Well, I've got time for us to begin, so let's go ahead and have a word of prayer and get started. Father, we are grateful for the way that you love us and provide for us, and the fact that you never leave us or forsake us. We thank you that you guide us, that you're there when we call upon you. And Father, you lead us into your word when our minds are open to that, so we thank you. We do pray for the ill, the infirm, pray for Those who are facing surgery and others, pray for Keegan as she has her procedure tomorrow that they might find what's going on and get it taken care of. Be with Gail as she has surgery. Be with Chet, Father, as they decide what to do there, as he talks to the heart doctor and then the back doctor, whatever, just guide and direct. Be with all that we need to be remembering. Bless those traveling the highways, keep them safe. And Father, we pray for our leaders and we pray for America father and we pray that you would turn our heart to you in Jesus name we pray amen Okay, we're going to Pick up tonight with mark 535 243 mark 535 243, but as we're looking there. I want to Go back to last Sunday night and make sure that what I tried to point out there at one time about that the fact of taking up your cross that we understood what we were talking about. It seemed like that we centered a lot in here on the disciples and that they were going to take up their cross and the price they were going to pay and all that kind of thing. But I think we need to understand, and I don't know if I made that clear last time or not, but to understand that It's for us the scriptures written for an example, so it says To take up your cross daily. He wasn't saying just to Peter and John and those disciples That was an overarching message to us to take up our cross. So it was not necessarily that we were gonna die a death of persecution or death on the cross or whatever, but the message there was, yes, you're gonna pay a price, but it's something that we have to do today. So if we are going to be a Christian today who is Christ-centered, who is filled with the Holy Spirit and learning, we're gonna have to take up our cross, which literally, as we did talk about, is that we die to self, that we die to self-desires. So again, it's not necessarily physical stuff that we're doing, or wasn't just to the disciples, it's to everybody. And really, the scripture, as I talked about this morning, was written as an example for us. And the scriptures are there for that reason. If it was just written for Paul or for the people at Corinth or something like that, it probably doesn't even need to be in the Word of God today, except for kind of a historical thing. But what was here was given for our edification. And again, that probably helps explain part of why the canon of the Scripture is there. because the can of the scripture was given because it applied to all of us, and so that we could take from it. So he told them that they were gonna have to literally die to their own desires. In other words, get out of bed in the morning, really what our thought ought to be, what is it that Jesus wants me to do today? And may he be glorified in me in all that I say and do. So we move on then, and like I said, what we're doing is looking at places where we have Peter, Mentioned in the scripture so that we learn about him and Again, I think it's important for you to notice it may not be in every case but in many cases as you look at it you need to how see how Simon is Addressed or how he is named Because there are times it's Peter rock Sometimes it's Simon son of John Sometimes it's Simon Peter, the human and the spiritual, if you would. But it's all the same person. It's the same person. But it seems to be like a play on words because of where he's at in his life. And if you stop and think about it, most Christians, are we on top of the ball all the time spiritually? We would hope we would be. But sometimes we get into our humanness, don't we? There's sometimes he could say to us Simon or called us by our name there are other times he could speak to say You're the rock man. You know spiritually you're doing something so I Think it's a lesson for us to see and I think as we look at Peter we see Peter on top Peter says you are the Christ the son of the Living God man, how great could that be and then you have him rebuking Jesus and and telling him he doesn't know what he's talking about. And if we're honest, do we kind of do that sometimes? Maybe you don't. But sometimes we question, don't we? Why did that happen? Or why is this person going through what they did? Or why does this 10-year-old suffer with cancer or whatever? We may not openly say it, but a lot of times we have those thoughts. So I think it's important for us to see Peter and his life so that we can see In our relationship with Christ, how we can be, how we are, or whatever. So in Mark 5, 35 to 43, Jesus was speaking, and while he was speaking, the ruler of the synagogue house, there came one from his house, and said, thy daughter is dead. Now, the man was coming to Jesus to get his daughter healed. Jesus doesn't get there before the daughter is healed, so somebody comes from the house and says, your daughter is dead, don't bother the master anymore, fruitless, nothing we can do, it's over with. When Jesus heard that, he said to the ruler of the synagogue, be not afraid, only believe. Now that's quite a statement for somebody who just lost his daughter. Don't be afraid, only believe. Then Jesus suffered no man to follow him except three There were no none of the company that could follow him The rest of the twelve disciples could not follow him but Jesus took Peter and James and John and went to the man's house Now I don't know how Jesus did it, but I'm sure Jesus had a pretty commanding voice when he wanted to and And I'm sure when he told the people to stay, they got the picture. Don't follow me, you stay here. So he gets to the house, in verse 38, and sees the tumult, and you can imagine, if you've been around people who have lost a loved one, and especially with a child or something, you know that there can be a lot of carrying on sometimes. But in Jewish history and back during this day, it was a part of it. They even paid mourners to come in. Now, they probably hadn't paid these mourners yet, because it probably hadn't had the time. But people wailed and carried on. And the more you did it, the more important the person was and that kind of thing. And so he comes into a mess when he gets there. And so in verse 39, He was come in he says to them Why are you carrying on like this and? Why are you weeping? Now that didn't make points with Jesus for the people Because this is a part of their heritage This is what we get. What are you doing upsetting our party? Quit crying quit carrying on and then he said I The young lady is not dead, but she sleeps. Now Jesus made a statement that they believed was not true. Because these folks had been around dead folks, okay? And they knew when somebody was dead. They knew they weren't sleeping. So they realized this, and notice what they did. Jesus said, she's not dead, she sleeps. And they left him to scorn. They turned from the morning to make fun of Jesus. That's what they did. They had a big party. Let's make fun of Jesus. He doesn't know what he's talking about. He's an idiot. He doesn't know what's happening. They laughed him to scorn. So what did he do? He put them out. Now remember, where's Jesus at? The ruler of the synagogue. Not his house. Somebody else's house. But he takes charge. and he throws them out of the house, not literally, but gets them out of the house. And as he puts them out of the house, he takes the father and the mother and them that were with him, Peter, James, John, and enters where she's lying. They've got her laid out in a room. He takes the family, the mom and dad, and his disciples, those three, He walks in, and when he walks in, he doesn't say, poor thing. Looks so natural, doesn't she? Such a pretty little girl. What a shame. What did he do? Took her by the hand. Just immediately took her by the hand and said unto her, Talitha cummi, which is being interpreted, damsel, I say unto thee, arise. Little girl, get up. Just took her by the hand. And straightway, I love the word straightway, because that means immediately, straightway the damsel arose and walked, for she was 12 years old. Okay, she's dead, pronounced dead by a whole group of people. Jesus says she isn't, they laugh him to scorn. He goes in with just the parents and his three disciples, takes her by the hand, tells her to get up, she does, and starts walking around. And everybody was charged with was astonished with great astonishment. And he charged that nobody should know it at that point, not to go out and be talking about it. They were gonna obviously know that we're there. But Jesus didn't, in most of his miracles, want them publicized because he didn't want people to follow him for miracles. He didn't want them to follow him for money. He commanded that something be given to her to eat, and again, Why is that important in Scripture? Why that we say she eats? Everybody that's sick, when they start getting better, they have to eat. came back after he had been crucified, he ate too. So it's one of those signs that he was real. Right. It isn't a spirit laying here. It's a real body that's not a body anymore. It's a person, but it's a real body. And also, sometimes, typically, especially today, if somebody has been ill or passed out, you don't know what's going to happen to them again. I mean, she's been brought back to life. What if she goes into cardiac arrest or something? Now, we know it's not going to happen, but I'm saying, what if she goes into something or she has a seizure? You probably wouldn't want her to have food in her. Jesus isn't afraid. He knows she's healed. He knows she's well. She's brought back to life. And so they did that. Now, again, that is emphasized in Luke 8, but it really doesn't tell us a bunch of other stuff different. It's just that it's put in the Bible twice. Now, anything in the Bible's important, but when it's put in twice, it's important, more so. So in Luke 8, 49 to 56, while he was speaking, there came one from the ruler of the synagogue's house saying, your daughter's dead, et cetera. Jesus said to him, like we said before, fear not, believe only, she shall be made whole. And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter and James and John and the father and the mother. And all wept and bewailed her, but he said, weep not, she is not dead, but sleepeth. And again, they laughed him to scorn, knowing she was dead. He put them out, did what it said in the other verse, she got up, her parents were astonished, and he charged them, don't go around the country telling everybody what happened. Obviously, there's a group of people that knew, but, you know, if your daughter was dead and is raised back to life, what's the first thing you're probably gonna wanna do? Tell people, right. Tell her. Do what? But as far as to other people, tell them about it. Guess what happened to us? Guess what happened to us? And again, Jesus didn't want that to happen because he didn't want people to follow him because of the miracles. And they would try to make him king. Now, then out of those two stories, we see something about Peter. It's Peter and James and John. What do we see about Peter there? what he says happens. Okay, what else? Jesus wants him to be a witness. Right. And you said he's one of the chosen ones. Yeah, the inner circle. If you're in an inner circle, and that's what we see over and over and over again in the stories of Peter. He's one of the three. In the naming of the disciples, he's named first. He's a very important person. And who is it again that Peter eventually becomes in Christianity? Yeah? Okay, yeah, the head of the church, preaches a sermon at Pentecost, and the Holy Spirit falls. Yeah, right. So it's important for us to see, and what we need to see in Peter is, you know, so many of us look at our own lives and we say, you might say, I'm not a Peter. Well, maybe you are Peter. Look at all the phases he went through. You see, he was high, he was low, he was the inner circle, he was that. I mean, can you imagine the things that Peter saw being a part of the inner circle? Here he is, he's one of only two others that get to witness the raising of a young girl to life. He's the one that was supposed to walk on the water and hold the fish. Right, right, right. You see, all the things that he's seen, and yet he failed at a point. Is that where we get the term, the Peter out effect? Well, I'll put it in the context of where I've heard the most in my dad's company when he would hire men into certain positions. They would look great on paper and usually come out of the gate doing really well, but he would always say, we got to watch out for the Peter out effect, which is six months, eight months, 10 months down the road, reevaluate how they're doing in those positions. Usually those were positions of management, things of that nature, and to see if they were able to sustain that ability over that time. And that's what I'm referring to in that respect. So it seems like that's what's going on with Peter, right? He's right out of the gate, like he's willing to walk on the water and then he sinks. Right. So he looks good at first and then over time... Right. comes into question, shall we say. Brent, I still didn't understand the phrase that you used. The Peter out effect. Peter out effect. Yeah, that's what my dad used to call it. So my dad ran a fairly large company, so that was part of his evaluation of people in upper management was to see how they would do over time. And I thought other people heard it, of course, but Yeah, I mean, it may be. I don't know if that has any connection or not. It makes sense. The difference would be with Peter, that Peter rose and fell, but then he rose again by the power of God, you know? But yeah, it would be very comparable, I would think, yeah. So, you know, if- What were you in there, Pastor? Luke what? I was Luke 8, 49 to 56. And you know, if Peter were being diagnosed by the world today, he would probably be diagnosed as bipolar. Because he's up, he's down. He's up, he's down. And yet, what it is, is not a disease or something that's wrong with him, it's his humanity. He's seeing the Messiah. He's walking with the Messiah. And there are some days, it's great as ever. I mean, just imagine what it would have been like to walk with Jesus, to see people healed, but at the same time, to see people trying to kill him, and people laughing at him, and then to see him crucified, and all the things that you went through. So it's amazing what Peter was able to see. Matthew 17 24 to 27 Matthew 17 24 to 27 Jesus and his disciples When they were come to Capernaum They received tribute money they that received tribute money came to Peter and said doth not your master pay tribute Now, I find that interesting there. Who did they ask? There's 12 disciples. Who'd they ask? Peter, right? So I think that tells us that even the world at that time, at least within the rabbis and the Pharisees, knew that Peter was a leader in the disciples. He was very outspoken. He was very strong. He was very bold. So they come to Peter and ask the question. Now, you notice when they wanted to know something, they usually didn't ask Jesus. Because they didn't want to deal with him. They wanted to deal with somebody else. So they said, does your master pay tribute? Tribute means tax, really. Now, for a background here from everything we understand, This is the temple tax, not government tax, not Roman tax. There was a tax to be paid to the temple. You could call it like a tithe, but that's not what it was. It was a temple tax for the temple money. They did also have to pay taxes to the Roman government. The question is, probably asked by the guys who collected the tribute, or the tax, said, does Jesus pay tax? Now, probably why they did that is because they didn't like Jesus, and they were trying to get him. And so Peter says, yes, he does. I mean, I assume that Peter knew that. I don't know if he did or not, but he thought he did. So he said, yes. So that was dismissed. Okay paid the tax so they came into the house and Jesus Prevented him Jesus stopped him and questioned him and He said what do you think Simon now notice the use of the word Simon? This is back to his human name. I What do you think Simon because now Simon did not just speak in religious terms And I'm not saying he said out of the got out of the will of God. I'm just simply saying what was the answering? He was answering what could have been partially a religious question, but he's really answering in the flesh because he said yes Now Jesus said Simon who do you think the kings of the earth take custom of or tribute of? their own children or of strangers So who gets taxed? And Peter said of strangers. So what they were talking about in the Roman world at that time, those that were not citizens, they took a tribute from as well. And Jesus then said, then are the children free? so the children shouldn't have to pay tax. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, cast a hook, take up the fish that first cometh up, and when you have opened his mouth, you will find a piece of money, that take, and give unto them for me and for thee. OK, what are they talking about here? Well, I guess we could actually say we're not totally 100% sure. But those who studied this and study history, et cetera, say, again, there was a temple tax. You said, but he talked about who do the kings and stuff take tax from. The question that Jesus was asking, not necessarily was in comparison to this tax, the question was, who do they take tax from? Do they take from their own family, or do they take from people that are not part of their family? And obviously, the royals didn't pay tax to themselves. And their children must have been exempt? Right. Their children would have been exempt, yeah. So what Jesus is saying is, from what we can understand, the rabbis and the people of that day were exempt from that tax. But they didn't think Jesus should be because they didn't like Jesus. So Jesus is telling Peter, from what we can understand, We don't owe a tax. Now why does he not owe a temple tax? Yes, he's a rabbi, but what else is he? He's the son of God. He's the son of God. And the royalty didn't pay taxes. That's right. So God doesn't pay taxes to God. That's the message he's getting across here to Peter. Peter, you just flippantly said yes, but you didn't really know what you were talking about. Now let's get back to what it really is. I don't owe taxes. I don't owe taxes to the temple. Because I don't owe God anything, he's my father. But notice what he said, regardless of that, we're gonna pay the tax anyway, so we don't offend anybody. You see what Jesus was teaching him? As a Christian, we have a responsibility to make sure that we don't purposefully offend anybody. Did it hurt anybody to pay the temple tax? Not unless they were so poor they couldn't pay it. So what does Jesus do? Jesus says, Simon, go out to the sea, cast a hook in the water, The first fish that you catch, pull it up, he's going to have a coin in his mouth and pay the tax for both of us. What's strange about that story? He's gonna have a gold tooth. Okay. To dig out and pay the tax. Right, well, maybe the fish had a gold tooth. You know, what else would I think? Right. So what about this story, this last part, is different? He ties in with the fishers of men. He brings him back doing his job as a fisherman. Obviously, it's a little strange to find a coin in a fish's mouth. But he's paying it for both of them, which is interesting, too. And Jesus knew the coin was there, because he told him in advance, you're going to find it. It wasn't a surprise. And it's going to be the first fish you catch. How did Peter usually fish? With a net. With a net. He doesn't fish with hooks. But Jesus humbles him to fish with a hook. Can you imagine the people around him, even maybe his own friends who were fishermen? What's Peter doing out there with a hook? You don't fish with hooks. Right. So he found the piece of money. He said, take and give for me and you. Now, it's interesting that he didn't say for all the disciples. And the reason may be because Jesus and Peter were both from Capernaum. And so the rest of them may not have owed that tax. But do you look at when Jesus paid the tax for him and Peter? I think that's also a picture that what? Jesus paid the price for us, right? He paid the price for us. But where did Jesus get the money to pay the tax? Yeah, it's another miracle. It is. Where'd the money come from? It's the only miracle that dealt with money. Okay. But it, where did it come from? Where did that money come from? Okay. So it came from the heavenly treasure, right? He took it right out of the royal treasury to pay it, not what others do. What a beautiful story for Peter to see. And what a beautiful story for us to see and for the disciples to see. Jesus said, I don't know what, I don't have to pay it, I'm the son of God. But I will, so that they're not offended. He already owns that royal. Right. Right. So I mean, that would be like us taking out Fort Knox. It was out of the heavenly treasure, only much more, of course. And so he as the son could take it and pay for it and gave unto them. Any other thoughts or questions on that? That's just an amazing story. It is. First of all, it would make him kind of change his way of having a job and working and not familiar probably, felt like he was devoted maybe. And to have a coin and a fish and the first one he catches, I bet he never forgot that. I would think not. What an experience. It's amazing. Yeah. And it happened. Apparently he brought it back and it was paid. It would also remove the ability for them to get at Jesus for not paying. Right. Because they could have had him in. In today's world, they kind of do that with people, right? They run some question at people to try to kind of muddy them up. You see it in politics, of course. Just the way you respond to something, then they can kind of chop that up and make it look like you actually do it, even though you were denying that you did it. Right. Asking Peter about it. They had information that yes, he pays it So now they can go look and see if he actually paid right and if he didn't then he's caught at that point, right? But then it was made right because he paid it, right? Right Think of Jesus He went through so much, but can you imagine living your life that every day is And every minute of the day, somebody's trying to trip you up. Every time you talk to somebody, even the religious leaders, they're asking leading questions, they're trying to lead you. And as humans, we would fail, right? Now he's God, so he does it. But as humans, we would fail. They'd catch us along the way somewhere. And so. They're getting into politics. Yeah, right. The other thing I think from this story is, remember we said that Peter fished with a net, but he fished with a hook this time. How do typically we catch men for the kingdom? One at a time. One at a time. And that's what a hook does, one at a time. And so, we're not gonna go out there in most cases. There are evangelistic campaigns, of course, that it happens. But for you and I, as normal, regular human being, How are we going to bring people into the kingdom? One at a time. And we do it with a hook. And that's not a bad thing, but we have to hook them. And what do we hook them with? The truth. Yeah. With a hook, I don't know if he had a worm on it or what. He had probably something like that. But we don't fish with worms for men, but we have to fish with what? And that is what Jesus did for them, his sacrifice, the salvation, the forgiveness of sin. And so we go for them one by one. Matthew 18, 21 to 22. Matthew 18, 21 to 22. I don't have the background in here because we really don't have Peter in there, but you know what the background is and I'll remind you of it. Jesus was teaching the people about handling disputes and problems between people. And if people were offended, they were supposed to talk to one another. If they could not work it out between themselves, then they were to bring in a witness. If they could not work it out with that, then they were to take it to the church. And the church would make the decision. So that's the way it was to be handled, if there were disputes within the church. But at this time, the church didn't exist as we know it. So if there were disputes among Christians, it was to be handled among Christians, not in court, not somewhere else, but among Christians. So that's what he was talking about. He was talking about you know forgiveness and reconciliation, but if reconciliation could not take place of course there had to be separation So now it's on the heels of that that we have Matthew 18 21 to 22 Here we have Peter and he comes to him Now he's heard this teaching about how to handle disputes and forgiveness so he comes to Jesus and he said Lord I How often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? And I don't think he's being a smart aleck. I think he's asking a legitimate question. How often, how many times can my brother sin against me and I forgive him? And he said, till seven times. That's pretty much what they've been taught. So if he sins against me seven times, I have to forgive him. But on the eighth time, I don't have to forgive him. I let him have it. That's the question he's asking. And Jesus said, I say not unto thee until seven times seven, but until 70 times seven. Now, without multiplying that to get the answer, what's Jesus really saying? Forever and ever. Yeah, right. Forever and ever. Cause who's going to keep track of all those times, you know, and you're not supposed to keep track of those times. You're supposed to deal with it and ask for the forgiveness, get the forgiveness and get it taken care of. But Peter's asking a legitimate question, especially for that day. that they wanted to know. Because remember, one of the teachings of Jesus was what? If your brother hits you on the cheek, what do you do? Turn the other cheek. Yeah. He was talking about forgiveness. And I think part of this is because Jesus didn't come for judgment. Yes, he's going to judge. And yes, judgment will take place. But that was not why he came. Why did Jesus come? For forgiveness, right? He came to forgive. And so he taught us, you need to forgive others as I have forgiven you. Did we deserve his forgiveness? We don't. Other people may not deserve our forgiveness, but it's our job to do it. So Peter, in saying this, and remember, it came from Peter, it wasn't Jesus. Jesus taught about how to handle problems, but it wasn't that Jesus asked Peter, how many times should you forgive your brother? It is Peter that, out of this, brings to us the truth as he asked Jesus, how many times? And he said, literally, unlimited. Because we should not keep track of wrongs or try to repay wrongs. Any questions or comments on that? Okay, in Luke 12, 39 to 41. Luke 12, 39 to 41. Jesus was teaching, and he was, he gave them a little parable, a little snippet, if you would. He said, this is what you need to know. And what he was talking about was the fact that, you know, he's coming back someday, his kingdom may be set up, they should be ready for it and all that. He said, this know that if the good man of the house, if the owner of the house, the man who ruled the house, knew what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not have suffered his house to be broken through. If he knew a robber was coming, what would he do? He would sit there and wait. He'd be ready for him. Then he said, you also need to be ready spiritually for the son of man, and that's a favorite term that Jesus loved to use of himself, son of man, because he's a son of God, but he's a son of man. The son of man comes in an hour when you think not. So Jesus sets up physically something we know about. If you knew your house was gonna be robbed, you wouldn't go on vacation. You'd protect it. Now, you yourself might not sit there with a shotgun, but you'd call in a neighbor or the police or somebody, and you'd take care of it. He said, be ready also spiritually, because the Son of Man's coming, and you don't know when he's coming. So it's going to really be in an hour that you think not isn't that interesting that Jesus said he's going to come when you don't think he's coming and Yet all these people write books and everything else about knowing when he's coming. It's surprising to me Jesus said in an hour you think not that's when he's coming and And Peter said, and again, I love Peter, I love his humanity, I love his frailty, I love everything about Peter because he's so much like us in many ways, but he also has insight and wisdom that he brings in that nobody else does. Now Jesus would have got his message across if he wanted to, but why do you use Peter? Because I think he wanted us to see what potential we have inside of us if we'll let God control our life. And so Peter says, Lord, are you speaking this parable to the 12 of us? Or are you speaking to everybody? And remember, there weren't just 12 disciples. There were the 12 disciples, but he had as many as 120 or more followers at other times. Plus, remember anywhere Jesus went, what did they do? They gathered around the house, they gathered around the synagogue, wherever they were at. So Peter says, Lord, that's a really interesting story. And I understand it. But who's it spoken to? Is it just us as the inner circle? Or is it everybody? And of course we know who it was spoken to. It was spoken to everyone. But that truth came out and we have that in the Bible because of a man named Peter. Like I said, if Jesus wanted to say it, he would have said it. But he used Peter to bring out that truth. To us. And so Jesus continually taught Be ready. You don't know when the Son of Man is coming, but be ready. Just to give you a kind of an illustration of that, a real life illustration, back when the riots were taking place in the Kansas City area back in the, I think that was the 60s, somewhere back in there, I was working, I was pastoring, but I was also working for a corrugated box company, and we made the boxes. And so we were in an area away from Kansas City, about a 30-minute drive, and there really weren't any African-Americans that lived in our community. But they were pushing to get us more integrated. Well, our company was working to the extent that if a black person walked through the door and filled out an application, they hired them. I mean, that was just it. They hired whoever came. They just didn't come because they didn't want to drive. Eventually, we had some come. We did not have too many, but we had a few. But we had two guys that came, and they were great workers, and they got along well with everybody. And during the time of the riots, they didn't show up for work. They didn't call anybody. They didn't notify us. And we were really kind of worried about them, because we did not see them as being involved in the riots. And we were worried if something had happened. And finally, they came back to work. And when they came back to work, we said, where were you? What were you doing? And they said, the riots were taking place in Kansas City. And we sat in our homes in the dark with our shotguns in our hand, so that nobody would come in and take our house. And they were serious, dead serious about what they were saying. Now see, that's what Jesus said. If we'll go to that extent to protect what's here, Will we not be prepared for the master when he comes? That's what we need to do. Because it's much more important in our eternal life than that. Okay, then you have the parable of the slothful householder, Luke 12. I'm sorry, I did that one. Luke 22, preparing the Passover. Luke 22, eight to 13. Luke 22, eight to 13. Now this event is recorded in other Gospels as well, but the names are not given. So I did not refer to them because I'm only referring to the ones that actually name Peter. In Luke 22, 8 to 13, and he sent Peter and John, two of the inner circle, and said, go prepare us the Passover that we may eat. You know, Passover was coming. They had to prepare it. Jesus didn't have a house to do it in, so he had to find a place. So he said unto them, and they said unto him, where will you that we prepare? I mean, that's an obvious. You don't have a home. We don't know where to go. Don't think you've reserved a banquet hall. So we don't know what to do. So we'd love to prepare. How do we do it? And he said, go into the city. And when you get to the city and enter it, very specific instructions, you will be met by a man. The man will be carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him and go into the house where he enters. That's pretty presumptuous, isn't it? You go and find a guy carrying water, you follow him home, and then go in the house. Find the man. who owns the house, the good man of the house. Follow the servant in, then go to the man who owns the house and say, the master saith, where is thy guest chamber? Notice he didn't say, Jesus says, although it is Jesus, he says the master. Those that were truly followers of Christ, who was Jesus to them? Master he was the rabbi. He was the master. He was known as the master The master says ask a question. Where is your guest chamber? Where is it located and? The following up with that said where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples now that's pretty presumptuous if you hadn't planned ahead for that and I see no reason to He had planned ahead for that. I don't believe he'd made arrangements with this guy. I think that this is all Jesus working Go to the master ask him where the guest chamber is because I need to eat the Passover meal with my disciples and He's going to show you a large upper room. That's already furnished. It's got stuff in it stuff laid out on the table and everything there make ready And they went and found as he said unto them, and they made ready the Passover. Can you imagine what it would have been like to be Peter and John? You know, you're being told to go into town, you're going to meet this guy. It didn't say, you're going to meet Joe, who's the servant of so-and-so, and this guy owns the house, and I've already talked to him, he's ready for you. No. He said, go into town, you're going to meet a guy carrying a pitcher of water, follow him home, go inside, don't ask for permission, just go inside, find the guy who owns the house, and tell him the master needs this place. No letter of introduction exactly Exactly just show up and say this is what we need. Yeah, you can imagine probably how those guys felt I mean That's right it is and so they did exactly what they were told and Can you imagine step by step? Well, there he is. There's the guy with the pitcher of water walking. OK, we follow him. Well, there's a house. Well, we'll go inside. Well, you get inside and you don't get kicked out. So now you ask for the guy who owns the house. He accepts you. And the master says he needs it. And they're shown a room that's already prepared and ready and waiting. And they finish, of course, with the food and whatever is necessary, the Passover meal. Again, I think it's hard for us to comprehend or imagine what Peter and John and some of the other disciples saw. Now when I think about it, Peter and James and John saw a lot. What did the rest of the disciples miss? They weren't there when this happened. They weren't there when the lady got raised from the dead, the young lady. God had a special plan for these guys. But don't we hear a lot of them, about them in scripture later on? As the church is founded, God's preparing them. Well, that gets back to the faithful servant thing. It does. They're the ones that are being put in charge. That's right. And as Jesus said, if you're not faithful over little things, how can I put you in charge of big things? And they were faithful in the little things. after each incident was over? Don't you think they were explaining it to them? Oh, I'm sure they were explaining it to them, but what you've got is, it's one thing to be told about, it's another thing to be there. That actual experience when you're there, you know? And I think that that's what they saw. They actually saw what took place. You also have in some of the other disciples, I think, not quite the... I don't know, the dedication maybe, because there were arguments about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom and who was going to sit on this side and that side of Jesus and so forth. But you've got Peter standing out. He made his mistakes, there's no question about it. But you've got him standing out and he's trying, he's got a heart. I think he's kind of like David in the sense where David had a heart for the Lord, that's what the Bible tells us. He made a mistake, he did wrong, there's no question about that. But he had a heart for the Lord. I've said it before, I don't think David ever got up any morning and said, boy, I sure hope I disappoint the Lord today. I sure hope I sin today. I don't believe he ever did that. I believe his heart was, now he made some mistakes. And I think the same way with Peter. I don't think Peter ever got up and said, boy, I hope I deny the Lord today. He did. But the idea was he had a heart for God. And so he got to see some things. And again, it's kind of like the Holy Land. I've been to the Holy Land. I've seen the places. I walked on the path to Calvary, the same rocks that they say Jesus walked on. I was on the Sea of Galilee. We were on the mountain where Jesus fed the 5,000. I can sit here and talk to you about it, but if you haven't been there, it doesn't mean as much to you as it does to me. Yeah, it's a first-hand experience, right? Exactly, yeah. Because I read the Bible and I see the Sea of Galilee when I read the Bible. you can only see what you read about it or what I tell you about it. And so I think that's true with Peter and the disciples. They got to observe a lot, but Peter had had a greater impact on him because he actually saw what took place, you know. Anything else? Okay, I'm gonna move into another section. We're probably not gonna be able to finish this, but we'll start it, because it's a lengthier passage. It is John 13. 1 to 38 so there's 38 verses there John 13 1 to 38 The timing we're told is before the feast of the Passover When Jesus knew that his hour was come, in other words, he knew that he was gonna die, he was gonna depart this world and go to the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them to the end. Boy, that's quite a statement, isn't it? He loved his own and he never gave up loving them. He loved them to the end. Supper is ended in verse two. The devil has now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. It's really amazing to me how in different parts of the Bible you see such intricate detail of what happened. And so, and you say, as you put this in comparison with the other passages about the Passover meal, there's a little confusion sometimes, but what you have to realize is there was a Passover meal that took place. Then after the Passover meal is when the Lord's Supper was instituted. So it was at the end of it. Jesus observed the Passover meal with his disciples. Then after the meal was ended, everybody was through, then he wanted to teach them a lesson before he went out into the garden. And that's when he took the element. So it says here that Jesus knew his hour was come, he loved his own, supper was ended, that's the Passover supper. The devil had put into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon's son to betray him. Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands and that he was come from God and went to God. So in his humanity, remember, he's divine still, but he laid aside the prerogatives of deity. But even in that, he knew that he came from God. He knew he was going back to God. and that God had a plan for him, so God had given everything into his hands, so in actuality, he knows that he's facing his crucifixion, but the Romans aren't in control and the Jews aren't in control. God the Father is. In fact, Jesus is in control. He gets up from supper, took off the outer garment, and when he took off the outer garment, he took a towel, He put it around him like around his waist and so in other words he dressed as a servant is what he did he pours water into a basin and Began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with a towel or with he was girded verse 5 now you've probably heard this before and read it before but what you need to understand is when you came to someone's house and They were supposed to provide a servant to work your feet because they walked with sandals. The roads were dirty, often had sewage in them or whatever. And so when you come into the house, you're supposed to have somebody clean the feet. In this case, Jesus is using a borrowed house. It's not the master's responsibility to take care of him. Jesus is in charge with his disciples. But his disciples, what were Peter and John supposed to do? Prepare for the Passover. It's their job to prepare for the foot washing, whether they do it or get somebody to do it. They came into the house with unwashing feet and sat down and ate, is what they did. And so they went against protocol. So now Jesus is going to correct that. So Jesus is gonna become the servant. The master should not have to be the servant. The Son of God should not have to be doing this. But Jesus said, I came to serve and not to be served. So he lowered himself to the form of a servant. And this is prefiguring his death on the cross when he becomes a servant for all of mankind. So he comes to Simon Peter, and notice the word again, Simon Peter. He's human, but he's also got a spiritual aspect. So he says to Simon, or Simon says to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? Imagine what the disciples must have felt like at this point. Here is Jesus washing dirty feet that they did not do. And Simon said, are you gonna wash my feet? And Jesus said, you don't even understand what I'm doing. You don't know right this moment, but you will know. I'm teaching you a lesson, in other words. Peter said to him, you will never wash my feet. Now notice how he makes that strong statement. And you can understand why he said it. Because I don't want the master washing my dirty feet. But Peter said, you will never wash my feet. Jesus just said to him, what? You don't understand what I'm doing. You will one day, but you don't now. So, you know, why would you say you'll never wash my feet when he just said, I'm getting ready to teach you an example, but that's the impetuousness, that's the humanity there. And Jesus said, if I don't wash you, you don't belong to me. Now, he didn't say, if I don't worship your feet, he said, if I don't worship you, spiritual application, you don't belong to me. Verse nine, Simon Peter said, Lord, and notice he called him Lord, he's not rebuking him, he's not saying that's not gonna, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. He wanted to belong to Jesus, but he still doesn't understand. Washing a guy's feet or washing his hands or his head isn't gonna save him. There's a bigger spiritual implication here that he doesn't know. That's why Jesus said, you don't know now what I'm talking about. You're gonna know, so just be obedient, if you would. And Jesus said, he that is washed doesn't need to wash his feet. In other words, if you'd come in here And we'd washed your feet. You don't need them. Wash them again. You're clean. You're clean every whip. And he said, you are clean, but not all. Now that's a statement to the disciples. Apparently he had not washed all of their feet yet, but that isn't what he's talking about. But he said, and you are clean. You're clean why because you're my disciples, you know, and I'm bringing you salvation but not all Okay, if we stop there we'd say what was he talking about You're clean, but not every one of you. Okay, who wouldn't clean but he tells us verse 11 for he knew who should betray him and Therefore he said you are not all clean Judas is scary. Yep Yeah, oh yeah, yeah you would have But the cleaning of his feet didn't save him it was the spiritual clean so after he washed their feet and had taken his garments and was sat down again. So he washed the feet, took off the towel, put his outer garment back on again. He asked the question, do you know what I've done? Do you understand what just happened? You call me master and Lord, verse 13. And you're right, because I am. If I then, Lord, your Lord and master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them. Speak not of you all I know whom I have chosen But that the scripture may be fulfilled He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me Now what he's saying is I know whom I've chosen. I didn't make a mistake I know that I chose 11 men who would follow me and I know I chose one that was a devil and It's not a surprise to me you need to understand that he's telling them so he said The scripture will be fulfilled he that eateth bread with me at the lifted up his heel against me Do you know that that was really a very? Inappropriate thing to do To break bread with somebody That was your enemy so to speak that's something you just didn't do and But for three years, what did Judas do? He ate bread with him, he lived with him, and he walked with him. And you learn from him. He had three years to learn, but he chose not to. He chose not to. So he said, now I tell you before it come that when it comes to pass, you may believe that I am he. I'm giving you a warning in advance of my death, my betrayal, and all of that. And then he went on to say in verse 20, barely, barely I say unto you, he that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me, he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. And so if we don't receive who Jesus sent, we're rejecting Jesus. When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit and testified and said, verily, verily, I say unto you that one of you shall betray me. You can understand what must have come over his soul at that time, his whole being. The disciples looked at one another, doubting of whom he spake. And so they didn't know. I'm going to stop off there for this week, because we don't have time. We've got some more to deal with. So he's going into that teaching and telling them what's going on. So don't be surprised. I've got it in my hand. And I think that's a lesson for us today about the world or anything else. Don't be surprised. I've got it in my hand. I told you what was coming. I told you what's going on. Just understand. And yeah, Judas was a devil, if you would. and he was gonna betray him, and terrible things were gonna happen. Let me say one thing quickly, and you can add anything you want to, but one thing about foot washing. There are some churches that practice foot washing, and they take it as a doctrine. Most churches don't, and Southern Baptists don't take it as a doctrine. Don't say it's wrong to do it, we just don't take it as a doctrine. He said that we were to wash one another's feet, but if you look at the passage, he wasn't talking about you gotta wash feet. It was service, it was becoming a servant is what it was. We do not see in the elements of foot washing the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. True, there's the element of dirty feet and being washed away with water, but we just don't see that as Southern Baptist. We're not saying there's anything wrong with it if a person wants to do it. We just do not see it as an ordinance of the church. I think that I have done it here personally, not as the congregation. I know I've done it in some other churches that I've had. On occasion, washed a person's feet at the Lord's Supper, just as a picture and a symbolism. And that was just done for effect. So if you wonder about why we don't wash feet, we don't see, it's not been seen in scripture, that this is like an ordinance of baptism, and like the Lord's Supper that we were commanded to do, and so that's why. But some churches do it, and that's fine. I mean, if they want to do it, there's nothing wrong with doing it if they want to. Okay, there's more of that to pick up next week, but anything in the meantime you want to say or add or question or whatever? This most sacred event represented in that Olympics thing. Disgustingly. It just shows such a level of depravity to that story and portray it that way. Right. It was terrible. Some of the signs of our society and what are going on today. And they are religious attacks. There's no question. Just like that. It's meant to be a religious attack. It's meant to be offensive. Yeah. It was planned for that. So it's terrible that this happened. Yeah, right up front. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Do you have something there? Brent looked like you were. Well, I mean, I don't know that it has anything to do with it, but I was just thinking about how it speaks of, you know, he and Edith bred with me, have lifted up his heel against me. It just triggered that in Genesis, you know, the bruising of the heel, the enmity between God and the woman with regard to that. I didn't know if there was any tie in there or not. I think there is, because it talked about, you know, Satan was going to bruise the heel of man. And so he was bruising when he was entering into the Lord's Supper with Judas like that. But of course, the ultimate was that Christ was going to destroy the head of the serpent or Satan. Yeah. Is that a thing they did in that time? I mean, some way or other bruised a person's heel? Or just did they say it? I'm going to bruise your heel. I don't know that that was a saying, but what's going back to here, of course, is Genesis, when God said he was going to bruise, that Satan was going to bruise the heel of man, but Christ would bruise the head of Satan. That's really what it goes back to. So it was an effect of Satan attacking man, and the way man did, he's not gonna be able to destroy man, he's gonna be able to hurt man. And of course, he- So what was the deliberate action to be able to hurt man? That's what Jesus, what God was talking about in the garden was gonna happen, and Jesus was going to destroy Satan, if you would, but Satan was going to bruise the heel of man as well as bruise the heel of Jesus, because Jesus was crucified and went through all the things that he did. Yeah, it would be the humanity side of him. Yeah, it would be, right. So it's very possible that that is a timing, yeah. Genesis 3.15 is where it speaks about that. Right, right. Okay, well, let's be dismissed. Gail, let's pray for her. She's having her surgery. And that's on Thursday, right? Yes, sir. I don't know what time. Right. They hold that sacred, you know, make it more complicated until the last minute. Sure. And I'd appreciate prayers for, like I said, our granddaughter. She has her test tomorrow. Does she have to be anesthetized? Yes, yeah, yeah. It's a very short procedure, but yeah, she will, before they go down the lungs. And like I said, she's been with a pediatrician. Even though she's an adult right now, the pediatrician has kept her. But now they've moved her to an adult, so this is gonna be a new specialist looking at it, which I'm actually excited about. So they had found something in there that crooked on the lung before, but then kinda dismissed it. So anyway, just appreciate your prayers for her. And then as we said, our son's father-in-law passed away. He'd been really ill for some time. But their kids, of course Mandy lives in Phoenix, but they have a son in Ohio and a son in Florida. And they've come in, and there's not gonna be a service. But again, gonna be an adjustment here, so I appreciate your prayers for them as well, so. It's in the morning, and I don't remember. I was thinking it was real early, one of the first things I was thinking. Tomorrow morning, yeah, so. And of course, she's getting ready to go back to college. I think she moves in next Monday, so. I'd like to get this behind them if they could and get it taken care of, so. Well, have a good week, and let's be dismissed. Fred, would you dismiss us, please? I'd just like to say this, tomorrow I'm going to get my mouth worked on. And I did tell the dentist what you guys told me to tell him, to make sure when they get done that I've got a clean mouth. And he says that he can't guarantee that, but he'll do the best he can. But he's going to work on me for quite a while. Not just tomorrow, it'll be several months or something, he said. Like all the things he's got to do. So, please pray for me, because I do not like pain at all. I don't know if anybody does, but... And this reason is all, again, because of Bessie. She wants me to have a clean mouth. Was she okay? I noticed she had to get up out of church today. Well, she's that way all the time, you know. She can't walk, or she can stop. She just started coughing this morning, and that's what she's got a lot of problems on. Just remember, it was a key friend for her. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank you for the privilege of being here. I count it a privilege to be here, and to learn, and to excel. to think about the things that was done back in those days when the preachers were, well, when our Lord was there, and he straightened men like us out on doing things and doing that. So, Lord, we need to look to the Lord. Whenever he talks to us, help us to listen and to learn more about what he actually wants us to do. I know that I've worked in construction all my life, and a lot Construction people don't want you to talk about Jesus. But you can take and still find ways to tell them about Jesus and the way you act and what you do and everything. I know that several people come to know the Lord because of some of the things that I did. I'm not saying I'm perfect, because you guys know I'm not. But God can take and help us in any way. And that's our prayer, is that we need God's help for whatever we do. And we thank our pastor and his wife teaching and doing the things that they do for us and we ask Lord that you keep them doing for us because we need them and we ask that you'd be with us even when we have prayer meeting because there's a lot of prayers on there and people need prayers and so help us to do the things that you've called us to do. In Jesus most precious name I ask.