Jn 13.21-33,36-38
Of all the people in the world who would deny Christ and frustrate the plans of God, we may often think that we are the least inclined to do so. Just like Simon Peter, we would seize every opportunity to say “I will lay down my life for you” (Jn 13.37). Such confidence commanded no honour from the lips of Christ, because it represented Simon Peter’s over-evaluation of his own nobility.
The path of the Christ-follower is the path of the cross. In professing that we turn to Christ and that we follow Christ, we are also stating a commitment to be conscious of the cost that we will have to pay to follow him. It is important that we be cautious to understand the demands placed upon the one who claims to follow the way of Christ before we flippantly profess “I will lay down my life for you”. The Greeks had a race in their Olympic games that was unique. The winner was not the runner who finished first. It was the runner who finished with his torch still lit. In promising to run the race well, will we be able to deliver a torch that still remains lit at the end of our race?
Reflection: Have you at times caught yourself professing a little too boldly, in speech or in song, that you would be willing to abandon almost everything for Christ?
(meditations by Sherman)