Daily Devotionals

Voice of the Lord

Devotional: 21st of Tammuz

Go and tell his talmidim [disciples], especially Kefa, that he [Yeshua] is going to the Galil ahead of you (Mark 16:7).

There is a story of two men standing outside shul (synagogue). One of the men is reviling a man named Rubenstein incessantly. The other man eventually asks, "Nu? [So?] How do you know so much about Rubenstein?" The reviler replies, "Oh, him? We've been best friends for years!"

It is an ironic truism that those closest to us are best acquainted with our weaknesses. This was never more true than in regard to Kefa's (Peter's) relationship with Yeshua. Kefa, who had promised he would never abandon Yeshua, denied three times that he ever knew him. After Yeshua's execution, Kefa was most likely off by himself, drowning in anguish and humiliation. Then came God's message to the three women who came to anoint Yeshua's dead body with spices: "Go and tell his talmidim, especially Kefa." There is such grace in the words "especially Kefa." News of the resurrection was probably not half so sweet to Kefa's ears as was God's open embrace.

Kefa was no Yehudah (Judas). Kefa had simply fallen prey to his own humanity, and that is not a crime for which God withdraws his grace. Elsewhere, Scripture tells us, "God does not take away life, but plans ways so that the banished one may not be cast out from him" (2 Samuel 14:14 NASB). So then, even as we stumble, God is furnishing the means for us to rise again (Proverbs 24:16). Bless his merciful Name.

...not let my sins distract me from God's faithfulness to me, even in my weakest moments (2 Timothy 2:13).

BC