Truth in Tension: Seeing Jesus ClearlyНамуна

Life & Death

It is hard to imagine that the one disciple in scripture who seemed to be the most passionate about the way of Jesus would also be the disciple who denies Him. In the final week of Jesus’ earthly life, He sits down to have a meal with His disciples and washes their feet. Simon seems to be all over the place on this night and eventually tells Jesus that he will follow Him to the death. Jesus tells him that before the rooster crows, he will deny Him three times. And Jesus was right.

Peter must have felt like a failure. Have you ever felt like you let Jesus down or weren’t true to your word? Jesus will do for you what He did for Peter. In John 21, we read the story of Peter being reinstated by Jesus. Peter had denied Jesus three times, and here, we see Peter profess his love for Jesus three times. In the end, Jesus looks at Peter again and says to him, “Follow me.”

This wasn’t the first time Peter had heard those words. As a matter of fact, he and his brother Andrew were among the first of the 12 to receive the invitation to follow Jesus. But hearing it this time may have felt different. Just before Jesus invites Peter to follow Him, He tells him that saying yes one day will lead to his death. Saying yes to the life Jesus was offering also meant saying yes to the death he would experience.

In John 10:10, Jesus tells us that He came so that all will have life, and not just any life — Life Abundant! This is a beautiful promise from Jesus, but the question we must consider is, what does this life look like? Because Jesus didn’t just come that we may have life; He has also called us to die to ourselves daily.

At face value, these two statements look like they could be in conflict with each other, and maybe when you read them, you prefer to focus on one while ignoring the other. However, ignoring portions of scripture simply because we don’t understand it is always a mistake.

Lens 1: The abundant life.

The only way to truly experience life the way we were created to experience it is in Jesus. In other words, Jesus is the only way to true life.

Lens 2: Die to yourself.

If anyone wants to be a follower of Jesus, they must die to themselves daily, picking up their cross and following Him. Your love for Jesus must be greater than your love for anything else, even your own life.

We must die to ourselves to experience the life Jesus has to offer. These two statements do not conflict with each other; instead, they go hand in hand. It is only when we die to ourselves that we can truly experience the life Jesus has called us to.

Are there things in your life that you are keeping alive that Jesus has called you to die to? As you go about your day today, ask God to reveal to you anything you are holding onto and ask Him to strengthen you so that you can trust Him in everything.