AND PETER REMEMBERED
Matthew 26
2You know that the Passover is in two days–and the Son of Man will be delivered up treacherously to be crucified.
10 … Why do you bother the woman? She has done a noble (praiseworthy and beautiful) thing to Me. 11For you always have the poor among you, but you will not always have Me. 12In pouring this perfume on My body she has done something to prepare Me for My burial. 13Truly I tell you, wherever this good news (the Gospel) is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will be told also, in memory of her.
18 … Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, The Master says: My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.
21 … Solemnly I say to you, one of you will betray Me!
23 … He who has [just] dipped his hand in the same dish with Me will betray Me!
24 The Son of Man is going just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better (more profitable and wholesome) for that man if he had never been born!
25 … You have stated [the fact].
26 … Take, eat; this is My body.
27 … Drink of it, all of you;
28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which [ratifies the agreement and] is being poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
29 I say to you, I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it with you new and of superior quality in My Father’s kingdom.
31 … You will all be offended and stumble and fall away because of Me this night [distrusting and deserting Me], for it is written, I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. 32But after I am raised up [to life again], I will go ahead of you to Galilee.
34 … Solemnly I declare to you, this very night, before a single rooster crows, you will deny and disown Me three times.
36 … Sit down here while I go over yonder and pray.
38 … My soul is very sad and deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and keep awake and keep watch with Me.
39 … My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will [not what I desire], but as You will and desire.
40 … What! Are you so utterly unable to stay awake and keep watch with Me for one hour? 41All of you must keep awake (give strict attention, be cautious and active) and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
42 … My Father, if this cannot pass by unless I drink it, Your will be done.
45 … Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of especially wicked sinners [whose way or nature it is to act in opposition to God].
50 … Friend, for what are you here?
52 … Put your sword back into its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53Do you suppose that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will immediately provide Me with more than twelve legions [more than 80,000] of angels? 54But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must come about this way?
55 … Have you come out with swords and clubs as [you would] against a robber to capture Me? Day after day I was accustomed to sit in the porches and courts of the temple teaching, and you did not arrest Me. 56But all this has taken place in order that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.
64 … You have stated [the fact]. More than that, I tell you: You will in the future see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty and coming on the clouds of the sky.
75 And Peter remembered Jesus’ words, Before a single rooster crows, you will deny and disown Me three times. And he went outside and wept bitterly.
And Peter remembered Jesus’ words.
Jesus is always saying what is real. He’s always revealing Himself. That is the heart of God – Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Completely and always open, pouring out on behalf of the Other. This is the nature of the One God who created us and created all things we know and can discover with the express purpose of revealing Himself to us.
Why? Because He alone knows what we were made to be, what we shall be. And there’s only one “if.” If, we remember Him. If we but give Him the honor He is due, that makes the whole world go round. It makes the whole mechanism, His whole creation, including, and especially our hearts, work perfectly.
Yes, we only taste that perfection in supernatural moments of normality, in this age, in these bodies, as the earnest confirming that His promise is sure – when we REMEMBER HIM. Those supernatural moments of normality are the moments we COMMUNE with Him and He with us… Moments we are WITH HIM.
These Red Letters, reveal the final stage of human interaction as Jesus is approaching the break-line of history, the moment of God’s extreme and complete COMMUNION with Man. Such deep communion with Man, that Jesus, Yesu, Yeshua, this Son of Man, begotten expressly for this Purpose, now alone must penetrate the enemy’s territory to accomplish the Father’s Mission. That Mission? To lay the Cornerstone, upon which eternity is established and upon which His Household will be built.
The striking feature of Jesus’ interaction with the world is that He alone knows what is really happening. The Words He has spoken and now speaks to the disciples and to the world, until the arrival of “The Other, Who will bring everything I’ve said to your remembrance,” were His, yet to be acknowledged, investments in the people who would become His flesh-&-blood-Presence, multiplying until He walks and lives in every part of the world.
Have you had a taste of that normality today? Do you determine to make that Moment the cornerstone of every day? To have the Life-Bath emersion in Union-Communication-Communion with your Father? If so, you are that flesh-&-blood-Presence of His Son and His Spirit is pouring, shining, salting the atmosphere of every room you walk into, every conversation, every family hug or kiss, “every move you make & every breath you take.” Many times, still, He is saying things, giving things through our hands or saying them through our lips that were beyond our finding out, unless He were with us, unless He is in us.
There really is no other life than this on this planet. Have you heard what Jesus is saying to you, or reminded you that He has been saying to you? Unless we remember that His words are the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breath, it would seem easy to forget that He likes to engage us in conversation – Life-changing conversation. Does it still require the pain of humiliating shame and regret for you to remember He is talking to you? He’s still recommending the same cure for all of that. “Go [out of what you think is normal] and wait on My Table, intensely give attention to My needs, My desires [your new normal]. I will send My Spirit to dwell in you and empower you, not only to ‘remember My Words,’ but be My flesh-&-blood-presence, My Life, transforming darkness into Light, despair into peace wherever we go.”
You are where He has sent you. Just take a moment and remember that what He has said to you was meant to be a conversation. You and Him.
NEXT: YOU SAY SO