Focus: Is It I?

Text: Mk.14:19

"And they BEGAN TO BE SORROWFUL, and say unto him one by one, IS IT I? And another said, IS IT I?"

This piece of Scripture is very touching and contains in it a very powerful lesson for all of us.

Jesus is eating the last supper with His disciples before He finally faces the death of the cross. Right in the middle of it, He says to them, 'One of you will betray me.' The first reaction is that of sorrow. They were deeply disturbed and troubled. They were in shock, and just wondering, 'How could any one of us be so morally warped or mentally twisted to the degree of wanting to betray the Master? Why would anyone want to hurt a Master this good and perfect?'

The sorrow in their heart was deep and huge. And none had the slightest idea of who it was. Imagine eating with Jesus while plotting to have him killed! And as Jesus would ask, "Betraying your friend with a kiss?"

The first lesson is that a lot of us have lost our feelings. The word of God has become like one of those things. We don't feel touched by the word anymore. We have developed an unholy familiarity with the things of God. We have become dull of hearing. We are suffering from itching ears. We parade a form of religion totally devoid of power. We've lost our sacred tears, tears of godly sorrow, a godly sorrow that is the effect of a repentant heart. When last did you hear the word of God and wept for yourself? Paul preached night and day, and even wrote his epistles with tears, and talked about "serving the Lord with all humility, and with many tears" (Act.20:19,31; 2Cor.2:4). He tells Timothy of being "mindful of thy tears" (2Tim.1:4).

We no longer seek the Lord with tears. A lady in Luke 7 washed Jesus' feet with her tears. A father in Mark 9 pleaded with tears for the Lord to help his child gain freedom from a demonic bondage.

Where have our tears gone to? We are today practicing religion without tears. Our spiritual worship is losing holy tears. Every now and then we are denying and betraying our Lord Jesus without even bating an eyelid. We are forgetting that we become casualties tomorrow of the eternal things we regard as casual today.

Where can we find true religion without tears? Where can we find the weeping church?

The time is here again for us to weep between the porch and the altar. Genuine Christianity is not without tears - both tears of sorrow and tears of joy. One mark of fake faith is that it lacks true tears. Heart touched by grace produce tears in the eyes. A life altered by divine grace yields tears in the eyes. Of what good is tearless worship?

I pray we recover our holy tears and serve the Lord with the heart of flesh. Amen.

The lesson continues tomorrow.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter