Cock crows

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward.”  Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”  Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times. (John 13:36-38, NRSV)

I will do anything for love, but I won’t do that…

Don’t know why those lyrics popped in my mind. But Peter seems to be intent on being with Jesus, and when Jesus tells him he will deny Jesus 3 times, I wonder what went through Peter’s mind.

We all think we would follow Jesus to the ends of the earth, but would we?

Jesus asks us to follow and to trust and that is hard. Peter in the face of death denied he knew Jesus, 3 times.

Would you say you know Jesus if it meant your life?

Do you say you know Jesus even when it doesn’t?

Why?

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:1-11, NRSV)

I always loved the question from the angels here: “why do you stand looking up towards heaven?”

Well actually, Jesus was just here talking to us, which in itself is a miracle considering He was dead, but now as He was talking He started floating up into the air! why would we not be watching Him float away!

This would really get me going though. I mean we just saw Him killed 40 days ago, and since then He has been retelling us all the stuff He told us before His death, and now here He goes again!

So this is what set the world on fire, 11 men who didn’t get it and now in 40 days are the ones who deliver the message to the world with zeal and conviction. Would we have had the same reaction?

unforgivable

holy-spirit“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God;  but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.  And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say;  for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 12:8-12, NRSV)

The only unforgivable sin is not speaking against Jesus or using God’s name in vain.

It isn’t even one of the 10 Commandments!

It is blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

So what does that mean?

To know what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, we need to know what blaspheme means, and according to Merriam-Webster online blaspheme means “to talk about God or religion in a way that does not show respect”. So to talk about the Holy Spirit in a way that doesn’t show respect.

Ok, so what does that mean?

To say the Holy Spirit doesn’t have a place in your life? Or the Holy Spirit isn’t a part of God?

I am really not sure what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

I believe the Holy Spirit drives my life, even when I don’t understand it. I believe that the Spirit is God, even when I can’t understand it.

I can’t understand the Spirit at all, but I believe the Spirit is an integral part of my life.

So what is the unforgivable sin?

in you

Heart_of_Stone_by_TheComicFanBut I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came. Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when through you I display my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. I will make the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field abundant, so that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your dealings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominable deeds. (Ezekiel 36:21-31, NRSV)

Not because of us, but because of His holy name, God will remove our hearts of stone, and give us a new heart and a new spirit He will put in us!

The Holy Spirit is living in you. He has taken your heart and replaced it with His and given you a new Spirit. One to lead you and guide you the rest of your days. Not because of you, but because of His Holy Name!

So allow His Spirit to lead you and His heart to beat in your life!

Spirit…

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  (John 3:1-8, NRSV)

Nicodemus is the model disciple… Here we see his first encounter with Jesus. It is under the cover of darkness so others will not see what he is doing. He came to inquire at night, in the dark, so not to expose his wonder, his inquisitiveness.

And here we see Jesus tell him that you must be born from above. You must be born of the Spirit and of water. Now every person is born of water. When the human baby is born of the mother, there is a lot of water involved. So you can not enter the kingdom of heaven without water and spirit. Now what about those babies that aren’t born. Well that depends on when we say birth happens, and when a baby is in utero there is a lot of water involved there as well, and I am not here to put God in a box. But this has been said that water is baptism, and I do not necessarily agree with that. But you must be born of water and spirit.

And God’s Spirit is like the wind. We can not catch the wind or see the breeze. We can only see the effects of the wind, yet no one would say the wind doesn’t exist. But we can not see God or understand the concepts around Him, so we say it isn’t true.

Nicodemus could have been turned away because he didn’t understand. But he kept questioning. He kept inquiring.

Allow the Spirit to work in and through you.

Here is a song this passage always reminds me of: