Discerning the Logos, Part Three

Betraying the Logos--we all do it.

Like Peter, many of us start strong when we begin our Christian Walk but then betray Christ. Often, we fail to understand and fail to see Him clearly. Let’s find out why most, if not all of us, have difficulty discerning the Logos, even when we walk with Him on a daily basis.

First, a recap. Peter saw Christ, fell to his knees, accepted Jesus’ promise to make him a fisher of men, followed Him, and gave the great declaration that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Wow. What a great example to us. But this did not insulate Peter from betraying Christ, and, in a similar way, all our vows and declarations will not stop us from doing the same.

Here’s the Thing: The ones closest to Jesus often become His biggest betrayers.

Please think with me as I follow in the steps of Peter to understand how I, and maybe you, go wrong.

After Peter’s great confession, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him up the mountain. In scripture, mountains represent the place God meets Man. Peter was not quite ready for this encounter with the transfiguration because he still saw Jesus as a mere man.

The appearance of Elijah and Moses represented the two ways man encounters God. Present in God’s silence was the point of encounter for Elijah (First Kings 19); silent in God’s presence describes Moses’ encounter. The experience of God is both internal (present) and external (silent). Peter knew the Logos externally but had yet to internalize Him. Even the external is debatable for Peter’s mind was always abuzz with things he wished to do and to say. Peter seldom waited patiently for God to reveal Himself.

Peter, upon the mountain, was a bystander, not a participant, and, yet, being Peter, he spoke and offered to build three tabernacles. He placed Jesus in the same category with Elijah and Moses and may have congratulated himself to count Jesus with these great men from Israel’s history.

Peter had yet to learn that Jesus was far beyond Moses and Elijah. He was and is the very Word who upheld them. Remember the words of Jesus on the cross? “It is finished.” He came to finish the story of the Old Testament that had Elijah and Moses as key participants. They had proclaimed the Logos while recognizing their own inadequacy set against the supremacy of God. Moses, of course, forgot his inadequacy at one point, struck the rock, and was unable to enter the Promised Land.

The Logos in the reality of our world is often dismissed or explained away, and in its place, human strength is often emphasized. Like Moses, we forget that God is the source of all strength and goodness.

Peter failed to see Jesus as the Creator and Heir of all even as he tasted the sweetness of the manna, quenched his thirst with the pure, clear water, and warmed himself by the aromatic fire. God the Father straightened Peter out�" “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him (Matthew 17:5b).”

Here’ the Kicker: the power was not Moses or Elijah�"the power was, is, and will always be the Logos.

The Logos is our all in all. As I said last week, without Him, we deflate like a balloon. His is the only voice we must hearken to�"not parent, not spouse, not self.

But even after seeing the transfiguration, Peter still failed to discern the Logos and still trusted in himself. Jesus told His disciples plainly, “The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry (Matthew 17:22-23).” Peter declared, “Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee (Matthew 26:35).”

These words grieve me. Like Peter, I want to declare that I would never deny Christ. Peter denied Him for the same reason I do�"because I have my own idea of what God should look like. Jesus on the cross was foolishness to Peter because He became the small voice whispering to Elijah instead of the mighty roar that he and the other disciples expected to hear.

Even today, we have internalized the world’s view more than we realize. We believe the path to the cross is weakness, whether we express it in those terms or not. We fail to recognize that the masculine and feminine traits of God were and are perfectly balanced in Christ. We want the power without the pain.

But please hear me out�"Peter learned from his mistake and so can we. Power upholds beauty, not the other way around. The reality that weakness and fragility manifest in beauty is a difficult truth to embrace. Masculine power to force results is not the Way of Christ.

Peter cut off the ear of the Roman soldier, and Jesus tells him to put the sword away. Peter expected revolt, action, violence, revenge. He had his sword ready to participate. Instead, he had to watch Jesus being bound and led away as the Lamb prepared.

Peter followed, but at a distance. Helplessly, he watched until he “remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the c**k crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly (Matthew 26:75) .

We can partake of the Manna, drink the Water, sit by the Fire and still fail to know Christ.

But when the c**k crows, perhaps we will awaken and revise our false view of Christ. We remember “the word of Jesus” and test our own human response. We clarify our thinking and yield to the divine call to submit and rest even when the human response is to action.

When we attempt to warm ourselves by the world’s fire, we will learn our futility and weep bitterly. And then we must revise our false view of self. We recognize our own inadequacy and our complete dependence on God. This perhaps, is our most difficult step�"to be still and know God even when He works contrary to our expectations.

Peter did not fully understand what was to come. Nor do we. But he did know his own inadequacy. This was a start. Where do we go after the bitter weeping? We yield to God.

Have Thine Own Way by Adelaide A. Pollard

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me, I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o’er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me.

Amen.