I Do Not Know

I looked up the exact phrase "I do not know" in the New American Standard version of the Bible and got 31 hits. Each one a very interesting glimpse into the story that God wants to tell us through scripture. Here are some of the highlights:

• The first time the phrase is uttered occurs in Genesis 4 after God asks Cain about Abel's where abouts. 9Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
• In Exodus 5, Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh and tell him that God demands he let His people go so that they may hold a feast in His honor in the wilderness. Pharaoh replies in the negative. 2But Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and besides, I will not let Israel go."
• In Matthew 26, which is perhaps the most well-known "I do not know" moment, Peter denies Jesus three times, just as the Savior told him he would during the Last Supper. 74Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know the man!" And immediately a rooster crowed.

These three situations are denials of God. No other way to look at it. These three men were denying they knew God or denying that what they knew to be true about God. They were defensive maneuvers, pure and simple. Each suffered the consequences of their denial.

As Paul says in 2 Timothy, we have two choices -- 12If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us. Either we can proclaim Him as the Savior we know him to be and live with Him forever or we can deny His rightful position and suffer eternity separated from our Creator and Redeemer.

I often look at my life and my choices in a Simon/Peter sort of way. When Jesus met him, he was called Simon. Jesus changed his name to Peter because he knew that Peter would be the "rock" upon which His early church would be built. But he also knew that Peter was a work in progress.

Periodically, when Jesus felt Peter was struggling with doubt or indecision, He would refer to him as Simon again. This was especially the case in John 21 when Jesus asks three times, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?"

During Jesus' trial, when he had denied Jesus three times just as the Savior had predicted, Peter was confronted by his actions. He realized the words that he spoke, cried for his very soul, and rededicated himself to be the Godly man that Jesus intended him to be. It was not enough for him the redact his words or apologize for them. He took it as a soulful lesson. He knew that, if he is to be the man that God designed him to be and do the work that Jesus had commissioned him to do, he must never deny his Master again.

It is a lesson for us all.