GODLY PEOPLE LIE ON OCCASION
JOHN 18
VERSES 14-18:
“Caiaphas (son-in-law to Annas, the high priest) was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people. Simon Peter and another disciple (John) were following Jesus (after His arrest). Because this disciple (commonly accepted to be John) was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple (John), who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in. ‘You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?’ she asked Peter. He replied, ‘I am not.’ It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.”
COMMENTARY:
Now this is a very interesting scenario. First, we have always assumed that Peter lied, denying Jesus because he was a coward. Well, of course he was afraid. But, really this servant girl probably had little to no power, so why lie to her? I think that Peter was not so much afraid he would also be put on a cross (though at the end of his life he was) as he was afraid he could not be close to where Jesus had been taken. This servant girl could potentially get him kicked out and then how would he know what is happening to Jesus? John had been known by the high priest and was let in the gate, and Peter wanted in too. If I were in that situation having already followed Jesus there, I would have lied to get in the door to be closer to Jesus also. Personally I think that is the reason Peter denied Jesus - but let's face it, that was a lie.
LIES
Lying. Well, now this is a touchy subject. We Christians are not supposed to lie - but on occasion we all do. We rarely feel any significant guilt if we have lied for a good reason - so as not to hurt another’s feelings for example. The more sophisticated we are, the better we get at framing our words so as not to hurt and still not lie. But, here is a question: would you lie if you were hiding a Jewish person in your home and the authorities came to the door and wanted to take them to a prison camp or kill them? If a mad man rushed upon you in the street with a gun and asked you which way a person running from him went, would you tell him the truth? Doubtful. I think most of us would lie - after first quickly praying God would avert their focus onto something else so we would not have to lie. Push come to shove, we would lie to save another person’s life. Then we would ask God to forgive us. Bottom line: there are pure reasons why people lie at times.
GODLY PEOPLE LIE ON OCCASION
There are examples of godly people lying in the Bible. A good person does not wake in the morning and say, “How many people can I deceive today?” Rev. 21:8 says habitual liars will go to hell - in other words, if a person resorts to lying as a way of life and is without repentance he belongs to his father, the devil. As believers, I am not saying it is what we want to do or that God, the God of all Truth, approves of it, but we are humans, and we do not always have the faith to tell the truth and have God work it out for us. If we had that kind of faith we would see how God would in fact work it all out, though possibly we would suffer in some way. So, no one says it is okay to lie because we know it is not okay (Col. 3:9). It is what it is. In this situation I believe Peter “lied” by saying he was not a follower of Jesus, so he could enter into the gate where he could be near Jesus in His time of trouble. The fact that he wanted to be there is to his credit - and we rarely hear that…we just hear how this instance was the first of his three denials.
JESUS LOVES US - NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT WE DO, BUT BECAUSE HE SEES IN US WHAT WE HAVE IN US TO DO AND TO BE
Despite all this, Jesus sees past our failures and sees the real person. Jesus loves those who are His, not because of what they do or for what we are, but for what we have in us to do and be. Nevertheless, Satan is the father of lies and so our goal is to speak the truth in love as we are made more and more into the image of Jesus Christ (John 8:44). What if Peter had said to the servant girl, “Yes, I am one of His - so what is that to you?” What would have happened? We will never know.
JOHN 18
VERSES 14-18:
“Caiaphas (son-in-law to Annas, the high priest) was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people. Simon Peter and another disciple (John) were following Jesus (after His arrest). Because this disciple (commonly accepted to be John) was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple (John), who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in. ‘You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?’ she asked Peter. He replied, ‘I am not.’ It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.”
COMMENTARY:
Now this is a very interesting scenario. First, we have always assumed that Peter lied, denying Jesus because he was a coward. Well, of course he was afraid. But, really this servant girl probably had little to no power, so why lie to her? I think that Peter was not so much afraid he would also be put on a cross (though at the end of his life he was) as he was afraid he could not be close to where Jesus had been taken. This servant girl could potentially get him kicked out and then how would he know what is happening to Jesus? John had been known by the high priest and was let in the gate, and Peter wanted in too. If I were in that situation having already followed Jesus there, I would have lied to get in the door to be closer to Jesus also. Personally I think that is the reason Peter denied Jesus - but let's face it, that was a lie.
LIES
Lying. Well, now this is a touchy subject. We Christians are not supposed to lie - but on occasion we all do. We rarely feel any significant guilt if we have lied for a good reason - so as not to hurt another’s feelings for example. The more sophisticated we are, the better we get at framing our words so as not to hurt and still not lie. But, here is a question: would you lie if you were hiding a Jewish person in your home and the authorities came to the door and wanted to take them to a prison camp or kill them? If a mad man rushed upon you in the street with a gun and asked you which way a person running from him went, would you tell him the truth? Doubtful. I think most of us would lie - after first quickly praying God would avert their focus onto something else so we would not have to lie. Push come to shove, we would lie to save another person’s life. Then we would ask God to forgive us. Bottom line: there are pure reasons why people lie at times.
GODLY PEOPLE LIE ON OCCASION
There are examples of godly people lying in the Bible. A good person does not wake in the morning and say, “How many people can I deceive today?” Rev. 21:8 says habitual liars will go to hell - in other words, if a person resorts to lying as a way of life and is without repentance he belongs to his father, the devil. As believers, I am not saying it is what we want to do or that God, the God of all Truth, approves of it, but we are humans, and we do not always have the faith to tell the truth and have God work it out for us. If we had that kind of faith we would see how God would in fact work it all out, though possibly we would suffer in some way. So, no one says it is okay to lie because we know it is not okay (Col. 3:9). It is what it is. In this situation I believe Peter “lied” by saying he was not a follower of Jesus, so he could enter into the gate where he could be near Jesus in His time of trouble. The fact that he wanted to be there is to his credit - and we rarely hear that…we just hear how this instance was the first of his three denials.
JESUS LOVES US - NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT WE DO, BUT BECAUSE HE SEES IN US WHAT WE HAVE IN US TO DO AND TO BE
Despite all this, Jesus sees past our failures and sees the real person. Jesus loves those who are His, not because of what they do or for what we are, but for what we have in us to do and be. Nevertheless, Satan is the father of lies and so our goal is to speak the truth in love as we are made more and more into the image of Jesus Christ (John 8:44). What if Peter had said to the servant girl, “Yes, I am one of His - so what is that to you?” What would have happened? We will never know.
