Most people would say that they believe that know their self pretty good. We live inside these bodies so it would be natural that we would know what kind of person we are. In any given situation we think that we how we would react, and what our character is like. May I say to you respectfully, we do not know what kind of person we are, we only think that we do.
The reason that I know this is true is not from my own personal experiences with life, the authority for who we are comes from the words of the Bible.
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”
The entire chapter of Luke 22 details the moment that Peter, who is so bold and sure of himself, discovers the truth of Jeremiah words: “The heart is deceitful above all things”. Our heart, the inner person that we are, is defective. From the moment that Adam sinned and became a fallen being, he passed on to all of us that same nature. We are flawed in our character and nature and most of the time we are not even aware that this defect is present in us. This flaw is so hidden from us that we don’t even know that anything is wrong.
As Jesus is with Peter in Luke chapter 22, the scene is the Feast of Unleavened Bread during passover. This is the time that Jesus chose to offer His life for all of us as the fulfillment of the Lamb that was pictured in the old testament book of Exodus. It was during this point in the Bible that Jesus would become “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
As the feast begins, Jesus tells His disciples “To go and prepare the passover for us, that we may eat.” (22:8)
Jesus begins to describe his “fervent desire to eat the passover” with His disciples before He suffers. He takes the bread and the wine, gives thanks and divides it among those present setting an example for the future for how we should remember this night when Jesus gave all that He had for us.
Jesus then turns to Peter and tells him: “Simon, Simon! Indeed, satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren.”
I think that if Jesus said to me, that satan had asked for me to sift me as wheat, I would have told the Lord; “Don’t let him Lord!” Then I would have asked the Lord what He meant by “After you have returned to me, strengthen your brothers…” I would have wondered what Jesus meant by “Return to me”. Lord
As it turns out, this is exactly what Peter told Jesus. “Lord I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.” (22:33)
It is here that we witness Jesus teach Peter a very valuable lesson; we don’t know ourselves.
Jesus tells Peter that not only will he not have the courage or faith to die with Jesus, he will not even be able to stand up to the questioning of a small servant girl when she asks Peter if he knew Jesus. Jesus warns Peter:
“I tell you Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know me.” (22:34)
In verse 56 of Luke’s account of Jesus life, we see that servant girl ask Peter if he was with Jesus. His firm answer is: “Woman, I do not know Him.” After the servant girls persistent second statement that she had seen Peter with Jesus, he makes his second denial; “Man, I am not“.
After an hour has passed, Peter is again asked a third time about his knowledge of Jesus. Wanting to make sure that this young woman was sure that Peter was not with a Holy man such as Jesus, Peter uses a cursing expletive.
Mark 14:71 “Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!”
Peter must have remained close by to Jesus during this entire ordeal, for as soon as Peter used the expletive that he never knew Jesus, he turned and saw Jesus looking at him when the rooster begins to crow and Peter remembered what Jesus had said. Peter never imagined that such a thing could take place in his life. He resolutely determined that nothing was going to prevent him from giving all that he had to follow Jesus. I believe that Peter meant every word that he had said to Jesus. I believe that it was Peter’s sincere intention to never deny Jesus. The problem was that Peter did not know the deceitfulness of his own heart. Even as none of us know ourselves because our heart deceives us.
If you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, then I am sure that you have also determined to follow Him no matter what the cost. Perhaps you have made the confession that you love the Lord above all other things and if necessary, you would be willing to give your life to follow Jesus. I certainly hope that if presented with a situation where we had to make that decision, that we would be able to follow through on that desire.
The confession that we have made that we will follow Jesus as all cost, is one of the major reasons that the Lord allows us to have an opportunity to test that confession.
How would we genuinely know if we really were committed to Jesus the way that we claim, unless we have an opportunity to deny Him? It is for this reason that the Lord will place us in a situation where we can see how we will react when under pressure. Maybe it is a stressful situation where you have the choice to either be patient or loses your temper. Perhaps it will be at a time when your friends or family will make fun or scold you for your trust in Jesus. It may be during the loss of something that you love desperately in your life that you see who you really are.
All these types of situations bring us face to face with the genuine person we are. They are not designed to make us feel worthless or hopeless, but to cause us to realize how much we need Jesus and His cleansing from the sin we commit every day. Paul wrote that it was when he was the weakest that he found out how strong the Lord was for him:
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “And Jesus said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
One of the major steps to really growing in the Lord is when we recognize just how vulnerable we are to sin and the deceitfulness of our own heart. It is then that we become very wary of anything that our heart feels because we understand that we cannot trust those feelings. We trust instead what the Lord has already said in His word, and place our behavior under the submission of the Lord’s commandments.
When people use us and hurt us and say all kinds of terrible things about us, we do what Jesus said, instead of what our heart is telling us to do:
Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you…”
Luke 6:28 “bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.”
In the world they tell you to “follow your own heart and just be yourself…” The problem with this thought is that very often if we follow what our heart is telling us without filtering those feelings through what the Lord has said, we are going to say or do the wrong thing. One of the reasons that the world is in such a big mess today is that fallen human beings are following the desires of their own heart and causing such tremendous hurt to themselves and others.
When we love people who are unkind to us. When we give to those who have never given to us. When we forgive people even when we are not at fault, something amazing happens: We are beginning to imitate our Father in Heaven, instead of imitating all other humans on this planet.
Matthew 5:44-48 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
Let all of us who claim to follow Jesus, endeavor to become more like Him and those who want to be like their Father in heaven. For He visits is love, Mercy and Grace on everyone, especially those who deserve it the least.
Rob Robinson
