It did not look promising as Easter week progressed. Jesus’ earthly ministry is about to end. He is having a serious conversation about events scheduled for later in the week and beyond, but these grown adult men have been arguing about who is the greatest. Worst of all Judas is thinking of betraying Him for a significant sum of money. Was that the end of the bad news? No! It is going to get worse as Jesus will explain in Luke 22:31-34.
Have you been in a situation where you felt things couldn’t get any worse, but… then it did! Maybe you are in that place now and are beginning to struggle physically, mentally or emotionally. For all of us at the present time the future is quite uncertain. There was always a degree of uncertainty about the future because our health and even the length of our lives is a gift from God –we cannot guarantee even another full day tomorrow. Now of course for many of us, under all normal circumstances, we have many reasonably good years to come.
The present crisis will be over in the not too distant future, although no-one can say exactly when. Let us look briefly at these words of Jesus to Simon Peter in Luke 22 and then apply them to our own circumstances today. 31 ‘Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you [plural] as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.’ 33 But he replied, ‘Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.’ 34 Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, Peter, before the cock crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.’ (Luke 22:31-34)
1. Life is tough and getting tougher (Luke 22:31)
Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you [plural] as wheat. Jesus was a loving shepherd of His spiritual flock over those three short years of ministry. He knew them all very well. What is more He planned to get them through the tough times to accomplish far more than they ever imagined was possible in service for God over the next few decades. These Galilean working men had rarely left their home villages apart from an annual visit to the Temple in Jerusalem to attend the Passover Festival alongside the majority of other people from their home villages.
The idea that the Christian Church could be launched and spread across the world with these people as leaders would have been seen as absurd to almost anyone else and especially to them at such a time as this. In the midst of their spiritual panic attack Jesus turns to Simon Peter and drops this bombshell in Luke 22:31. Please note the ‘you’ here is plural meaning all the disciples not just Peter. All the disciples without exception would go through this time of trial.
It is remarkable that around the globe ordinary men and women, old and young alike are going through the same uncertain times. Inevitably the poorest citizens of each country will face the toughest challenges because they have almost no money put aside for tough times, because there have been no easy ones for them. However, we will all have our struggles –Jesus never hid that from these first disciples nor us today from the Bible. In the Upper Room He warned them: ‘I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33). But He also encouraged them to see that He had come through times of trial successfully.
2. Life is uncertain, but getting better (Luke 22:32) But I have prayed for you, Simon that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. Why could those first disciples then and us now have confidence in uncertain times? Because Jesus promised to pray us through them successfully; it is not a question of whether God is on our side- this was the faulty logic of many countries in times of war to make assumptions about that. A more biblical question is this: Am I on His side? Am I seeking to live my life in a way that pleases Him? As any investigator knows in whatever field of learning – if you ask the wrong questions you cannot assume you will get the right answers. So what should we be asking God about the way we live as individuals, families and church families at such a time as this?
I believe it is something along these lines. Lord I don’t pretend to understand all that is going on in the Covid-19 crisis. The implications are potentially so serious that we might never get back to the lifestyle we had before. However, nothing takes You by surprise. In every situation we can see obstacles to progress, but Lord, open our eyes to see the opportunities. When Jesus is praying to get us through our times of trial we can have a quiet confidence about the future. What we need to grasp, though is this: ‘Lord what are You wanting to say to Your Church individually and collectively in such a time as this? Help me to play my part in proclaiming Your love to the world that others may see Jesus at work by His Holy Spirit in my life.’ When Jesus is intentionally praying for His people to accomplish great things in His service, let us be encouraged that nothing –not even the Covid-19 virus- takes God by surprise or places immovable objects on our pathway to prevent us from accomplishing His work today. He will hold us fast and bring us through this time of trial successfully. Praise God for that! Amen.
The hymn for reflection today is ‘He will hold me fast’
Brian Talbot