Matthew 10:32-39
Acknowledging Jesus
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
John 15:18-25
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 .They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.
Luke 5:1-11
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
5 Simon answered, “Master, we've worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Mark 8:27-30
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Matthew 16:21-23
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Luke 22:54-62
54 Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55 And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56 A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”
57 But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.
58 A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
59 About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
60 Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Faith is a very personal thing...And no one likes to be hated -and Jesus was hated without a reason...We are human, and this is a valid human concern (we do not want to be disliked)..Yet, Jesus tells us that His Disciples, will be hated...And this controversy that Jesus brings to us and teaches us, affects and has a bearing on our faith...Faith can be strong for days and sometimes weeks, and then it may not be so strong...Sometimes it maybe years before our faith drops, doubts come, or our faith is somehow tested...Faith may just drift from us when we do not acknowledging Jesus to a friend or an acquaintance...One would think that acknowledging Jesus is one of the easiest things for us to do in life...He is the Greatest Man to ever have walked the earth...His teachings and Words are unparalleled ..But it is not always that easy...This acknowledging we know Him and believe in Him, needs to be done...This is something that Jesus teaches...We must recognize that some controversy and persecution may come with acknowledging Him...Faith and acknowledging the One we believe in can weaken or strengthen our faith...It can be a challenge for us each day to work on our faith, as being one of His apostles and mentioning Him in conversations...
When Peter first met Jesus, he was in a boat fishing...Jesus did a miracle and helped him catch many fish...Peter, also called Simon, knew that he had met Someone very special...Peter was impressed with the seeing of his first miracle by Jesus...When Simon Peter saw this miracle, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” ...No doubt Simon Peter was a humbled man, who saw Jesus as maybe as the Prophet that was to come...
Later Peter does acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ that was to come -as predicted by the Old Testament Scriptures...But Jesus did not want His disciples to go out and tell others that He was the Messiah...Later Jesus tells His twelve disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and die...He tells them that He would suffer and be killed in their hands, but after three days He would be resurrected and raised back to life...Peter not understanding His upcoming death and resurrection was God's Plan, took Jesus aside and began to rebuke the LORD...Jesus told Peter very sternly, this was something He must do, and then called him Satan...Jesus' Words to Peter were “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”...Later after Jesus is arrested He is ask if He knows Jesus, and wasn't he just with Him...Peter denied that He was with Jesus...In fact, Peter denies knowing Jesus three times...And as reality comes back to Peter and He remembers the word of His LORD, he breaks down and cries bitterly -knowing he has not acknowledged his LORD and his God to others...His faith was tested and he lost some of it...His faith weakened...
We must remember that our faith and a mature faith can not only face temptations and doubts, but it can come in the form of denial and lack of acknowledgement of Jesus...We can deny that we know Him to others...Now talking about Jesus is much easier to do to people who know us, and know our beliefs...It is also easy to do to others who believe in Him...But the hard part, and where our faith gets tested is to the people we do not know, and promote or talk about Jesus...It is to the non-believer, to who we bring the name of Jesus up -is very difficult...Jesus explains that to the non-believer they do not know who sent Him...He puts it this way -They will treat you this way because of My Name, for they do not know the One who sent Me...Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well...
Let us be aware that it is difficult task to talk to others, especially to non-believers about Jesus...He told us two thousand years ago that this would happen...The Disciples of Jesus and the Early Apostles were persecuted and killed...This is a big difference in then versus now -but there are countries who do not want to acknowledge Him even today...Today, the controversy around Him remains...