Yes, I do know Jesus

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

YES, I DO KNOW JESUS

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 But when they 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.

NIV

This was all part of the plan of God as Jesus prophesied this would happen. We are always aware of Peter as a man full of faith, but also a man who is bold with his words and his actions. Peter is also impulsive blurting out sometimes before thinking, but at the same time, Peter got it. When they were in Caesarea Phillippi, Peter was one who responded to Jesus’ question as to who they say he is, with, “You are the Christ, the Son of God”. Peter walked on the water; he was the one who saw his net overflow with fish. However, what is so amazing is the transformation that happened to Peter once the Holy Spirit filled him on that day of Pentecost. Yet, at this time in the narrative, we find Peter afraid to admit he knew Jesus, and he failed three times to act as a witness to all that he has seen and experienced. Was it a lack of faith? Was it fear? Did Peter forget what Jesus told him about his denial, or just did not care because he was only thinking about himself? Self-preservation is a strong force within a person, and perhaps that is all this was when Peter denied knowing Jesus three times. We believe that, at least in this country, we do not have to be concerned about persecution because we acknowledge we know Jesus, in fact, we are a born-again follower of Jesus. We can confess our faith no matter where we find ourselves. In fact, we even act differently than everyone else. We walk with the Spirit, keeping in step with Him. In fact, people see the glory of God shining through us and wonder who we are and why we are so glad, so upbeat, and so full of faith and truth. We never have to remain silent when someone makes a comment about us being Christian. We can boldly proclaim our faith. We are never in a situation where we would need to deny we know Jesus. However, we wonder if that is completely true. We wonder if people really are aware we know Jesus. Are we really that different? Do we actually walk and talk according to our faith? It’s not about how we dress, as some groups or fellowships as accustomed to doing. It’s not about things we don’t do or things we are accustomed to doing. It is all about living our faith out loud, allowing the glory of God to shine through us, being rejoicing, and glad we are a child of God. It is about saying, Yes, I am one of those Holy Spirit-filled born-again followers of Jesus, and we are so pleased to say so. Then let the chips fall where they may, we are not going to have our faith or our voice silenced because we are afraid of any sort of reprisal from anyone. “Yes, I do know Jesus”.