Monday
Reflect
This passage shows Christ’s great love for us, even when we fall short. Jesus predicts that all of His closest friends will abandon Him at the most crucial moment in His life. Peter boldly corrects Jesus and asserts that he would never do such a thing, but Jesus insists that they all will. Immediately after He predicts their abandonment, Jesus says that He will still go ahead of them into Galilee after He has risen (14:28). The grace, patience, and kindness of our Savior are on full display in His words to His disciples. Though their faith failed and their flesh was weak, their Savior proved to be strong and faithful in His love for them.
Respond
Peter and the disciples were full of confidence in their own faith, which would ultimately fail. Many times in our lives, our faith will fail as well. How does Jesus’ response in this passage bring comfort to you when your faith fails?
Throughout the gospels, Jesus is presented as a friend of sinners. Here we see that even His closest friends were sinful, flawed, and let Him down. Yet He loved them still and continued to be their Good Shepherd (14:28). Because of this, we live with confidence not in the strength of our faith but the strength of our Savior. In what ways do you depend on your own strength to believe? What does it look like for your confidence to be in Jesus and not yourself?
Tuesday
Reflect
As Jesus is “deeply distressed and troubled,” He still chooses to submit to the Father and trust in His will. He takes time to recall the Father’s power and ability to do all things. Jesus then tells His Father what He desires but ultimately trusts in His Father’s will and prays that it would prevail over His own.
Even in this time of trouble, Jesus continues to call the Father by an endearing and trusting term: Abba.
Respond
Even in His most difficult trial, and even when it was not what He desired at that moment, Jesus was fully committed to obeying His Father’s will.
How can you learn from this example?
What are some things you might not desire in your life but need to submit to the Lord?
Notice that in this moment of deep pain and struggle, Jesus decided to draw closer to His Father. He withdrew to be alone and spend time with the Father. When we go through a trial, we often look to ourselves or complain to others about what we are going through but Jesus responded by turning to His Father and trusting His will.
Think through how you respond in difficult seasons of life. What can you learn from the way Jesus responded in Gethsemane?
Wednesday
Reflect
“But let the Scriptures be fulfilled…” There was not a moment in the garden, or the events leading up to the crucifixion, that Jesus was not in control. He spent time in communion with His Father, submitting to His will. Jesus then announces His betrayer in verse 42, and immediately Judas came in the pretense of a friend by calling Him Rabbi and greeting Him with a kiss.
But Jesus knows the hearts of men. He knew Judas, pretending to be His friend, came as His betrayer. He knew His disciples, faithful in their commitment until this point, would leave Him and flee (v. 50). Even in the darkest hours, Jesus sovereignly acts to fulfill the Scriptures. He is willing to endure anything that He might follow His Father’s plan.
Respond
Jesus endured the cross so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled because every word of God proves true.
Knowing this, what Scriptures bring hope and encouragement in what you face today?
How does Jesus’ endurance through pretense and betrayal challenge you to endure, no matter the trial?
Thursday
Reflect
Jesus stood on trial. He was facing the conviction of blasphemy which is punishable by death. The High Priest, Chief Priests, Elders, and Teachers were all in on it together. They wanted Jesus dead. All they needed was a crime. They found a way to condemn Him through His confession as the Messiah (the title for the long-awaited and anointed King of Israel).
Peter had boldly made his own confession that Jesus was the Messiah just days earlier (8:29). Yet, in this setting, the High Priest called the confession blasphemy. Blasphemy is a deliberate insult against God. But consider this irony, it wasn’t Jesus’ confession as the Messiah that was blasphemous; it was the unbelief of the religious leaders. Jesus was prepared to die for their blasphemy, not His.
Respond
Could you imagine what it must have been like for Peter to watch and hear everything that was said about Jesus? Certainly, Peter would have struggled with his faith in Jesus as he watched Him be condemned. Everything Peter believed about Jesus was in question. Was He really the Messiah? If so, why would He have endured the insults and mockery? Why would someone who had exercised so much power and authority subject themselves to the abuse of others? Where was the fight?
As we consider the full story, we know Jesus was fighting. This was one scene in the battle. He was fighting for sinners, taking upon Himself the punishment that we deserved. He subjected Himself to take the punishment for our crimes. This condemnation was ours.
How should we respond knowing that Jesus had the authority to change these circumstances, yet chose to endure them for us?
Friday
Reflect
“I will never…” but then I do. Have you ever found yourself in a contradiction where you did exactly what you said you would never do? How does this happen? What causes the change in us? Often, the fear of man can lead us to act in a way our heart had decided against. Peter declared to Jesus in verse 29, “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.” But then, the very next day, Peter chooses to follow Jesus only at a distance, sits with the Roman officers by the fire (v. 54), and denies Him three times. One commentary states, “yet all this evil sprung from the fear of man. How many denials of Christ and His truth have sprung since, from the same cause?”
But God, being rich in mercy, forgives Peter when his resolve failed him. Read John 21:15-17. Following the resurrection, Jesus took special care in meeting with Peter for his restoration. He offers the same for you and all believers when we fail.
Respond
We’re more like Peter than we want to admit. We’re faced with the decision to follow Jesus every single day, and it is in our everyday actions that our faith is revealed.
In what areas do the people around you influence you to be more or less like Jesus?
Where might someone see contradictions in what you say and do?
How do Jesus’ forgiveness and care for Peter compel you to follow Him?
Saturday
Reflect
Today is Saturday. Some call it Holy Saturday or Easter Eve. It is the day between the darkest day and the brightest day this world has ever experienced. In reflection of all the things that Jesus said and experienced while on the cross, it is appropriate to reflect on Psalm 22. Although King David wrote it long before the crucifixion, it is the words from this Psalm where we find fulfillment in the suffering, death, and glory of Jesus.
As you read it, consider how familiar these words must have been to what Jesus endured. Consider the words of hope in the conclusion of the Psalm. Saturday is the day between the suffering of Friday and the glory of Sunday. Today, let us reflect on the suffering of Christ and the hope in the glory of His return.
Respond
In many cases, we may be tempted to dodge suffering, assuming that it would never be God’s will that we endure such hardship. Yet, when we look at the suffering of Jesus, we find He was accomplishing the will of God, even in His death. In Jesus’ suffering, He was not without hope. He knew the resurrection was also part of the plan. We see that He was mindful of the hope in Psalm 22.
In what ways does hope help us amid our suffering?
What are some Scriptures that you lean upon in such times of hardship and suffering?
How would you describe the hope we have as we wait for Jesus?