Self Confidence

Mark 14:27-52

It's a small part of today’s exciting reading, but it's a problem we all face.

The disciples have just shared the Last Supper and sung a hymn with Jesus. They’re on their way to a garden to pray. The disciples are confused about many things that Jesus has said and done tonight, but they are experiencing some great spiritual moments.

Then, on their way to pray, Jesus shocks them again, announcing, "You will all desert me. But I will meet you again."

Peter speaks, "Even if I'm the only one, I will never turn away from you!" Jesus tells Peter he will deny that he even knows Jesus 3 times before dawn.

"No, Lord! Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!" Peter declares, and the others agree.

But soon the circumstances change. Jesus is arrested, and he doesn't even resist. The disciples don't know what to do, and they scatter. Soon, we know we’ll hear the rooster crow, marking Peter’s three denials.

We know this story is part of our testimony. We can get excited and experience great moments where we’re “in the zone” spiritually. But then, whether circumstances surprise us or we forget that it’s Jesus power that gives us strength, we declare, “I’m stronger than the others; I will never…!” But in the next moment we stumble, and we’re reminded of Jesus words in John 15, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.”

Still, even as the disciples scatter in fear and Peter fails to keep his promise, even as we reveal our weaknesses, Jesus is resolute in his commitment to go to the cross on our behalf, to pay for our sins and offer us forgiveness, inviting us to rely and rest in him.