Friday, 2 April, 2021
Title: Hallelujah, What A Saviour!
By: Ps Cheng Cheung

Mark 16: 7 “Now go and tell His disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee.”

It is Thursday, the night before Jesus’ crucifixion. Foot-washing by the greatest for the least has taken place, the Lord’s supper has been instituted and Judas has departed into the night. Now Jesus and the eleven have gone to the Garden of Gethsemane. There was much on the Lord’s mind. He knew what was ahead, not the least of which was the manifestation of man’s evil and friends’ failures of which He would be the object. How would He respond?

Things are at their darkest at and after Gethsemane. The high priest’s temple officers converge upon Jesus in the garden, He is betrayed by a kiss, His disciples scatter and He is arrested. Thereafter He is cross-examined by Annas and Caiaphas, mocked, dragged off to be interrogated by Pilate, whipped, and scourged, exchanged for a murderer, and released by him to an angry mob. Worst of all He is denied by His closest. He i͟s͟ d͟e͟s͟e͟r͟t͟e͟d͟.

Where is Peter in all of this?

He is confronted by a servant girl before those who had gathered in the courtyard to watch proceedings from a distance ”You also were with Him”. Matt 26: 69-70. Then, after Peter had withdrawn to the gateway, another servant girl asserts more emphatically ”This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth!” Matt 26: 71. Finally, he was accosted by several bystanders “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.” Matt 26: 73.

What had been Peter’s response?

70 But he denied it before them all. “ I͟ d͟o͟n͟’t͟ k͟n͟o͟w͟ what you’re talking about,” he said.

72 He denied it again, with an oath: “ I͟ d͟o͟n͟’t͟ k͟n͟o͟w͟ the man!”

74 Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “ I͟ d͟o͟n͟’t͟ k͟n͟o͟w͟ the man!” The rooster crowed. Each time his insistence that he knew not Jesus was more vehement.

Luke 22: 61 ”And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.” And I am sure, Peter would have caught the Lord’s glance.

Peter had promised to lay down his life for Christ. He was self-sufficient, to the point of naïve arrogance. I wonder what went through Peter’s mind as he wept. ”How could I? How? I am so sorry. Now I know myself better. Will my Lord ever, ever forgive me . . . ?”

Do we fall short? Will we be self-sufficient when the time comes?

And what of the Lord? He knew the spiritual battle that lay ahead: the suffering of His soul, the pressure of carrying “the sin of the world” upon Himself, the impending separation from the other two members of the Godhead. The inevitability of being forsaken by the Father, which had never happened before, would have caused deep emotional anguish.

If Peter had failed you in a similar way, wouldn’t you have felt utterly let down? It would have been natural for one to think ‘I have suffered so much. I am about to face more trials and now you do this. I don’t want anything to do with such a coward anymore!’

But no. That might be our response. But not Jesus’. What do we read the angel tell the women who were the first to reach the tomb on Sunday morning, in Mark 16: 7?
“Now go and tell His disciples, i͟n͟c͟l͟u͟d͟i͟n͟g͟ P͟e͟t͟e͟r͟, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee.”

Jesus had instructed the angel to specifically add Peter’s name to those instructions. Jesus, in spite of all that He was experiencing that Good Friday, in spite of all that He suffered as the world’s sin bearer, in spite of the fact that He had been forsaken, albeit for a moment, by the Father, remembered Peter’s act without malice, and wanted only to restore him with great compassion and forgiveness.

And this Easter, He calls all of us back, those whose love for Him may have waned, those who may be in the spiritual wilderness, those who have become lethargic in fellowship. His love toward you is unchanged.

Hallelujah! What a Saviour!

My Prayer

Lord Jesus, today I remember You went all the way to Calvary for me. And in my journey with You Lord Jesus, You have always been faithful, and always patient. Thank You Lord.

Continue to strengthen me, Lord, for I am weak. Show me my blind spots one by one, lest I am overwhelmed by a surge and I fall away. Thank You Lord, that You know best. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

每日灵粮
星期五，2021年4月2日
标题：哈利路亚，奇妙的救主！
作者：张祯祥传道
翻译：陈月妃

马可福音16：7“你们可以去告诉他的门徒和彼得说、他在你们以先往加利利去．”

今天是星期四，耶稣受难的前夕。为大的正为年幼者洗脚，逾越节的晚餐已经备妥，犹大已经在深夜时分离开。现在耶稣和十一个门徒往客西马尼园去了。主有很多心事。祂知道未来会发生什么，其中最重要的一点就是人的邪恶和朋友的背叛的表现，而祂将成为这些事件的主人公。祂会如何回应？

在客西马尼园时情况变得糟糕。大祭司的仆人在园中把耶稣包围起来，耶稣被一个亲嘴出卖，祂的门徒四散，祂被捕了。此后，祂被亚那和该亚法盘问，嘲弄，被彼拉多拖去审问，鞭打，折磨，交换一个杀人犯，并被他释放给愤怒的暴徒。最糟糕的是祂被最亲近的人抛弃了。祂被遗弃了。

彼得这时候在哪里呢？

在那些聚集在院子里从远处观望的人当中，他被一个使女对质“你素来也是同那加利利人耶稣一伙的”（马太福音26:69-70）。彼得退到门口以后，又有一个使女更有力地说：“这个人也是同拿撒勒人耶稣一伙的！”（马太福音26:71）最后，几个旁观者跟着搭话说：“你真是他们一党的、你的口音把你露出来了”（马太福音26:73）。

彼得的反应是什么？

马太福音26: 70彼得在众人面前却不承认、说、我不知道你说的是甚么。
马太福音26: 72彼得又不承认、并且起誓说、我不认得那个人。
马太福音26: 74彼得就发咒起誓的说、我不认得那个人．立时鸡就叫了。
他一次次愈加激烈的否认他认识耶稣。

路加福音22：61“主转过身来、看彼得。”而且我敢肯定，彼得也和耶稣对视了。

彼得曾应许要为基督舍命。他自负，以至于天真的傲慢。我想知道彼得哭泣的时候脑子里在想什么。“我怎么能这样？怎么办？我很抱歉。现在我更了解自己了。我的主会原谅我吗？”

我们不符合标准吗？届时我们也会自负吗？

那主呢？祂知道即将发生的属灵斗争：祂灵魂的痛苦，将“世界上的罪恶”担负在自己身上的压力，即将与神格的其他两个成员的分离。无可避免的被圣父离弃，这是以前从未发生过的，将引起深深的情感痛苦。

如果彼得以同样的方式辜负了你，你难道不会感到彻底失望吗？很自然的一个人会想到，“我受了那么多苦。我将面临更多的考验，而现在你却如此做。我再也不想和这样一个懦夫有任何关系了！’

但事实并非如此。这可能是我们的反应。但不是耶稣。在马可福音16章7节，我们读到天使对那些在星期天早晨第一个到坟墓的妇女说了些什么？
“你们可以去告诉他的门徒和彼得说、他在你们以先往加利利去．”

耶稣吩咐天使在这些指示中加上彼得的名字。耶稣，尽管祂经历了受难日的一切，尽管祂为了背负全世界的罪而遭受痛苦，尽管祂被父抛弃了，虽然那只是一瞬间，祂仍然毫无恶意地记起彼得的行为，只想以极大的同情和宽恕来修复他。

今年复活节，祂召唤我们所有人回来，那些对祂的爱或许已经冷淡的人，那些可能处于属灵旷野中的人，那些在团契中变得意兴索然的人。祂对你的爱是恒久不变的。

哈利路亚！奇妙的救主！

我的祷告: 主耶稣，今天我纪念你为了我走上这加略山。在我与你同行的旅途中，主耶稣，你一直是信实及恒久忍耐。主啊，谢谢你。主啊，求你继续坚固我，因为我很软弱。把我的盲点一个一个地告诉我，免得我被潮水淹没而倾倒。感谢主，因你最了解我。奉耶稣的名。阿门。