Stand for the Name; Mark 14:27-31, 66-72; 3rd Lent; 3rd of 7 in “All for You” series; The Promise; 3-19-06; Darryl Bell
Stories of Persecuted Christians:
1. Police raided Ma Yuqin’s rural home (in China), arresting her, her son, daughter-in-law and a visiting female believer, leaving only her 5-year-old grandson by himself. After refusing to deny their faith and divulge other Christians’ names, Ma and her son were electrically shocked and nearly beaten to death in adjacent rooms so they would hear each other’s screams and relent. Hearing her son was more agonizing than her own physical torture. Their visiting friend, Yu Zhongju, was beaten to death in custody.
Interviews and prison reports taken at this time confirm dozens of house-church members were bludgeoned with clubs, jolted with cattle prods and burned with cigarettes. After fainting from the torture, they were doused with water to regain con-sciousness. During interrogations, male prisoners’ fingers were trampled and women were stripped naked and abused. (Voice Of the Martyrs, Feb, 06, p. 5).
2. In Pakistan eighteen-year-old Mohan Shazad grew up making bricks for less than a dollar a day. To free himself from that near-slavery, he began selling Christian literature to the brick kiln workers.
“Late last September as Mohan was riding his bike home from a day of selling literature, two men whose faces were cov-ered with black scarves jumped out of a sugar cane field onto the road. Mohan abruptly stopped his bicycle to avoid a colli-sion. One of the assailants pointed a pistol at Mohan. The other wielded an axe. They demanded Mohan stop distributing the Christian literature. When he refused, one of the attackers swung the axe at Mohan, slicing into his flesh and severing his left arm. The assailants fled as Mohan lay on the road bleeding, writhing in pain.
“Help arrived, and Mohan was taken to a nearby hospital. There was little the inexperienced and ill-equipped doctors could do to reattach his left arm.” There followed months of inade-quate medical care, infection, rehospitalization, and then some help from a Christian ministry to get the medical care he needed.
“Mohan told us he plans to resume his Christian literature distribution activities and will find a way to continue the work God has called him to do. ‘I have lost my one arm; even if they cut (off) my other body parts, I am ready for that. I will carry on with my work even if death is the result. Building the Lord’s kingdom is the mission of my life.” (VOM, Mar, 06, p. 6).
3. In China police and Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers raided the home of a Christian we’ll call “Ling.” “When the offi-cers entered, they found ample amounts of contraband: Bibles, Christian literature, … and other Christian materials. But what was more troubling in their eyes than the large stash of Chris-tian materials was the evidence it provided: The materials were being produced inside China, not brought in from the outside.
“The interrogation began instantly, right at the house: ‘Where did these things come from? Who are you working with? Who provides financial help?’
“Ling was surrounded, but he was not afraid. The ques-tions kept coming, the voices growing louder and more strin-gent; and he sat silently, refusing to provide any information that would lead the officers to his Christian co-workers.
“His silence did not satisfy them; they demanded an-swers. He continued to refuse. They placed his hand on a table and held it down. One by one his fingernails were pulled out—all 10 of them.
“Even in the agony of his physical pain, this brave brother would not deny his Father, and he would not betray his brothers and sisters. The year was 2001. He was forced to spend three years in a ‘re-education through labor’ camp, beaten and burned with cigarettes, yet he still refused to deny his faith. Late in 2004, he was released. The ‘re-education’ efforts had failed” (VOM, special issue, 2006, p. 4).
4. “Paul Idris, a Sudanese Christian, was running from the Muslim militias. He was captured and held in a concentration camp where he was tortured before being taken to prison in Khartoum. In agony in the detention camp, Paul refused to deny Jesus Christ when his Muslim torturers demanded, ‘Give up this Jesus.’ When he continued to claim Jesus, his tormenters took polyethylene sheets of plastic and burned them, dripping hot plastic on his naked back. The torture was repeated many times during the month he was in prison. Now (he is) back home in the South… Paul’s father was killed during the Muslim inva-sions; he cannot find his brothers and sisters who are on the run, but his mother is alive, living in another area.
“Five million Sudanese Christians have lost their homes and possessions and remain ‘refugees’ in their own country.” (VOM, special issue, 2006, p. 10).
We could go on and on with stories like these. More brave Christians are being persecuted, tortured, and killed for their faith in Jesus now than at any time in Christian history. I wanted to share these stories with you to give us a context for our study of today’s scripture. We’re continuing our Lenten se-ries, “All for You,” remembering all Jesus did for you in those last few days of his earthly life. We’re working our way through the last three chapters of Mark’s gospel. We’ve seen the woman anoint Jesus in preparation for his burial, and we’ve witnessed the first Lord’s Supper.
In today’s text Jesus and his friends are walking from the upper room to the Mount of Olives where Jesus was going to pray. As they walk, he says, You will all fall away, and he quotes the prophet Zechariah, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered (14:27). He’s referring to the fact that when he is taken, the disciples will scatter. The Greek word for “fall away” gives us the word “scandalize.” When Jesus is taken and killed, the disciples, he says, will be scandalized. They will take of-fense. They’ll be embarrassed by him and scatter. It’s the same word he uses in the parable of the soils, referring to the rocky soil. Since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away (Mark 4:17). The pressures around them become too great to withstand, and they fall away.
But like some other experiences they had together, Peter thinks he knows better than Jesus. Even if they all fall away, he says, I won’t. It’s a kind of competitive egotism. In a sense the scattering has already begun, because Peter is speaking just for himself over against the others. He’s claiming to be more faithful than they are. He’s dividing them. But Jesus gives him a solemn warning: I tell you the truth, Peter, today—yes tonight —before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times (14:30). Peter’s expectation is far different. Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you (14:31). We’ll see.
How many times, in a safe setting, with other Christians around you, have you made a similar claim? “I’m going to stay true to Jesus. I’m not going to fall into the trap of going along with the crowd. I’m going to speak up for him. I’m going to stand firm, because I want to live for Jesus.” It’s easy to think that at church or in a cell meeting. But when the pressure comes, how easy it is to fold.
Mark tells the rest of this story later in this chapter. They arrest Jesus and haul him off to the high priest and the religious council. Peter follows along at a distance behind Jesus. You have to give him credit for trying to stay close. The other disci-ples had faded into the night. So as Jesus is being interrogated inside, Peter quietly edges up to the fire in the courtyard to warm up. There one of the high priest’s young servant girls thinks Peter looks familiar. “You were also with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said. Probably without even thinking, Peter blurted out, I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about. This was a pretty uncomfortable situation, so he backed off and went out into the entryway.
There he was recognized again. A servant girl said, This fellow is one of them. Again, his first impulse was to deny it. But he couldn’t hide his accent. Some of them said, Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean. Galileans were considered hillbillies and hicks to the people in Jerusalem. And they knew Jesus was from Galilee. So Peter’s accent gave him away. Just as every lie seems to require another, bigger one to keep the story going, so Peter has really worked himself into a corner now. Mark says, He began to call down curses on himself, but the “on himself” isn’t in the original Greek. It doesn’t say whom the curses were made on. They may have been on Peter him-self. But there’s another possibility.
In about AD 110 Pliny the Younger was a special com-missioner to a certain region of the Roman Empire (Pontus-Bithynia), and he reported to Emperor Trajan that whenever he interrogated suspected Christians, he asked the prisoner three times, “Are you a Christian?” with threats of punishment. The accused proved his or her innocence by cursing Jesus—something, Pliny insists, “those who are really Christians cannot be made to do” (quoted in David Garland, The NIV Application Commentary: Mark, p. 567). This curse was proof enough to the authorities that the person was not a Christian. Also, according to Justin Martyr, the Jewish rebel leader Bar Kochba (132-135) gave Christians the choice between death and cursing Christ. So cursing Christ was proof that one was not a Christian. David Garland argues that Mark may be implying here that this is what Peter did. Maybe the curse was on Jesus. That would make Pe-ter’s fall all the more dreadful and his restoration all the more amazing. (ibid.)
Just then a rooster crowed and Peter suddenly remem-bered what Jesus had told him. You probably know the sick feeling that washed over him. He couldn’t believe what he had just done. All at once he felt sick and weak and awful. He de-spised himself and would have happily crawled into a hole and disappeared forever. Mark says, He broke down and wept. And we don’t know what happens to him after that for the next cou-ple days.
What a contrast between Jesus’ experience and Pe-ter’s—both going on at the same time! Jesus boldly confesses before the powerful high priest, while Peter denies to a servant girl. Jesus is under immense pressure and hostility that will seal his fate, and he stands firm. Peter, on the other hand, is under the gentlest of pressure from a servant girl, and he lies to save himself. As Garland puts it, “Peter was the rock that disinte-grated to a pile of sand” (p. 572).
When Jesus had asked his disciples who they thought he was, it was Peter who said, “You are the Messiah” (8:29). But Jesus went on to tell them, If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him (Mark 8:38). Imagine Peter’s shame now as he realizes that this prediction applies to him. He was ashamed to be associated with Jesus.
And I shamefully admit that I’ve been there too. Maybe you have as well. We don’t face the persecution and suffering of those we mentioned at the beginning of this message. Our de-nials of Jesus take far more subtle forms. It may be timid silence when we ought to speak up. We may not want to be identified as Christians. We may try to blend into the crowd of the Lord’s enemies, just as Peter did in the courtyard.
The problem is that we, like Peter, tend to rely on our own strength. Peter was a strong person. He had lots going for him. But he relied on his own personal strength instead of on God, and he ended up falling even farther than the other disci-ples. As we’re told in 1 Corinthians 10:12, If you think you are standing strong, be careful, for you, too, may fall.
Peter thought he was ready to die for Jesus, but what he really needed was for Jesus to die for him. And Jesus did. He endured the abandonment of his closest friends deserting him. One of his inner circle denied even knowing him. He stood alone in his trial. He suffered alone under the hand of the Ro-man soldiers. He hung alone on the cross to forgive Peter and people like him—you and me—for the ways we have failed him. His forgiveness and grace are incredible. He willingly accepted this abandonment for the sake of his mission of mercy and rec-onciliation. What awesome love!
Three times Peter had failed to understand when Jesus told his disciples about his coming suffering and death. Three times Peter had failed to watch and pray when he was with Je-sus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Three times he denied even knowing Jesus after Jesus was arrested. Then after Jesus’ res-urrection he met his disciples on the shore of Lake Galilee, and after breakfast he took Peter aside. Three times he gave Peter the opportunity to reaffirm his love. Simon, son of John, do you truly love me more than these?… Simon, son of John, do you truly love me?… Simon, son of John, do you love me? (John 21). And three times Peter affirmed his love for Jesus. And Je-sus restored him. Although Peter had failed the first test, he went on now to stand strong for Jesus time after time. Ultimately he died as a martyr for the Lord he loved.
There’s one important difference between Peter’s earlier denials and his later faithfulness. When Peter denied Jesus, he was living in his own strength. He intended to be true. He wanted to be strong. But when the pressure came, he couldn’t do it. He folded. Later God gave the Holy Spirit to empower him from within. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you… (Acts 1:8). Because of the Holy Spirit’s presence in his life, from then on he was able to stand strong.
The same is true for us. Late in his life Peter wrote two letters that we have in the New Testament. In the light of what we’ve heard this morning, let’s hear a few of the things he wrote: His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him 2 Peter 1:3. His power has given us everything we need to live for him. He says, Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15 Don’t deny the Lord. Be prepared to give an answer. He says suffering is normal for a Christian. If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 1 Peter 4:16.
He concludes his letter looking at the longer view: In his kindness God called you to his eternal glory by means of Jesus Christ. After you have suffered a little while, he will restore, sup-port, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foun-dation. All power is his forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:10-11.
The good news today is by the Holy Spirit’s power, you can stand for Jesus. Jesus stood for you. Jesus died for you. And as a result, he restores you to himself and strengthens you, if you trust in him. And now you can stand for him. This doesn’t mean we become obnoxious and hard-nosed and pushy like some Christians who are giving our Lord a bad name. But as Peter says, “with gentleness and respect” we stand firm and give an answer. By the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit, followers of Jesus are able to withstand horrible suffering and persecution, as we saw at the beginning. It’s not their own strength. It is God’s strength in them. And while we are blessed that we don’t suffer that kind of persecution, God gives us the strength to stand for Jesus where we are, every day. Let their faithfulness inspire you. Be bold. Don’t deny the Lord who saves you. Live with conviction. Stand strong. You have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives you (Phil 4:13 TEV). Resolve not to deny the Name, but to stand strong for Christ.
