually when this bright idea occurs to us, we are in a much less than perfect state.  Our failure to reach perfection just looks too permanent, it is just too hard to get there.  So instead of trying and failing over-and-over again, we just give up, and discover that being true to ourselves means accepting our shortcomings and just embracing them.  We usually take that a step farther in the spiritual domain, by insisting that since we accept us “this way”, that God too must accept us “this way”, after all He made us “this way”.  It is then easy to believe that since God can forgive us literally anything, we can just rely on that forgiveness, and somehow we can save changing until He remakes us at the second coming.  This philosophy then adds spiritual credence to the idea that “my truth” is surely “OK” with God as well.  But when Jesus said that He was the Truth, He never mentions anyone else in that same sentiment.  It is not like Jesus says He is the truth, even alongside Moses, David, or John the Baptist.  All of those patriarchs of the faith were famous for their service, and their messages, but none of them qualified to be “the Truth”.

Even though scripture is inspired by God, and is our best method of coming to know God, Jesus is higher than our scripture.  For Jesus did not say, the scripture is truth, and I am just the author of the words in that book of truth.  Keep in mind, the Pharisees had scripture, and still managed to miss Jesus (the inspiration, author, and God of scripture) entirely.  And what happens when our interpretations of scripture, wind up coming in conflict with what God wants?  Do we apologize, submit, and change our way of thinking?  Not when “my truth” is more important than “the Truth”.  Not when being true to myself stands in obvious conflict with the changes Jesus wants to bring into my life.  When I am not looking for a new way of thinking, anything that comes my way different from what I think, just makes me mad.  I would submit the angrier the response, the more mistaken the thinking is in conflict with “the Truth”. 

Case in point; the Pharisees put Jesus to death.  Despite all the evidence they were warring with God, they did it anyway.  They thought that would end it.  It didn’t.  And the miracles that followed Jesus, did not follow Him into the grave and stop.  Instead, they were back in full force from the followers of Jesus who merely used/called on the name of Jesus to see them done.  Ask yourself how hardheaded you have to be to keep fighting that fight after all those miraculous signs that just will not go away?  But then, before we get too critical, perhaps we should ask ourselves how hardheaded we have to be, to keep trying to find perfection by our own strength and will, failing every time, instead of letting Jesus do that work for us?  It is not perfection that is elusive, or giving way to “my truth”.  It is the means by which we go about pursuing perfection.  We keep allowing “self” to have a role in our salvation from ourselves.  This is not what Jesus needs.  He just needs your permission, your willingness to let Him change you however He sees fit.  That’s all.  If you are willing to let Him change it, it will change.  If you try to do it yourself, or try to help God out, count on failure in your future.

It might make you mad to read these words.  The Pharisees sure did not want to hear that Jesus could end even your desire to sin, that Jesus could make you free from sin, from the inside out.  Pharisees had the law of Moses.  They believed that you lived your life according to the Law, and that was “how” you got saved (and rich by the way).  If you sinned, that was on you to fix.  Having some upstart Nazarene Hippy come claim to release you from sin just by freeing your very desires, sounded like pure apostacy to Law keepers who wanted no other way to win, even when that method only showed them the failure of our lives.  The secret they could not grasp was the idea that the Law of God points out our need of a Savior, to write it on our hearts and minds.  The Law is not the method of salvation.  It is the results of salvation.  We keep it, because we want to, because we cannot imagine any other way to live, not because we “have to” in order to be saved.  The Pharisees did not want any part of that thinking, it was too radical a shift for them and would up-end their whole way of living.  So you can imagine when Peter and John perform a miracle in the name of Jesus, then preach in His Name, convert 5,000 folks, and don’t stop doing this.  The Pharisees were angry beyond belief.

Luke gives us the account in Acts chapter 4 picking up in verse 1 the story continues saying … “And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, [verse 2] Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. [verse 3] And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide. [verse 4] Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.”  The Sadducees had only one main difference from the Pharisees and that was around the entire idea of resurrection.  They did not think it was part of Gods plan ever.  You lived, you died, end of story.  So having Lazarus be resurrected was a living, breathing, example that their doctrine was wrong.  Jesus doing it too, made it worse.  And all the others who were raised from the dead just kept putting nails in the coffin of this obviously mistaken ideology.  They did not respond, nor do we usually, by admitting they were wrong.  They did not apologize and embrace “the Truth”, because that Truth conflicted with “their” truth.  So they grab Peter and John and throw them into prison for the night.

But it didn’t matter. 5000 folks were converted by the power of the Holy Spirit moving through the words Peter said about Jesus.  The church leadership still hoped this might not be about Jesus.  They still clung to the idea maybe something new, or something else, was driving the miracle.  So on the next day they got together to flush out the details and find out what was going on.  Luke picks back up in verse 5 saying … “And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, [verse 6] And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. [verse 7] And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?”  This was the last desperate hope that the Jesus thing was dead and gone in the grave.  But in their hearts, they already knew it was not.  The Roman guards at the tomb already told them the truth about the resurrection and there was no way around that truth.

Peter then responds, again He is filled with Holy Spirit, it picks back up in verse 8 saying … “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, [verse 9] If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; [verse 10] Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. [verse 11] This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. [verse 12] Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  Yikes.  Now that is an example of speaking real Truth to a room full of what we call power.  This was the head of the church, at least the head of the original one.  These men were rich, powerful, full of influence.  They could have Peter killed if they really wanted it.  And this was certainly NOT what they wanted to hear.  My guess, these old church leaders would have rather heard that Peter was on team Satan, than on team Jesus.  At least Satan could not claim to be the Son of God, well, without lying anyway.  Jesus had a rational claim, a claim that fulfilled scripture and prophecy, a claim steeped in truth and love.

Imagine yourself in that room of angry men.  Would you tell them the unvarnished truth?  Peter did not hesitate to remind these guys that “THEY” killed Jesus.  Peter does not blame the Romans.  Peter blames them personally.  As they all had personal accountability, and frankly so do we.  Each sin we embrace requires that blood fresh upon the cross of calvary once more, the nails driven into His hands and feet, by us.  And we know what we are doing.  That kind of truth demolishes the idea of “my” truth.  What Peter spoke was not just his own words, but because he was filled with the Holy Ghost.  And despite the criticism of them, or me, here was again another opportunity to repent and be saved.  Another chance to let go of my errors, and embrace His Truth.  To see that Jesus alone is Truth.  For those leaders to change, they would have had to admit they were wrong in the first place.  Not many of us are willing to do that.

But it was not certainty that fueled the obstinance of the Pharisees, or of us.  It is pride.  It is pride that refuses to admit the possibility of being wrong, of having someone else know something that we did not know first.  We sometimes harden into the core beliefs of our spiritual ancestors instead of building upon the foundation of faith they left us.  Our church forefathers in their day, were the champions of change, they endured more of it than we will ever allow ourselves to know.  But instead of treating the Word of God as a living breathing document, a wellspring of relevance that never runs dry – we treat it more the like the rocks upon which the Law was written, fixed, immovable, when in truth it is we who have become fixed and immovable.  Take the Sabbath being kept Holy for example, in the time of Christ, the church leadership had made the Sabbath so burdensome, that the miracle of healing someone on Sabbath was not celebrated, it was ruled as a means to kill the healer.  Jesus sought to change that.  Not just in what we do, but in how we think about loving others and how that does not take a holiday on Sabbath, instead it is supposed to be amplified on Sabbath.  Jesus was a radical change agent to the common thinking about the Law in His own day.  Why do try to put cement sandals on the Lord in our own day?

Let us not become so fixed in our positions, that we cannot accommodate the Truth when it knocks on the doors of our hearts.  Let us instead see ourselves as clay, ready to be molded into an image of the Truth who fashions us daily upon the craftsman’s wheel.  What He intends us to be is yet to be known to us.  But if we are to hold on to certainty, let it be certainty in the love of the Craftsman who remakes us into His own image, at our request.

 

Misery Loves Company, So Does Sin ...

There is an old adage that misery loves company, or perhaps better stated, we seldom enjoy being alone when we are miserable.  We don’t always need others to be miserable with us, but if they do share our misery, at least we come to think we are not alone in our despair.  And it is hard to be comforted in any case when we are alone, we need the company of someone else to have even a hope of that.  It stands to reason then, that sin being pain, you might just think the reason why sin enjoys company is because it causes so much misery.  There is a certain truth in that.  Or you might think that since sin exhibits all the characteristics of a self-destructive addictive virus, you might think sin would seek out company in order to spread from host to host and thereby infect the world.  Certain truth there too, but on that score mission already accomplished.  But the context to which I refer is more akin to “politics making strange bedfellows”, in that sin can bring people together you would not expect to see, but united only because of some horrific thing they have done together.  The fallen angels after all fit more in this line.  They are not brothers of Lucifer, or have any “love” left for him.  But they do share his goal, at revenge, and hate for the source of all Love.

But what happens among fallen angels happens to us as well.  Luke recites a case study for us in his gospel letter to his friend about what we believe and why.  The other accounts of Jesus’ trial missed this point though they share so many of the other events.  But I think Luke may be showing us this for a few reasons.  First, just because someone else agrees with your thinking, it does not mean you think correctly.  Second, it is not only possible to unite with someone around a sin, it is sometimes a reality that sin may involve more than one or two people for the same sin.  Third, majority view is often the wrong view, especially when your conscientious tells you it is (you ignore the still small voice at your own peril).  Luke picks up this case study in chapter 23 of his gospel letter, beginning in verse 1 it says … “And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate. [verse 2] And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.”  It begins with Pilate because Jesus has already been found guilty by a “united” religious leadership of crimes worthy of death.

Because all the other Pharisees or Sadducees declare something about Jesus does not make it true.  In fact it is highly likely Nicodemus, and Joseph were not even invited to the previous kangaroo trial because they may have convinced others not to convict.  So the gathering was a calculated one.  But hatred of Jesus made 2 factions that normally completely disagree with each other completely united in one overriding goal – kill this Messiah.  And these are all men who aspire to and claim to be honest.  Yet they bring Jesus to Pilate with a complete lie on their lips.  Jesus never forbid the paying of Tribute to Caesar in fact, Jesus did the opposite in encouraging the paying of taxes, giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.  So they lie to make Jesus seem like a threat to the state.  But they must all agree to this lie or it will not stand.  If some of them say it is not true, the whole thing falls apart (thus the reason why Nicodemus and Joseph have been conveniently left out).  And as for Jesus declaring Himself King, Jesus instead steadfastly refused to become King, disappearing from an adoring throng more than once throughout His life.  He was not here to become King.  He was here to serve.  If He had wanted a crown He could have had it multiple times, He did not.  His Kingdom was not of this world.  So again, this band of rival factions must now put aside their differences in order to see Jesus put to death.  They must present Jesus as a threat which they know, He is not.  Ironically if Jesus were a threat to the Romans, the Sanhedrin would have embraced Him.

So yet another lesson for us from Luke, just because the religious leadership unites around some idea, does not make it right.  Hatred and killing is never right, especially killing God.  Luke continues in verse 3 saying … “And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it. [verse 4] Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man.”  So Pilate does not trust Jews, especially those mired in their religion.  He questions Jesus for himself, and finds this Guy is no threat at all.  So he tells this irate mob, this Person is innocent (and hardly guilty of perverting anything let alone the nation).  Normally, the Jews would have been happy to get a potential prisoner back from Rome in something other than a body-bag.  But they did not want that for Jesus, they wanted Him killed and dumped in some mass grave.  But credit to Pilate, that is not what Pilate wanted.  Pilate knows Jesus is innocent.

Luke continues in verse 5 saying … “And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place. [verse 6] When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean. [verse 7] And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time.”  Instead of being relieved Pilate would be merciful (he normally was not), this made the accusing band of factions even more irate.  They get animated and more furious, the kind of thing that happens when men possessed of demons get told “no” to their plans.  Have you seen that before as well?  Someone wants something from you, and if you decline their enticement they get furious in response?  You are not mad, but suddenly they are, out of nowhere.  And do we think demons have left the business of influencing our responses these days?  They have not.  Many were possessed back they who did not even know it.  I think some of us are too.  And being a religious leader is obviously no defense, that is what this whole crowd was made up of.  Yet now they howl like demons to get their way.  Declining mercy in favor of rage.

Pilate however was looking for a way out now.  Since Jesus was a Galilean, He was technically a part of Herod’s jurisdiction.  Pilate was no fan of Herod, and feeling was mutual.  But deferring the judgement of Jesus to Herod gets Pilate off the hook, while the gesture makes Herod feel more important than he actually was.  More importantly for Pilate, it gets this hate-filled crowd another leader of start to hurl their wicked plans at.  Pilate also knew that massacring the whole Sanhedrin at Passover would result in full blown revolt that Pilate would be held responsible for by Rome.  So this mob had him over a barrel.  Deferring to Herod makes it Herod’s problem.  Since Herod was in Jerusalem at this time (or close by), this would not delay the progress of the trial for too long.

Luke continues in verse 8 saying … “And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. [verse 9] Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing.”  Herod was happy to see Jesus in person, if nothing else to prove that Jesus was not John the Baptist come back from the dead.  Herod was still feeling guilty about John, he had let his pride and his lust result in the beheading of John.  And Herod was not over that yet.  Having Jesus here, Herod might press Him to bring back John, after all John was His cousin.  Jesus was reported to have brought back a great many others from the dead, why not His own cousin?  And if not bringing back the dead, at least doing something else.  Herod wanted a show.  He was not interested in becoming a believer that Jesus was the Messiah, Herod was not in disagreement with the Jewish leadership about what the Messiah was supposed to do.  But when Herod questions Jesus, Jesus just keeps completely silent.  He does nothing.  He says nothing.  This is a pretty big disappointment to Herod.

Luke continues in verse 10 saying … “And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him. [verse 11] And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.”  The rage in the voices of the Sanhedrin just gets worse.  They accuse Jesus of all manner of crimes, trying to get Herod to agree with them about condemning Jesus to death.  But Herod is a fox.  He knows Pilate sent him this matter to dump it, and avoid having to take personal responsibility.  Nevertheless the gesture is one of respect.  Herod could have let Jesus go.  He knows Jesus is innocent, and this crowd is nuts.  But if Herod does that the mob may turn their long simmering anger towards Herod against him and attempt to kill Herod on the spot.  So to appease the mob, He gives Jesus a royal robe, then has Jesus mocked and made fun of.  We add to the torture once more.  And to show deference back to Pilate, he sends Jesus back there to the only one with enough power to actually kill Jesus legally.  Herod knew what he was doing was wrong.  But Herod was less afraid of Jesus than he was of John before.  So away with Jesus.

Luke concludes the case study in verse 12 saying … “And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves.”  And there it is.  Sin loving company.  Two men who before were at odds with each other are all of the sudden united in their participation of killing Jesus, and not setting Jesus free.  This sin made them appreciate the unity of committing it.  They took comfort in the idea that they were not alone in committing it.  And they became friends over it.  And there is the lesson for us.  Just because we find others who think as we do, or act as we do, does not make what we think or do right.  In fact, it is harder to find others who are willing to think rightly, or act rightly, than it is to find others doing the wrong things.  Sin is more popular in this world than real love of others. 

When we spread hate, we do the work of the demonic throng of unseen fallen angels.  And it does not matter who that hate is directed at.  When someone says “no” to hate, those who do not even recognize the influence of the unfallen usually respond with even more hate, and more unreasonable responses – just like the crowd of religious leaders did to Jesus so long ago.  Examine your own words, if they are full of condemnation, or accusation, gossip, or lies – they are not the words of redemption, they are the words inspired by the kingdom bent on our destruction.  They are the words of the enemy of Jesus.

Imagine the testimony scriptures would tell of Pilate, or Herod, had either one of them set Jesus free.  They may not have survived it, but they would be heroes of the faith, instead of villains.  Imagine if instead of lust leading to fornication or adultery, we ran and sought the solace of our God as Joseph did so long ago.  We too might suffer the injustice of prison and lose years of our lives to loneliness we did not deserve, for often the righteous are punished by the wicked of this world.  But following the plans of our God leads to marriages that last forever.  Unity not based in sin with another, but based in sacred intimacy with another allows us to lean on each other in His way, in His path.  It is only with a partner Jesus would ordain that we can keep strong the family Jesus meant us to have. 

To think that true unity with someone else exists outside of what Jesus proscribes just because that person is willing to commit sin with us is a lie.  That is not unity at all but the deception of darkness.  It makes us Pilate and Herod, not Peter and Paul.  To bind in His way, we must bind with one devoted to His way, not in the acts of sin, but in the deeds of righteousness.  Not in the base commonality of hate speech, but in the redemptive acts of love for others as Jesus loved.  When we honor our Lord in our thoughts, our motives, our speech, and our deeds – our lives give testimony to the transformation our Lord has enacted within us.  Let history say of us, we were Peter and Paul, not Herod and Pilate.

 

Selective Listening ...

Over the course of my career, I have discovered a phenomenon thru email I would have never imagined.  I have written a great many notes, with a certain intent, as far as I could determine clear direction, and nearly universally with a positive attitude and pleasant demeanor.  But, the readers of my correspondence had reactions I could have never predicted.  What I failed to recognize, is that while I may have been writing a note in a great mood, using light humor, and just thinking to myself how wonderful the sunshine is – my reader may not be reading my note in that same frame of mind.  For the reader, everything that day that could go wrong has gone wrong.  Problems at home having nothing to do with work.  Problems with the car getting to work.  And now, the aggravation of having to read some note, from some guy who is not getting to the point fast enough.  So my email recipient reads from an angry or frustrated point of view, which may have nothing to do with what I am saying, but having everything to do with how they read it, and often with what they read.  What my reader then takes from the note, is whatever they want to take from it.  Hearing what we want to hear, is what is called selective listening.

Most of us have done this at some point or another.  We are listening to someone talk to us about some subject or another, and we just seem to tune out.  We hear a few things, but rarely everything.  And we decide how we may feel about it, based on a number of factors, most of which have little to do with the content being shared.  Attitude plays a major role.  If you talk to me when I am consumed with anger, very few of your words are likely to get through.  It does not matter that something entirely different has made me mad (nothing to do with you), the problem is, when I am mad, I listen carefully a lot less.  The same holds true for being very excited, pleasantly or not.  What I failed to realize in an office setting is that this same phenomenon holds true whether in person to person talking, or person to person writing.  Of course none of try to do this, but we seem to just wind up there from time to time.  And hearing only some of what gets said, can leave out very important things.  Things that could change the meaning of what was said, or what is needed entirely.

Should you try to read the Bible with this kind of distraction, it can get ugly quick.  If you are like me, I have to read the same text over and over and over again in order to get back to some form of what it was truly trying to say.  I have to get “me” out of the way before scripture starts to make sense again.  And if you really want to have the Bible make sense, try reading it through the lens of Jesus Christ.  Look at how Jesus lived, how Jesus loved, how Jesus did so much for the benefit of others, and nothing for Himself.  And through that lens, entire stories, or commandments, start to look a lot different.  It may be impossible to get those pre-existing distractions completely out of the way before you start reading.  Perhaps the best remedy for that is a prayer, and a request for the Holy Spirit to get all that baggage out of the picture, and allow you to see what was written clearer, to get the message Jesus intends for you to get today.  And no, I do not believe it is selective listening to get a message intended for today from scripture, followed by getting a different one tomorrow, I call that growth, and being led.

But when we are determined to get what we want to get out of a conversation, or letter, we will do exactly that.  Even if others do not share our vision, and when they look objectively at the same conversation or letter as we do, they see things entirely differently, probably more truthfully.  But a preconception colors the outcome.  And when the preconceptions are dipped in evil, evil is the only path we have left open to us.  As an example, if I decide I want to kill my enemy for what I believe they have done to me.  I can read scripture and find texts and stories that will seem to support my desired actions.  Eye for an eye.  Eternal consequences.  Killing for God that is either ordered or seems justified.  If you come at this with a preconceived evil intent.  You will find your preconceptions validated (at least in your own mind).  And no amount of objective logic will ever turn you away.  The leaders of God’s own church fell victim to this.  They fell so hard, they wanted to kill God, rather than listen to Him.  They made a choice not to believe, and so believe they did not.

Luke tells us about a case of selective listening with the worst of evil intentions, in a group of religious leaders who should have been the farthest from that phenomenon that is possible to be.  Perhaps like we should be.  People of faith who should know better.  People with the right Bible who read it all the time who should know better.  People who were physically close to God, in the Temple back then, in His flesh back then, and in His Spirit today.  But despite all this, these religious leaders sought evil, and used evil to justify the killing of God, in order to preserve the name of God.  They would stamp out the life of Christ for the blasphemy they were committing.  It was twisted irony.  And it was this group of people to show Jesus we were not worth saving anyway.  Even the best of us, were so easily twisted to be this evil.  Even the folks with the most learning would do this.

Luke starts our case study in chapter 22 of his letter to his friend about what we believe and why, it picks up at the end of the chapter in verse 66 saying … “And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, saying, [verse 67] Art thou the Christ? tell us …”  The trauma had started Thursday evening.  They found Jesus coming out of the Garden of Gethsemane late Thursday night, bleeding from His sweat, tired, exhausted, as if He had already been through World War 3.  He had.  He wrestled with His humanity, struggling with whether He could go through with it all.  And worst of all completely isolated from His Father while He carried the weight of all our sins.  It was at His weakest that Judas comes up with the betraying kiss, and soldiers grab Him taking Him away in the night.  It is daybreak now.  The soldiers have been mocking Jesus, and smacking Him around as if He were not already down and out.  Jesus is to be taken before a select council, no sympathizers of Jesus would be invited to this shindig.  This is a kangaroo court with a specific outcome already predetermined in the minds of the participants.

The question they ask Him is not about His answer, it is only about using His words to give them the justification they need to put Him to death.  They are listening to condemn Him, not to converse with Him.  Continuing in verse 67 Jesus answers saying … “… And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: [verse 68] And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go.”  Jesus points out they are not really looking to know the answer to their question, for it is not a question, it is an accusation.  And Jesus further points out the ultimate destination of this supposed court will end in no other way than His own death, for it is only for that reason they are all assembled.  No one is looking for true justice.  Everyone there is looking for death, His death.  No argument will do it.  Nothing He can say.  They will not let Jesus go, they want Him dead no matter what.  But through all of this Jesus will not refuse to speak truth to them, even if it is the last thing He may ever say to them.

Jesus continues His response in verse 69 saying … “Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.”  This answer is a little tricky.  Jesus has prophesied about where the “Son of Man” will be seen or found.  He gives no timeline for it.  Other versions imply these men will see this upcoming event.  But the statement is a statement of fact.  And to associate Jesus as being the Son of Man, you would have to accept that in order to condemn Him for His answer.  But that would mean you believe Jesus is the Son of Man and therefore the Christ.  Jesus has not said that He was the Son of Man in this answer, only that in the future this is where the Son of Man will be found.  Then there is the dangerous part of this sentence of Jesus.  The right hand of the power of God, implies there will be no power that Jesus is restricted from having.  To condemn Him may bring with it, a war against a power, they have no chance at winning.  It may even be a self-death-sentence they are truly passing.  But to see this, or hear this, they would have to be of mind to listen to His words.  They were only listening for one thing.

Luke continues in verse 70 saying … “Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am. [verse 71] And they said, What need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth.”  Selective listening.  Jesus says and I am quoting - “you” say that I am.  Talk about poking the bear.  Jesus essentially repeats the idea that they are angry enough to kill Him because deep down they know He really is the Son of God, but they refuse to accept it.  Jesus still did not actually state that He was the Son of God.  As pointed out earlier what good would it have done.  They would not have accepted it or believed it, just because He said it.  So those bent on His death now attempt to use words He said to make that happen.  What difference does it make that He may not have actually given them what they were looking for.  Other versions describe a great deal of frustration during this purported trial as previous witnesses would disagree with each other making it impossible to convict Him.  But Luke does not discuss that.  He zeroes in on how those bent on evil will find a way to do evil, no matter what is said or how it is said.

But I ask once again, are we any different.  We may not have been present at the sham trial to convict our Lord, but do we still read the scriptures with intent, with preconceptions, with a notion to do what we want to do instead of what Jesus would actually ask.  Do we ignore the life and ministry of Jesus, in order to create and promote a judgmentally based religion that makes me feel holy because you are less holy?  That makes me feel better about my sins, because I know your sins are worse?  Do we scorn and avoid forgiveness of each other while still craving the forgiveness of God?  People do sin against us.  It happens.  That is why they need forgiveness, and why we need to offer it.  To choose not to, because we are still mad or hurt about what they did, is to put chains on our own experience instead of embracing the freedom Jesus longs to offer us in the form of forgiveness itself.  What slight, what sin, what hurt, is worth throwing away your own life because of what someone else did to you?  And worse to take up a course of vengeance masquerading as justice, and try to use the Bible to justify what you want to do, is to become a member of that ancient Sanhedrin, a guest of honor at the murder of Jesus.  I would rather instead be uninvited to an event like that, wouldn’t you?  Better to forgive.  Better to read with a mind to be led.  Better to let go any preconception, and allow the Holy Spirit room to show you something new.

 

Power Unchecked ...

Perhaps the most self-destructive gift the devil will ever offer humanity is unchecked power.  Even our imaginations of what having great power over others would be like, are usually far from ideal.  We dream of vengeance (that of course we call justice), we dream of getting even, of showing those who have it coming, just what they have earned.  Since the times of kings has past, and most of us will never have real power over anything, we often look to religion to do for us, what we are unable to do.  For those who have wronged us, we throw “the judgement” at them.  For we reason, no man will ever escape the judgement of God.  And obviously behind the judgement comes the fires of hell for the punishment our wrongdoers have so richly earned.  You hurt me, you will get yours, in the judgment of God, and ultimately in the fires of hell.  And in this kind of “revenge religion” thinking, we alienate those who might otherwise be open to the ideas of a loving God, who could forgive them their mistakes, and transform them into a person He intended them to be.  But that is not the God we present.  We seem to want a wrathful, angry God, ready to punish those who hurt us – even if “we” only want the forgiving side of God for ourselves.

But what happens to a person, when they are given unchecked power?  They tend to use it, badly.  Those guards at Nazi prison camps were just normal guys before the war.  No different than you or me, but sell them a lie, give them power, and all of the sudden a normal guy becomes a monster.  And it was not just during WW2 that Japanese, or German, or even Allied guards might have become monsters obsessed with vengeance or “justice”.  It happens even now.  When power goes unchecked, normal people start doing things normal people should not do.  And I imagine it happens slowly, not all at once.  I don’t imagine you jump from nothing to full-blown torture, but the journey there seems inevitable.  It happens across cultures, ideologies, and governments.  But the end results are usually the same, when no one supervises the power or keeps it in check, our violent tendencies seem to creep out.  But of course most of us would never see ourselves in this light, and by the same token most of us have never been in any position like this.  And perhaps it is another gift of God, to keep that kind of unchecked power away from us, so we never experience anything like that.

Take as a case in point, the job of Temple guard, back in old Jerusalem.  It was your job to keep order in the holiest place in the nation.  The literal or actual mercy seat atop the Ark of the Covenant lived in the place where you work.  This means the literal presence of God could be felt near you.  This was no ordinary prison guard gig, this was nothing like that.  Your job was to preserve order in the Temple, keep out the drunkards, make sure no fights found there way in here, secure the top brass of the Sanhedrin or Temple priests to keep them safe.  And when directed by the High Priest, you might be sent on various missions across the region to preserve the favor of God.  But to do this job, you very likely believed in the God who was supposed to be at the top of the command food chain you were subscribed to.  With God so close, and so baked in to your reason for being, you would think, the average Temple guard would have been upright, just, and a good mix of justice and gentleness.  They might strike us as sort of a religious policemen who was there to insure your safety at any given religious function or gathering.  And being largely of Jewish decent in the guards, you might have even thought the Temple guards were a light defense against Rome itself.

You would hope that these Temple guards were different, surely they were supposed to be, based on working so near God, and ideally for God.  But what happens when good men like this wind up working for power obsessed priests who use religion to control the people instead of uplift them?  What happens when the ministry is corrupted into a financial enterprise where profit is the ultimate goal?  Missions are less about order and more about control or worse enforcement or collections.  And over time the God who is so nearby is forgotten for the sake of the corrupt bosses who run the day-to-day.  And now tonight you will be part of the crew assigned to pick up some renegade Rabbi known as Jesus of Nazareth.  Your bosses think Him a total heretic.  He is a troublemaker with a large following and a reputation for miracles too tough to fake.  Your bosses want this Jesus contained; you know at least that much.  So how might you treat this assignment?  Most of us (with the benefit of hindsight) would probably quit before we took that job on for ourselves.  Better to be unemployed than to be caught up in this tragedy.

But that is not what happened that night, there were more than enough guards to get the job done.  They caught Him.  Jesus was now in custody.  The priests were setting up His trial, so the prisoner was left in the custody of Temple guards.  We know how the Romans would ultimately treat Jesus, keep in mind they had zero reverence for the Jewish religions, rules, or God.  But how would the Temple guards treat Jesus, guards who did believe in God the Father, the Messiah, and all the rules of mercy our God’s law of love demands of us?  Luke gives us a chilling account in the 22^nd chapter of his gospel letter to his friend about what we believe and why.  He picks up at the end of this chapter in verse 63 saying … “And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him.”  The torture begins.  This was a prisoner in your charge and what do you do?  You smack Him around.  Why?  Is it because Jesus is resisting arrest or confinement?  Does Jesus swear at you using fowl language insulting your mother and belittling your manhood?  No Jesus is not a problem prisoner.  He is meek.  Gentle as a lamb.  Jesus does nothing to make your job harder, He is instead the model prisoner every guard should hope for.  Jesus is not a hardened criminal, in fact He knows nothing of being a criminal.  And how do you respond to the Lamb of God who takes no revenge, and makes no resistance, you smack the crap out of him, right in His face.  Why?  Because you can.  Because it’s fun.

And this is what unchecked power has done to your heart.  It has made you into a monster who derives pleasure from smacking the crap out of a restrained Rabbi because His eyes keep showing you mercy and love.  You hate that.  You want it to stop.  Jesus is supposed to be a radical Rabbi troublemaker, not a meek and mild Lamb.  Perhaps if you smack Him, He will get mad and show He is human, perhaps Jesus will show His true colors if you hit him enough, if you make Him bleed.  Once Jesus sees His own blood He will finally get mad and lash out (but no worries He is restrained, so none of this should be dangerous to you).  So you take it up a notch.  Luke continues in verse 64 saying … “And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee? [verse 65] And many other things blasphemously spake they against him.”  So we move up from torture to blasphemy against God.  They challenge His abilities as a prophet.  They ridicule Him as thinking He might be the Messiah, let alone the Son of Man, or Son of God.  Are we any different?

Oh sure none of us could imagine ourselves being in any Temple guard shoes.  But then we turn around and sin against God in our day to day lives pretending as if God does not see us, or does not know it was me who did it.  Then we blaspheme, asking questions and making statements like … well, God made me this way.  He could have stopped me if He wanted to.  So since He did not stop me, whatever I did was His fault.  His fault for making this way.  His fault for not stopping me.  If you think about it, its God fault this whole world of sin exists anyway.  He allowed the tree of good and evil in Garden, and He did not do enough to restrict it from us.  Should have stopped snakes from talking, or Eve from eating, or Eve from leaving the side of Adam in the first place.  So we lay the fault of sin at the feet of God and blaspheme against God in the process.  And it is a modern Temple guard we have become.

And if you think things have changed today, how well do we treat prisoners today?  Do you think prisons are comfortable places?  Do you think medical care there is what it should be?  Sure, people who have committed crimes may have forfeited creature comforts as part of the punishment of their crimes while in prison.  But do we ever offer them a chance at redemption even after they are out of prison.  The words “convicted felon” hang around a person’s neck as a permanent branded wound from which they will never fully recover.  Forget voting so representation is mostly out.  Forget working anywhere decent for no “decent” place wants a convicted felon working there or living nearby.  We still treat those who have made mistakes, those we have power over, not very well.  And we reason, we are not treating Jesus this way, we are treating a criminal this way.  But Jesus says, as you did it unto the least of these, you did it unto me, and who might be more the least of these, the least deserving than a prisoner, current or former.

I submit it is a mercy of God that humanity is not meant for wielding power.  Only God is qualified to do that, as the life of Jesus testifies power was only ever meant for the benefit of others, not for the punishment of them, even when they deserved it.  Jesus did not come to this earth looking for justice, He came here looking to show us what mercy looks like.  Perhaps yet another reason to follow God, is to let go any ideas of power, or the need for power, or the desire for it.  Perhaps in following God, and leaving the power with God, we are free not to have to be worried by it, or burdened by it, or with the guilt of having used power badly.  To be free, truly free, we can just follow Jesus and leave all the leading up to Him.  I pray for all the correctional officers in our world, that they fall not into temptation, and can instead reflect the love of Jesus even to the hardest criminal.  And I pray for me and my family, that we fall not into temptation, and can also reflect the love of Jesus to those we come in contact with, from the greatest, but especially to the least of any.  For in faces like that, I begin to see the face of Jesus Christ.

 

On the Edge of Brokenness ...

How many in a crowd go unnoticed?  Who might you know, that carries the crushing weight of loneliness?  It is our isolation to blame, some we have chosen, some beyond our control.  But when we feel separated, and alone, the weight begins to mount until it is so great it is beyond our words to describe.  TV is only distraction from it.  The internet makes it worse.  Our smart phones do nothing to alleviate it.  People behind electronic screens are the not the same as people who can offer a hug when a you might trade your entire world for a hug.  Tactile contact is so precious infants will die without it, and perhaps this need never goes away.  So it must not surprise you, that your enemy looks to segregate you from all human contact if he can.  And then feed you only poisoned human contact if he must.  To destroy someone, you must begin by isolating them away from any source of love.  Distract them if you can.  Cause them to become someone hard to love if you are able.  Turn our “needs” into expressions of selfishness that make it impossible for others to break through in exactly the right way.  Make us the thorns on the rose bush instead of the flowers.  All a part of an insidious plan to break what was never intended to be broken.  Which begs the question, how do we undo it?

At creation, it was not good for humanity to be alone.  And because of the dangers of Satan, it was not ever good for man to separate and face him alone.  Alone we would be vulnerable, together we could draw some limited strength from each other, perhaps if only, to remind each other to seek the protection of God.  To focus our mind’s eye on the source of love that never runs dry, and shares an intimacy with us on a level so deep we can scarcely fathom it.  Perhaps the greatest reason why “church” should remain important to us, is this one.  In the body collective, we socialize with those who have varying degrees of knowledge of, and experience with, the love of God.  We can through that socialization encourage each other, provide love to each other, and refocus attention back to the source of all love.  We are never too far from Him, who loves us so much.  We are in fact, not alone.  Church provides us a venue to witness this.  Not through what we can gain from the going, but from what we can give in the serving.  It is by reaching out, by serving, that we are reminded of the needs of others – and taught we may be able to reflect His love in tactile form to meet those needs.

But for my conservative friends who believe “church” is the answer, rather than the opportunity to shower love at the church venue, I offer the continuing account of Matthew in his gospel to his contemporaries’ chapter 26.  So many of us lie on the edge of brokenness.  What we need are not just words of love, but deeds and demonstrations of love.  We need to share these with others.  We need to see them shared in our own lives.  Church should be a venue for this.  But if church has become ceremony, then that opportunity goes away.  Worse, if church has become only celebration events, we are distracted to forget the purpose of sharing love altogether.  And worse still, if church has become a mirror to reflect an unforgiving law, largely made up of the interpretations of man, love has left the building entirely.  Jesus found himself alone, in a church of the latter, though this was never his desire or intent.  Jesus created a religion designed to understand the price of forgiveness, to drive our hearts to love and thus the diminishing need for continued forgiveness.  But ceremony had replaced transformation of hearts.  And church had degenerated until the misuse of the Law was now on display for all to see.

This lesson of church evolution in the time of Christ, was meant to help us avoid its reptition in our own day; but that lesson seems to be lost on us.  Judas and Peter, founding members of the next, new church, had found themselves both in isolation by choice.  They needed each other, both for different reasons, but both in need of love and comfort they might have offered each other if they had remained together.  Instead Judas found himself totally alone unable to humble himself to admit his mistakes and seek the comfort of church, the collection of the body.  Peter chose to be alone, hoping to lose the disguise of church, and be only one man in the crowds of the world.  Peter wanted to blend in and be unnoticed.  From this position he could watch, and see what he dreaded to see, but needed to see for the sake of closure if nothing else.  If his faith in the Messiah was misplaced, he needed to know it.  If Jesus was to die like every other would-be Messiah died, he needed to see it.  This way he could look for another.  In his isolation his faith was wounded greatly, and no one was there to offer comfort, or encouragement.  Church we hold at fixed times, in fixed venues, does nothing to solve this problem even today.  We would need to think of church differently and more fluidly today if a solution is to be found that meets needs of the struggling in real time.

Matthew continues with the story, of the results of betrayal – not just of Judas at this point – but of a church that has forgotten its only real purpose; to show the love of God to all.  Matthew now recounts what his church had devolved to in the last days of the ministry of Jesus before He dies.  It begins in verse 57 saying … “And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. [verse 58] But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.”  Jesus is not just being taken to some random local church on a bender from what the establishment dictates.  He is being taken to the home of the establishment, to the pinnacle of church leadership, where only the top people in the nation will decide his fate.  Popes, archbishops, priests, pastors, elders; pick your title of church leadership in today’s vernacular – it is these people that will decide the fate of our God, if he is to live or die.  But ALL of them are already bent on his death.  They are now only looking for an excuse, ahem, that is to say, a legal justification to see that outcome.  Mercy is unknown to them.  Love a mystery they may only claim to shower on their families, but for “heretics”, it is wholly absent.

Peter goes into the palace of the high priest.  Note that even back in the days of Jesus, the church leadership does not seem to want for a place to live, nor for servants, or food.  Being paid to lead the church of God has transcended being sustained, into being well-to-do, and all of it, in the name of a God who desires mercy more than all else.  Still today, so many church leaders, have made this compromise with themselves never remembering for a moment what the privilege and wealth of Caiaphas might have done to influence his thinking in these proceedings.  But Peter has not gone to his house to bring the good news of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Savior of us all.  Instead Peter hopes to slip in un-noticed.  Peter does not want to preach there, he wants to participate through witness of what takes place there.  He will do nothing to call attention to himself as he is “undercover” in the world.  How many of us are no different?  We choose isolation from the church, and then go undercover into the world.  We wish no one to know of our Christianity, because we do not want the burden of having to love others, and treat them kindly.  If no one knows we are a Christian, then how we treat others is up to us, with no stain on religion … only a stain on our hearts and souls.  But as we remain undercover from the source of love, we also embrace isolation from it, and further segregate ourselves from any source of comfort.

Matthew continues the story in verse 59 saying … “Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; [verse 60] But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, [verse 61] And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.”  In Jewish law, it took at least two witnesses to establish the truth of a thing.  So in theory, a person, particularly a preacher, who teaches heresy should easily have had more than two witnesses to their crimes.  But instead of finding actual witnesses.  The church leadership looked for, (and paid) false witnesses, to make stuff up.  This is the prosecution (who also happen to be the judges), paying for purgered testimony to fix the trial.  And STILL it does not work.  Mosty because what one witness lies about, another undoes with his own lies.  And at the end of it all, they have nothing, despite the rather large cash payments lost for another result.  And they are livid.  The church has chosen to kill God, rather than listen, and they are now ready to break the Law to get there to accomplish it.

Any defense attorney could easily have wiped the floor with these witnesses, and consequently with this mock trial.  Any defense attorney could have gotten the whole thing dismissed.  And where was Judas, watching silently from the audience hoping still that Jesus would rise up call down those 12 legions of angels and kill these fools?  And where was Peter, not breaking cover to step forward and offer his services as the defense attorney for Christ.  In fact, none was provided.  Peter could have stepped in, and at least tried to defend Jesus when it counted.  But fear kept Peter silent and alone.  Does fear of rejection still keep you silent and alone?  Does fear of having odds stacked against you, by powerful people, keep you silent when if nothing else you could at least offer words of encouragement to one in need.  It would not have changed the outcome of that trial, but Peter attempting to defend Jesus would have greatly mended the heart of Christ.  But Jesus already knew what Peter was going to do, or rather not do.  Even when Peter had pledged his life in opposition to his real actions, or rather lack of action.  Instead Jesus stood alone without representation.  At last 2 people agreed about the statements of Jesus in regards to the Temple.

Matthew continues the account in verse 62 saying … “And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? [verse 63] But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.”  Throughout this farse of a church trial, conducted by church leadership, and without any notion of what church is about – Jesus remained silent.  Is it still so today?  When our church has become ceremony, or celebration, or an in-depth analysis of the interpretation of the Law, might Jesus still remain silent?  Or are we so noisy with our opinions at our events, we are simply unable to hear Him.  Perhaps so busy “praising” Him in song, we have mezmorized ourselves into such a hypnotic state we have forgotten that trying to hear Him was even an option.  We tell ourselves these are our ideas of church; yet are mystified when Jesus appears silent throughout our farse.  But He was there, waiting and hoping that just one soul might break with tradition and reach out to one other soul in need, offering to be a reflection of His love.  When that occurs, the voice of Jesus can be heard, in the tears of gratitude of one who was being crushed by loneliness, and now can see relief.  Judas could have given this to Jesus, but remained silent in church.  Peter could have done the same, but chose to remain silent as well.

The High priest is desperate.  He knows the words of Jesus regarding the destruction of the Temple, while not popular, are also not a crime.  So he has only one option left, to get Jesus to publicly state His identity.  For a man to claim to be God is blasphemy.  It still is.  The only time this is untrue, is when God claims to be God.  The High Priest knows Jesus is God, but also knows He can use the law to get him stoned or killed for this offense.  Knowing the truth hardly stops a determined church leadership from doing what it wants to do, even if that is killing God.  The silence has been deafening up to now from Jesus.  So the High Priest demands by the living God to answer his question.  There is no choice now.  When compelled under these terms Satan must answer, demons must answer, angels must answer.  It is a way to sort out who is who.  If the desperation of your loneliness has driven you to seek out souls who have departed from this world for comfort, ask them using these same words who they truly are – but be prepared for an answer you will not enjoy.  Yet it is not God’s intent for you to find comfort from demons in masquerade, but from imperfect living humans who are willing to share His heart and reflect His love.

Jesus is compelled to answer picking up in verse 64 saying … “Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”  Jesus is God.  He sits at the right hand of the Father.  And when He returns it will be in power, coming in the clouds of heaven for the entire world to see.  But in this case, Jesus tells the High Priest he will see Him come in this way.  Now we have the benefit of hindsight.  We know that the persecution of Jesus did not end at the cross by the Jewish leadership.  They sought to detroy the faith after Jesus was resurrected and returned to heaven.  They killed believers, chased them, followed them, and attempted to kill any who would not conform.  Jews killing Jews.  So modern Christians interpret this promise as a threat by Jesus.  We believe it will require a “special resurrection” of this High Priest and perhaps those at that trial, in order to see Jesus second coming – even though none of them will be going to heaven with Jesus at that time.  This is certainly one possibility.

But I would offer for consideration one other possibility with even more hope in it.  Murders do go to heaven (forgiven ones that is).  Betrayers of our Lord go to heaven (witness Peter who we all believe fell into this category).  And yes, the only requirement is a change of heart to seek the forgiveness of our Lord to see this happen.  It can even happen in the last moments of a criminal’s life (like the theif Jesus will be meeting and dieing next to in only a little while).  While the life of this High Priest and the Jewish church leadership in this time is horrific, it is not beyond redemption.  It is possible that forgiveness could have been sought without the pages of scripture to document it, perhaps even to know of it.  If that forgiveness was finally sought, then this High Priest would be joining the resurrection of the righteous like any other forgiven murderer and betrayer of our Lord.  In this scenario Caiaphas could be your next-door neighbor in heaven, having both of you witness the second coming of Jesus in power and glory.  For Caiaphas sake, I hope this is what Jesus meant.  What I have come to know, is that it is not my place to judge, or to invent interpretations of scripture to fit what is commonly believed.  Instead it is to long for the soul of Caiaphas as I would long for the soul of my own son; to love this criminal of history as much as I would love my only son.  For that is the love of Jesus for Caiaphas, for me, and for my son.

But at this time in his life Caiaphas was not of a forgiving or merciful spirit, he was running the footsteps of Satan and fully doing Satanic will.  All it takes for any of us to be found this way, is to abandon mercy and love, and pick up the banner of a demand for justice against those in the wrong.  Satan does that every day.  Matthew continues in verse 65 saying … “Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. [verse 66] What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.  [verse 67] Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, [verse 68] Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?”  Caiaphas is more alone now than perhaps he will ever be, even if he is in church, and surrounded by those of like belief.  But absent service, absent mercy, and absent love – this church is nothing but the playyard of Satan himself.

But Caiaphas is not the only one there is who is totally alone regardless of the crowd size.  Judas hears this verdict and finally realizes there will be no coming back from this.  Peter hears it outside, but it is during the proceedings that Peter chooses to embrace isolation through denial.  Of him Matthew tells the story picking up in verse 69 saying … “Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. [verse 70] But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.”  Peter has been recognized as a companion of Jesus by the damsel.  Having been caught, he could have now gone inside and tried to be the defense attorney of Jesus, or at least stood by Him during this trial.  He does not.  He lies in order to stay isolated (and safe).  Peter walks down the razor’s edge of brokenness, and instead of giving up isolation and running to Jesus; he lies and embraces further solitude.

Matthew continues in verse 71 saying … “And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. [verse 72] And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.”  Peter is recognized again by another maid (no shortage of servants in the home of High Priest, wealth buys many of them).  Peter had changed location in the mansion, but still with no luck.  He is found out again.  There is still time to comfort Jesus is His isolation.  But rather than accept the inevitable and offer service to Someone else in the greatest of need, Peter doubles down on the lie, this time making a solemn oath of his denial.  Vows like this were said to be irrevocable and unbreakable to the point of death.  Essentially the man who said he was willing to die to remain by Jesus only a few hundred feet away, was now pledging to die rather than ever having known Jesus at all.   Both were the promises of men.  Both were lies under pressure.  Both should tell us what our promises are worth today.

Matthew continues in verse 73 saying … “And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. [verse 74] Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. [verse 75] And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.”  Now to further affirm his isolation, Peter adds swearing to his list of crimes to prove he is not a Christian.  The sons of thunder earned their name from language like this.  When the rooster begins to crow, the words of prophecy of Jesus have been fulfilled.  The rooster affirms the isolation Peter has chosen for himself, cutting himself off from the source of all love. 

And are we any different?  We walk on a path at the edge of brokenness, and when confronted we deny any connection to Jesus, and further deepen our isolation.  For we have developed a great need to be served and abandoned all ideas of service ourselves.  We wish church to be a “place” where we go to fill our needs; not a concept of brotherhood that never turns off, demanding mercy and love from us even for those that are hard to love.  We look to end our isolation in front of screens that put no real demands upon us, and are surprised when this is not enough.  The weight of loneliness is real.  Its ability to crush our spirit is real.  The remedy is real as well.  But is not found in what we discover that meets our needs, but in the discovery when we meet the needs of others. 

In meeting the needs of others, we lose the needs we thought we had for ourselves.  Other priorities combined with the love of God, begin to open up the very words of Jesus in our ears, and make them real as if spoken in audible form.  The selfish heart is not too keen on this answer.  The untransformed heart will find it does not have the strength to grasp it.  But the heart that is willing to submit itself before Jesus to be remade, and re-created, will find it comes naturally.  And loneliness will become a thing of the past, and a burden no more.  Many solutions to loneliness present themselves, but only one is permanent.  Because only one changes who you are, puts you in harmony with God, and teaches you to see the infinite value of God’s treasure – namely others - for what and who they are.