Day 4
30-day reading plan: Matthew 23 – 28
Daily Verse: Matthew 26: 75
Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
This section of Matthew has some scary imagery. Six times Jesus refers to a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in a place of darkness or a blazing furnace. These stories and parables are considered by many to be about the coming eternity of suffering for those who don’t believe.
These images invoke fear that some of our unbelieving friends and family may experience this dark place. Still, some may fear that they are not good enough or don’t do enough to merit Heaven and will instead find one’s self in a dark eternity. Perhaps Heaven-bound believers experience our own outer darkness and weeping in this life.
Peter wept bitterly outside in the dark after denying that he knew Jesus. Peter cried with a broken heart convicted by the revelation that he had betrayed his vow to Jesus to follow Him to the end. Peter had the opportunity to profess before the Risen Lord his continued faith. Peter didn’t deserve the opportunity to repent, but that’s the essence of grace. We get what we don’t deserve.
Recently, Rev. Nadia Bolz Weberi said grace is her undoing. She is broken hearted by her limitations and moved to weeping by the grace she receives for all her failures. “God, who is gracious and merciful and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, loves you as you are.” Grace, at once, “breaks me apart and puts me back together.” For the ways in which we fail, in the moments we find ourselves weeping in darkness the grace of God absolves us and restores us. We receive this grace through our faith in the Risen Lord.
Question for reflection:
What causes you to weep?
30-day reading plan: Matthew 23 – 28
Daily Verse: Matthew 26: 75
Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
This section of Matthew has some scary imagery. Six times Jesus refers to a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in a place of darkness or a blazing furnace. These stories and parables are considered by many to be about the coming eternity of suffering for those who don’t believe.
These images invoke fear that some of our unbelieving friends and family may experience this dark place. Still, some may fear that they are not good enough or don’t do enough to merit Heaven and will instead find one’s self in a dark eternity. Perhaps Heaven-bound believers experience our own outer darkness and weeping in this life.
Peter wept bitterly outside in the dark after denying that he knew Jesus. Peter cried with a broken heart convicted by the revelation that he had betrayed his vow to Jesus to follow Him to the end. Peter had the opportunity to profess before the Risen Lord his continued faith. Peter didn’t deserve the opportunity to repent, but that’s the essence of grace. We get what we don’t deserve.
Recently, Rev. Nadia Bolz Weberi said grace is her undoing. She is broken hearted by her limitations and moved to weeping by the grace she receives for all her failures. “God, who is gracious and merciful and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, loves you as you are.” Grace, at once, “breaks me apart and puts me back together.” For the ways in which we fail, in the moments we find ourselves weeping in darkness the grace of God absolves us and restores us. We receive this grace through our faith in the Risen Lord.
Question for reflection:
What causes you to weep?
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