To Know Or Deny

Beloved: Who is the liar?  Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.  Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father…”  (1 John 2:22-28)

The author of this letter appears to be referring to Matthew 10: 32-33 that reads: “…Everyone who acknowledges me [Jesus] before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.  But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father…”   

According to biblical scholar, professor, and minister William Barclay (1907-1978), John is saying: “To deny Jesus is to be separated from God, for on our reaction to Jesus our relationship to God depends.  To deny Jesus is indeed the master lie, for it is to lose entirely the faith and the knowledge which he alone makes possible…The Christian faith depends on the unique relationship of Jesus to God.  John is, therefore, right; the man who denies the Son has lost the Father, too.”

So, what does it mean “to deny Jesus?”  We have the answer in Mark 14:66-72: “While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s maids came along. Seeing Peter warming himself, she looked intently at him and said, ‘You too were with the Nazarene, Jesus.’ But he denied it saying, ‘I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.’ So he went out into the outer court. [Then the cock crowed.] 

The maid saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, ‘This man is one of them.’ Once again he denied it. A little later the bystanders said to Peter once more, ‘Surely you are one of them; for you too are a Galilean.’ He began to curse and to swear, ‘I do not know this man about whom you are talking.’ And immediately a cock crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times.’ He broke down and wept.”

This year we must not hear the cock crow, even once. There must be no denials, no master lies.  We must acknowledge Jesus, follow his teachings, and abide by his commandments so as to bring us closer to the Father.  To do otherwise is to make ourselves liars and antichrists - betrayers.

Deacon David Pierce