"Master, why can I not follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you."
In today's gospel we hear a snippet of the story of the Last Supper according to John. Jesus has just sent Judas away to betray him, and is trying to prepare the remaining apostles for his impending death on the cross. But none of them, least of all Peter wants to hear that Jesus will die soon. Jesus tells them that where he is going they cannot follow. and Peter (you have to love how impetuous Peter is) replies with the line above, I will lay down my life for you.
We all know the end of that story; in the early hours of the morning after the arrest of Jesus Peter denies any knowledge of him to protect himself on three different occasions, just as Jesus said he would.
How often are we, when confronted with a situation where it is uncomfortable to stand up and be counted as a Christian, willing to act like Peter and remain silent, or worse yet, deny that we have any connection to Christianity. In American culture today it becomes very easy to "deny Jesus" in the name of "it was just a joke" or "I personally don't believe in it, but I shouldn't force my beliefs on others. or I don't want to seem to much of s stick in the mud so I will go along a little just to fit in what will it hurt.
Does Jesus send a cock to crow in our lives to remind us that we have been found out? Maybe if he did we would be more willing to admit that we do deny our Christianity all too often.
Just for today. stand up and be counted for something that really matters in the lives of not only Christians, but people everywhere. You decide what that stand should be, just be willing to stand up for the truth even if you are the only one standing in the entire crowd in which you find yourself. Remember, if you truly are living In Christ, you are never really alone.
PAX
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