Reflecting on Matthew 26:69-75
“Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken.” (Matthew 26:75)
As a Jesus follower, I want to remember the words Jesus spoke.
Though not because those words always make me feel good.
Peter heard Jesus speak many words, but these words really moved him.
“And he went outside and wept bitterly.” (Matthew 26:75)
Peter is experiencing deep conviction, awareness of his failure.
Having just boasted that he would never fail, this was hard.
Unlike Peter I cannot audibly hear Jesus like he did.
But I hear Jesus every time I read the Jesus stories.
I also hear Jesus when I read the rest of the Bible.
I even hear Jesus when I reflect on my life, or hear others speaking!
But how do we know that it is Jesus we are hearing?
Jesus speaks to me in words that COMFORT me.
‘I am with you, your loved and forgiven, God is not against you!’
The very presence and actions of Jesus, as well as His words, also comfort me.
The way He lived and died, the way he rises and reigns, comforts me.
Jesus also speaks to me in words that CONVICT me.
‘Love, serve and forgive others, your flesh is weak, where is your faith?!’
The way Jesus lived and loved also convicts me.
When I see Jesus, I sense my own falling short and lack of love.
Jesus also speaks to me in words that COMPEL me.
‘Go and do likewise, obey everything I have commanded you, be merciful!’
I find Jesus compelling, I am inspired to love and live like Him.
Jesus draws me to become better, to step into and move towards His better way!
All three of these work together: comforting, convicting, compelling.
But it is critical that we start with the comfort.
If not, His words of conviction may lead to condemnation.
The conviction of Jesus is always accompanied by love.
If we do not sense that love, we may despair like Judas.
Both Judas and Peter failed Jesus, and each felt remorse.
But Judas’s feelings led him to die, Peter’s led him to Jesus.
Jesus restored Peter, and could have restored Judas too.
The better we know Jesus, the better we will hear Him.
We can discern His comforting, convicting, compelling voice.
If you are despairing or feeling condemned, it is NOT Jesus’s Voice!
Sometimes I hear christians or churches who don’t sound like Jesus.
They use guilt or fear to motivate or criticize people.
‘Sinners’ are not drawn to them, like they were to Jesus.
People come away from them feeling worse, not feeling hopeful.
We can also speak in non-Jesus ways to ourselves.
We’re constantly condemning and talking ourselves down.
So many voices around and within us – but are they Jesus?
If you want to remember Jesus’s words, dwell on them.
Let the words of Jesus dwell in you richly!
Feel their loving comfort, their loving conviction, their loving compulsion.
Sometimes they will make you smile, sometimes they will make you sad.
But they will never condemn you or drive you to despair.
Do you spend time in the Jesus stories?
Are you training yourself to know Jesus and His voice?
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” (John 10:14)
“My sheep follow Me because they know My voice.” (John 10:4)
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, through the years Your Voice has become clearer to me. I am now better able to sense when a voice in my head, or from another person, is Yours or not.
Help me to remember the comfort of Your love, especially when I sense Your conviction. May Your love and conviction compel me to love more, so that I am not driven to despair and defeat.