Monday, July 31, 2017

Loving Wounds, Kisses that Kill

Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
Proverbs 27:6

Who could forget the kiss with which Judas betrayed the Lord?  It was the final act in a long relationship of an unfaithful heart.  There are many questions that we have about the life of Judas, but there is no question that there was definite cruelty in the kiss with which the disciple betrayed the Master.  In contrast to this we could think of the wounding of Peter’s betrayal in the temple courtyard – where he denied even knowing Jesus (John 18:15-18).  While that failure was dealt with when Peter saw Jesus on the beach the faithful wounding of a friend was given by Jesus.  As Jesus repeatedly asks Peter if he loves Jesus more than these three times Peter is grieved.  At that moment Peter was restored, having faced his own shortcoming as a blustery big talker this faithful wound was critical in transforming Peter from a big talker into a pillar of the early church.

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