Devotion: Peter
Peter
Please read the scripture from the weekend: Matthew 26:31-35, 69-75
Two days before the Passover, Jesus tells his disciples he will be handed over to the authorities to be crucified soon after the festival. Then a woman anoints his head with expensive oil and Jesus explains that she did it to prepare him for burial. Jesus has told his disciples all along that he will die for the salvation of the world, but now he is saying the end is near. Still, the disciples don’t accept that Jesus will die. The idea fills them with fear.
Then Jesus tells them after the Last Supper that all of them will betray him. This is something they can respond to, and led by Peter, they all say they would never deny Jesus. And then they do. Although the risen Christ forgave them, surely the disciples, and especially Peter, regretted their betrayal the rest of their lives.
When Jesus is arrested, tried, tortured and crucified, they must finally accept his death. After his resurrection and ascension, while they wait for the Holy Spirit to empower them, they have plenty of time to contemplate their own deaths. They understand the political reality now and know there’s a good chance they will die for preaching the Gospel. And many do. It is from accepting their own deaths that they are able to give themselves fully to doing God’s work in the time that remains to them.
We, too, must accept our own deaths. Yes, we’re afraid and we avoid the topic. We fear the loss of what we have hoped for, what we have worked for. We don’t want to think about the hard parts of life. But fear is a kind of little death that we carry in our consciousness, nagging at us and eroding our joy.
When we face our fear of death, when we walk into it, Jesus goes with us. We grow stronger when we realize we have choices. We can’t escape death, but we can choose to live life so fully and joyfully that when death comes, it is merely the gateway to Heaven and eternal joy.
Often the death of a loved one makes us confront our own mortality. But we can also start the process: plan your estate or your funeral; buy a plot or a niche; take time when you learn a high school classmate has died to recognize that you are not too young to die, and someday you will.
And then – live. Go after those hopes and dreams, recognizing that your time on earth is finite and remembering that Jesus has conquered death.
Jesus, hold my hand when I walk into my fear, especially my fear of death. Help me accept that I will someday die. And then fill me with joy and gratitude for all my days on earth! Amen.
Written by Cheryl Stubbendieck
Cheryl Stubbendieck is a member of Sheridan’s Devotion Writing Team. She was the public relations department head for Nebraska Farm Bureau before retiring in 2012. She and her husband Jim are the editors of a quarterly journal about antique side-by-side shotguns and Cheryl is the co-leader of Sheridan’s new Card Makers group. Their family includes their son Aaron and his wife Chaitra of San Francisco, CA, and their son Reed of Madison, WI.