All The Others Said The Same

Matthew 26: 35 But Peter declared, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the other disciples said the same.

         I cannot remember how many times I have looked at this passage in Matthew 26 and missed the last sentence.  Maybe I saw it and it did not stand out. For whatever reason, in preparing for the 2013 Lenten Devotionals it jumped off the page at me. Obviously this time around there was something I was supposed to glean from Matthew 26:35. “And all the other disciples said the same.”  This verse seems to be lost to most people.  We stumble along blithely thinking Peter was the only one brash enough to speak up and tell Jesus “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” Peter has taken the rap for all the disciples, in my mind, for all these many years.  I owe Peter an apology for my many years of wrong thinking. 

         But what of the others?  Are we like the other disciples? They all claimed they would never disown Jesus and to die with Jesus. Yet not one would die with Jesus on that day.  They all turned and ran. How would you or I react in this situation? Or let us consider one with less dire consequences. How would we act when in a group that is not comprised of Christians? Do we deny Jesus? Do we chose to not pray at lunch, dinner when in a group setting? Do we join in with the crowd telling off-color jokes? Do we love our neighbor as we love ourselves?  The list can go on and on. The point is do we, each in our own way, still deny Christ today? Peer pressure and ‘group think mentality’ are powerful influences in our lives. Our salvation does not rest in that group thinking, rather it rests in Christ. Our reminder of this comes from Romans 6: 3-7 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.  Christ died once for all.  We must remember we died with Christ. Our death in sin died with Christ. And our resurrection is also promised in Christ.

Prayer: Almighty God our salvation rests with You. In our time of testing, send down Your Holy Spirit to strengthen us. Keep us on Your path and following Your will today and every day. This we ask in the strong name of Jesus, Amen.