After Jesus was arrested, Peter
followed along behind. Luke records the following:
“Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, ‘This man also was with Him.’ … And a little later someone else saw him and said, ‘You also are one of them.’ … And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, ‘Certainly this man also was with Him, for he too is a Galilean” (Luke 22:56, 58, 59 ESV).
Although Scripture doesn’t
specify, Luke gives the impression that at least the first girl recognized
Peter from having seen him with Jesus. Matthew’s account says that one of the
three people commented on Peter’s accent. His Galilean heritage was evident in
some way.
Similar events occur in the
book of Acts. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived
that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they
recognized that they had been with Jesus” (4:13). This time Peter didn’t deny
it even though it brought danger to him. “Whether it is right in the sight of
God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but
speak of what we have seen and heard” (4:19-20). The appearance of the
resurrected Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit gave Peter an assurance and
confidence that he didn’t have before.
Another passage in Acts is
worth mentioning. Paul encountered a crippled man at Lystra. “And Paul, looking
intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud
voice, ‘Stand upright on your feet.’ And he sprang up and began walking”
(14:9-10). Something about the man’s appearance revealed his faith. Was it a
twinkle in his eye? A look of desperation? Was he trying to get up even before
he was healed?
All that makes me wonder—what
do people see when they look at you or me? Do they recognize that we have been
with Jesus? Do they see that we have faith? Do they hear it in our “accent” and
the words we use? Do they know that it is because of Christ that we live and
act the way we do? Conversely, do our words and deeds show that our loyalties
are no different from the rest of the world? Do we blend into the crowd so well
that no one would suspect us of being Christians?
When we interact with other
people, do we look for signs of faith in them? It seems to me that evangelism
has to start there. It’s easy to go through life not even seeing the people
around us—the cashier, the waitress, the mechanic—they just become blurred
faces on the way to somewhere else. I know I’m often guilty of this. I suspect
that if we took the time and effort to really see people, we’d see a lot more
evidence of faith than we might think, whether it is someone who is searching
for the truth or someone who is growing in their faith. That can then become
the starting point for a deeper conversation and opportunity for connection.
My challenge for all of us is
to take a look at our own lives to see what’s showing, but also to look at
those around us and really see them.
“But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being
prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope
that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).
© 2018 Dawn
Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from
pixabay.com.
