I am not or I am

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

I AM NOT OR I AM

John 18:17

17 "You are not one of his disciples, are you?" the girl at the door asked Peter.

He replied, "I am not."

NIV

John 18:25-27

25 As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, "You are not one of his disciples, are you?" He denied it, saying, "I am not." 26 One of the high priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, "Didn't I see you with him in the olive grove?" 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.

NIV

Although we are at verses 25-27 we had to go back and grab verse 17 so as to deal with all three of the denials of Peter together. Twice Peter says, “I am not” and the third time we are just told he denied the challenge of the relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off. When you hang around Jesus long enough people are bound to recognize you as one of his disciples, but Peter did not want to admit it, at least at this point. Now comes the question as to why he would say, “I am not”. We know later that Peter became a bold preacher, to the point that thousands accepted Jesus. Peter was one of the pillars of the church, so much so, the Catholic Church believes he was their first pope. Yet, here he is denying Jesus three times, just as Jesus had told him he would when he was being brash, saying he would follow Jesus to the end, to the point of laying down his life for Jesus. Of course, we know from other accounts that when the rooster crowed, Peter remembered all he said and what Jesus had said to him about the rooster. He was saddened greatly. This should give us a moment to pause and reflect on our lives. We should not be as bold as to claim how righteous or upright our lives are and that we are great followers of Jesus, doing all that is right and none that is wrong. We should also know that if we hang around Jesus long enough somebody is going to recognize us as one of his disciples. This is especially true, as with Peter, after receiving the Holy Spirit, we are bold preachers of the gospel, standing on our soapbox of sorts, and proclaiming the truth of the Lord. Who knows we might even see people accept Jesus. What we really need to try is to never say, “I am not”. Why would we ever say that? That is unconscionable to think we would deny Jesus in any way at all. But is being silent a form of denial? When we are among a group of non-believers, at least according to our definition of a non-believer, do we sit in silence as they curse or use the Lord’s name in vain? Do we sit in silence as they tell their course stories or jokes? Do they know we are believers? Do they silence their course words when we enter their presence? Do we have an influence on them, or do they influence us? We have the Spirit and just as Peter once he was endowed with power from on high, we have the very same power. Let us recognize we have the potential to be like Peter in his denial and also like Peter in his bold preaching. We can choose to say, “I am not” or say, “I am”.