Peter’s Denial in Light of His Knowledge

On occasion, someone has warned me about having too much knowledge. Usually, the one who warns me is a well-meaning person who, in my mind, holds to some kind of incorrect/unbiblical dichotomy between the heart and the mind, concerned that my rigorous studies cannot lead me to a genuine experience with Jesus–or, worse, will lead me to reject the faith altogether (a la Bart Ehrman). Thus, for a person who thinks this way, emotional response or experience is often (unintentionally, I think) elevated above critical thinking and evaluation.

Today, I see the warning in a different light…from the Scriptures.

Consider Peter, the great apostle. At one point in his ministry, Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29) Probably representing the Twelve, Peter steps up to the microphone (I wonder if he was trembling as he spoke, or if he spoke with all the boldness he could muster?), “You are the Christ.” Reading through the Gospel of Mark, other than the demons, this is the first time anyone has correctly identified Jesus (except for the Father when Jesus was baptized). Matthew tells us more about this conversation; Jesus pronounces a blessing on Peter on the spot: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 16:17). So, Peter is portrayed as one who has been given special revelation about Jesus’ identity that no one else has been given! Remarkable!

Peter, who had this great revelation from the Father about Jesus’ true identity, of whom it could probably be said, “He has more knowledge than everybody else,” assures Jesus, “Even though they all fall away, I will not….If I must die with you, I will not deny you” (Mark 14:29, 31). Mark indicates that everyone else said the same thing, but he wants to highlight Peter in the story. Of course, we learn very soon that Peter does, in fact, deny Jesus. Three times within a very short span of time, Peter denies his Lord. (What Peter was doing publicly the rest of the disciples were doing secretly.)

Indeed, the last time before the rooster finished crowing, Peter even swore emphatically, “I do not know this man of whom you speak” (Mark 14:71). So, the one who had the great revelation, the one who had the most knowledge, perhaps the one who knew Jesus best, suddenly claims not to know this man.

He who had the most revelation about Jesus’ identity sinned the most flagrantly.

So, is more knowledge a bad thing?

The apostle Paul was also a man of great knowledge, even about Jesus, though he probably never met him before the resurrection. In fact, he even prayed for believers to increase their knowledge (e.g., Col 1:9-10; Eph 1:16-21; Phil 1:9-11). What happened to Peter? Luke gives us a behind-the-scenes look at what happened to Peter, as Jesus tells him, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat” (Lk 22:31). Now, it appears that Satan actually demanded to have each of the disciples, since the “you” in Greek here is plural. But, Jesus singles out Peter and encourages him personally by giving him the responsibility of strengthening the rest of the disciples once he has repented. These eleven men knew Jesus better than anyone else on earth. Satan demanded to have them, to sift them like wheat. In other words, Satan desired to tear them to shreds, to break them into pieces, to devastate them utterly.

So, perhaps it’s not an inherent hindrance to one’s spiritual growth to eagerly seek more knowledge, particularly knowledge about God (i.e., theology). However, it may incur the wrath of the devil himself.

Better the wrath of the devil than the wrath of God!

Likewise, notice that Jesus assures Peter that he has prayed for him, that, in the midst of Satan’s sifting project, Peter’s faith would not fail. Jesus prayed for Peter! Likewise, we know that Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us (Rom 8:34, Heb 7:25). As if that weren’t enough, the Holy Spirit also intercedes for us, praying for the things we don’t even know to pray for (Rom 8:26-27)!

So, I suppose the end of the matter is this: those who pursue greater knowledge of God can expect Satan to desire to sift them like wheat; those who pursue greater knowledge of God can also expect that the King of the Universe, who graciously grants us any true knowledge that we acquire, and who has already defeated Satan in the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah (Rom 8:31-39, 1 Cor 15:54-57, 1 Jn 3:8, Rev 12:10-11), will protect them (1 Jn 5:18). “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 Jn 4:4).

So may all of us be more diligent about pursuing the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ! And let us press on with complete confidence in our Savior’s willingness and ability to protect us from the evil one, to sanctify us wholly, and to keep us to the end of our sojourn in this world.

Painstakingly translating Hebrew

After a summer of hardly looking at the Hebrew Bible, or any other Hebrew text (like vocabulary or verb charts…yea, those would have been a good idea), tackling Joshua 1:1-9 is…well…tough!

After about two hours, I made it through the nine verses for which I’m responsible tomorrow in class. Despite the slowness of my work and having to look up more than a few unfamiliar words, the recognition that my diligence is glorifying God, even as he works incredible patience in me, leaves me peacefully satisfied…and ready for bed!

Another school year begins

Tomorrow begins my second year in graduate school! I’m slightly nervous and mostly excited. Starting my final semester of Hebrew is daunting, particularly since I didn’t work on it at all during the summer. Oh, well. Perhaps the Lord (and the professor) will be gracious to me and I will be able to catch up quickly.

I’ll be taking the following courses:
New Testament Theology: Dr. Douglas Moo
Intermediate Hebrew: Dr. Michael Graves
That’s all until mid-October; then I’ll tack on two more courses:
Jewish Backgrounds of the New Testament: Dr. Lynn Cohick
Greek Exegesis of Colossians: Dr. Ben Gladd

I’m most excited about New Testament Theology and Colossians. Jewish Backgrounds should be fun and interesting. I’m dreading Hebrew. However, if, by God’s grace, I can do well in Hebrew now, I’ll be better prepared for the coming semesters in which I will be working more intensely with the Hebrew text. So, I intend to work as hard as I can. Perhaps I will experience what Paul talked about in Colossians 1:29–”For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” Indeed, anything good that any of us does is reflective of Jesus the Messiah (see v. 28) powerfully working in and through us. And learning Hebrew is only a means…a means to the same thing Paul was talking about in this passage, namely proclaiming Jesus the Messiah clearly and boldly (again, see Col. 1:28).

So, Hiho, Hiho, it’s off to toil joyfully, I go!

another year

Birthdays are always contemplative days for me. I enjoy reviewing what God has done for me over the past year and begin to think through hopes and dreams for the coming year.

This 24th full year of life has been filled with all kinds of change, growth, and suffering. I left Texas for the first time as a permanent move to begin graduate school. In the midst of preparing to move, our house in Texas was flooded, and my wife and celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. Change, growth, and suffering all wrapped up into these events.

Now, I sit excited about a snowy men’s retreat with a group of men whom I’ve only known for a few weeks. These men have given me the community I have desired. God uses these men to help me grow, and, hopefully, God will use me in their lives as well.

Next year, I begin graduate school full time. This excites me and makes me nervous. I won’t be working at the same time. This presents a multiplicity of new opportunities for temptation, being home alone more often. Mostly, I find myself tempted to remain lethargic, sleeping or watching movies when I ought to be reading, writing, and researching. I pray the Lord will fortify the weapons of my warfare and solidify the armor of God in my life.

I have already begun a massive research project, completely independent of school or any other responsibilities. I have begun to attempt to develop a biblical theology of sin. The question, “How does sin affect my relationship with God as a believer?” still weighs heavily on my heart and mind. I am in the beginning stages of collating the data from the Scriptures, reading all the passages that use the Greek terms for sin in the LXX and the NT. I have already traced the usages in the ancient world up to the time of the LXX, and I have had difficutly ascertaining when or how ἁμαρτία, for example, began to be used for offenses in a moral sense. In many Greek historical sources from the 3rd through 5th centuries B.C., it is used in military contexts in which some general or army made a strategical mistake on the battlefield. In English translations of these works, the most common translation of the term is “blunder.” At any rate, I am eager to pursue this further. So far, all that I have concluded is that preachers need to cease speaking of ἁμαρτία as “missing the mark.” Granted, this word did have that meaning, in contexts of archery and other similar contexts, in Homer, for example. But after the 8th century B.C., with Homer, I have not found a single attestation of that meaning again. It is deceptive and unhelpful to state in sermons that, “To miss the mark is the fundamental meaning of ’sin.’”

Mostly I have great hopes for next year because I see my friends pursuing abundant life in Christ. Also, I enjoy watching romance bloom in the midst of pursuing obedience to the Lord. What great joy the Lord has granted to me!

Music and emotions…again

Once again, music has accomplished its God ordained function of aiding the expression of my emotions. Of late, for several reasons, my emotions have been somewhat flat…I feel as though I haven’t really been feeling much of anything.

But now, the playing of and listening to music has stirred my heart to a more healthy place. As I sit listening to Fernando Ortega sing “Let All Mortal Flesh” (a song I played on my violin a few days ago under the title “Coventry Carol”), I am moved to gratitude and love for my Savior. My heart begins to beat slightly faster; warmth overcomes me; a slight smile curls my lips; I can sense my eyes brighten and my affections rise.

Moreover, I have been able to express a number of emotions over the past few days that I have experienced over the past several months, but have previously not been able to express. Unexpressed emotions damage my heart. I have been able to articulate love to my wife more clearly. I have also been steady and gentle with a needed rebuke for which she thanked me most genuinely.

And I have felt hot anger. This I do not enjoy like the others, but the expression, the exhaustion of it has been refreshing. Hopefully, it is well-received.

God-ordained happiness…

God has seen fit to use various means to bring happiness to people.

Today, several things have led me to rejoice.

My violin brings me joy. Specifically, that my fingers remember what to do with a violin brings me joy.

Eating meat with men brings me joy.

Studying the Scriptures with men (the same ones with whom I ate the meat…plus one) brings me joy.

Praying with and for brothers and sisters in Christ brings me great joy. I find praying for the absentee junior high pastor tonight to be most joyful.

My wife brings me joy…on many levels. Tonight, similar to above, I find praying for my wife to be most joyful.

excitement…

I am more excited right now than I have been in a long time, perhaps since my wedding day.

I have never experienced such dreams, such hope for the future.

I am realizing that there are two things for which and in which God gives me passion: 1) preaching the Scriptures (which is equal, in my understanding, to preaching Christ) and 2) writing about the Gospel (which is equal, in my understanding, to writing about Christ).

Thanks be to God for giving such passions to men!

Well….

I need a stirring within myself.

Writing has often helped.

But I must keep it brief. Life is cluttered already.

Practicing conciseness is important in times like these.

So…

I shall say more, but write less.

Maybe.

Violin?

Christ is all!

Yes, this is my arm. And, yes, this is a very real, very permanent tattoo.

Colossians 3:9-11 says, “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Paul is here highlighting the behavior that ought to characterize followers of Jesus and the behavior that ought not to characterize followers of Jesus. The point of Colossians 3 seems to be that people ought to be able to tell the difference between believers and non-believers. The life of the Christian is to be distinct from the life of the non-Christian. Followers of Christ are not just adherents to a particular religions; rather, followers of Christ are completely new creations who are progressively being molded into the image of Jesus Christ himself. At the close of this verse, Paul reminds his readers that former racial/ethnic distinctions, social distinctions, cultural distinctions all mean absolutely nothing in God’s economy. Christ is all that matters. My arm now bears this statement, permanently etched into my skin as a testimony (more to myself than to anyone else, though it has already served as a springboard for sharing with others) that Jesus Christ is the only thing that matters. The words are in the Greek of Paul’s original writing to the Colossians, though I have altered the word order slightly. Literally, it could be rendered, “Christ is all things,” in order to emphasize that the second word, “panta,” is plural. It is a reminder to me that the only thing that matters is Christ. Paul was eager to remind many of his readers, not just in the letter to the Colossian church, of the centrality of Christ. First Corinthians 15:3, for example, refers to Paul’s perception of the very heart of the gospel when he says, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.” The person and work of Christ on our behalf is the heart of the gospel that cannot be omitted, sidelined, or brushed over. For Paul, (and I think all believers ought to imitate Paul here), to live was Christ (Phil. 1:21). Christ is truly all that matters; we must live in such a way that the world knows that Christ is all to us. He is our treasure, he is the one we cannot stop speaking about, he is the one that dominates our thoughts and our conduct. Indeed, in Colossians 3, Paul commands believers to “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2-3). We must “take every thought captive to obey Christ,” and this means that we must work hard to train our minds to bring Christ and his word to bear on everything that comes in our lives (2 Cor. 10:5). This text in 2 Corinthians deals particularly with protecting our minds from being deceived by false teachings, but I think it has a broader application and relates to the thought expressed in Colossians 3. Our minds, naturally, have a tendency to wander and are drawn to vain things, useless things, even harmful things. We must, by the power of the Holy Spirit living in each of us as believers, train our minds to focus on Christ. Even as our minds do wander to think of all kinds of things, we must be quick to bring Christ to bear on whatever comes to our minds. As we are able to do that with our minds, our life becomes more oriented toward Christ and what would be pleasing to him. No more vanity; no more wasting our lives thinking of things that don’t matter at all. Instead, let our minds be intent on worshiping our great High Priest who sits at the right hand of God as our Advocate, ever and always interceding for us as we continue to struggle with sin in this life (see 1 John 2:1-2).

So, I have a tattoo to remind me of what is important. Some may thing this foolish or childish or some other negative -ish word. However, I am quite pleased with it as a permanent reminder of the gospel which has permanently changed my life and continues to change my life. Even more irrevocable than the marks of this tattoo on my body are the irrevocable affects that Jesus Christ has on my life every day. To him be all glory!

is my Theology strong enough for this?

I have spent this semester studying the book of Revelation. I just completed working through this magnificent literary masterpiece, with its every word breathed out by the Holy Spirit and penned by the apostle John, for the third time since January. I spent the better part of last week researching for and writing a paper entitled “The Blood of Jesus in the Revelation of John,” in which I attempted to show how John emphasizes the atonement of Jesus Christ in order to encourage his readers to persevere in the midst of terrible persecution. In fact, I think the book of Revelation portrays the heart of the gospel, namely the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ in place of sinners, more vividly and more centrally than it shines forth the beautiful reality of his imminent glorious return!

One passage of which I have become quite fond in recent days is:

Revelation 12:10-12–And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

Ah, Satan has been defeated, totally conquered! John has just been shown a microcosm of the climax of redemptive history with a vision of a woman pregnant with a son. The great red dragon would have devoured the son, but he was taken up to heaven. This is a picture of Jesus Christ, the Messiah’s birth, and then the vision skips all the way ahead to his ascension to the Father. Then, John was shown that the dragon fought a great war in heaven with Michael the archangel, and the dragon was defeated and cast down to earth. But verses 10-12 reveal what truly defeated the dragon and it wasn’t Michael and his angelic army. The focus of this victory song is actually on believers, those who benefit from the victory. Note that the voice proclaims that it is the accuser of the brothers who has been cast down, so the herald here has particularly the accusing power of the devil in mind. We see this role of Satan most plainly in the account of Job in the Old Testament, but we may assume that he actually has functioned similarly toward other people throughout history. Verse 11 notes that “they” have conquered the accuser, referring to the brothers who were formerly accused. But it is not on their own strength that they have overcome the great accuser. It is, first of all, by the blood of the Lamb that the great accuser has been thrown down. This refers back to Jesus’ death on the cross, for it is that moment in history that the great accuser lost his power to accuse. The substitutionary death of Jesus accomplished redemption with the price of his blood, and as he purchased for God a people from every tribe and language and people and nation (see Rev. 5:9), the accuser lost his accusatory power against those purchased. Indeed, this is how the second part of verse 11 shows its function, for the word of testimony mentioned is nothing other than the gospel believed and proclaimed. These in particular have clung to the gospel so tightly that they have not seen their very lives as worth keeping. One may recall Jesus’ words, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 10:39, 16:25). Or perhaps Paul’s words: “‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:36-37).
I shall include some relevant thoughts for current events.
I’m not certain where I am going in life. I’m not certain of whether my wife will find joy in her work…ever. I’m not certain of whether or not she will be able to get a job soon enough for us to be “financially stable” as I begin graduate school. I’m not certain that we will be able to pay the bills that are coming. I’m not certain that I am cut out for graduate school. I’m not certain that I will live through this night, for even this is not guaranteed and should not be taken for granted (see Luke 12:16-21).
Of one thing I AM CERTAIN: “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). Good news. What else do I need to be certain about? If this is true, I should not even shrink from death itself, for it has no claim on me, since he has died in my place. The beauty of atonement, the beauty of the gospel. In that one man’s death, the devil was conquered, death itself was conquered, sin was conquered, and reconciliation with God was effected for rebellious sinners like me.

“The Gospel” by Jimmy Needham
The Gospel, the Gospel
Fragrance in words
The sea of my soul
Is calmed when it’s heard
Peace to the broken
The captives set free
May the Gospel of Jesus
Wash over me

The Gospel, the Gospel
My freedom explained
No more shall these garments
I’m wearing be stained
The old man is missing
The new man is free
May the Gospel of Jesus
Wash over me

Wash over me
Wash over me
Come make me clean
Wash

The Gospel, the Gospel
She’s good and she’s true
She cost quite a fortune
To make all things new
So breathe in with faith
And out with his peace
May the Gospel of Jesus
Wash over me