“Peter took Jesus aside and began rebuking him. ‘Never, Lord!’” (Matt.16:22)
Lord Jesus, if an oxymoron is a couplet of contradictory terms—like deafening silence, jumbo shrimp, planned spontaneity, or peace offensive—then the ultimate oxymoron was spoken by the Apostle Peter. “Never, Lord!” Those two words simply don’t belong together. Yet I have a history of responding to you in a similar fashion like Peter.
One of the first ways I contradicted you Jesus was when you told me my need of salvation is so great only the Gospel of your grace could save me—not my contrite striving, beating myself up, good works, or vain promises of do more try harder. Whether by pride or unbelief, whenever we do not/cannot believe you are 100% of our righteousness, we are saying, “Never, Lord! You haven’t done quite enough for me.”
And when you assure me that your grace will be sufficient for me in hard relationships and challenging stories, and yet I persist in unbelief and in the insufficiency of my self-sufficiency, my actions are saying, “Never, Lord! Maybe for the Apostle Paul, but your grace won’t be quite enough for me.”
And when you tell me you created and redeemed me to live and love missionally—to invest my time, talent, and treasure in the advancing of the Gospel—yet I persist in living a micro-narrative of personal peace and self-fulfillment, I am saying, “Never, Lord! You can’t use someone like me. I’ve got other fires to put out first and things to put into place before I retire.”
And when you promise you are at work in all things for my good, yet I keep on complaining, resenting, and blaming—I’m declaring, “Never, Lord! My situation is different than most. You can’t/won’t work for my good in this.”
Jesus, thank you for your daily mercy and patience with me. Take me aside and rebuke me with the Gospel daily—hourly if necessary. So Very Amen.
