If you get through this whole blog, hopefully you’ll understand why I named it what I did- but preface, this blog has nothing to do with the actual band Sleeping at Last haha.
There’s an account in the Gospels about a time when Jesus was sleeping on a boat in the middle of a horrific storm. His disciples are freaking out and wake Him up saying “Do you not care that we are dying?” Jesus stands up, rebukes the storm, and everything is still…as if there was never a storm to begin with. Then, Jesus turns to His disciples and asks them “why were you afraid? Where is your faith?”
I used to read that last part thinking that Jesus was disappointed in His disciples, and reprimanded them for doubting. Anyone else? As it turns out, Jesus is real kind, and isn’t interested in reprimanding us as much as He’s interested in helping us see the truth. So when He asked the disciples “why were you afraid? Where is your faith?” it wasn’t rhetorical. He truly wanted to challenge their perspective.
At this point in time, the disciples (men of Jewish tradition), knew nothing about the resurrection that we know. In fact, at the time of Jesus, Sadducees rejected any talk of “resurrection of the dead,” and held that at death, one simply ceased to exist. So for the disciples to fear death for the sake of having no hope of life after death was understandable. Yet, Jesus is constantly reminding us that He came to fulfill the Old Testament. And so His questions “why were you afraid? Where is your faith?” are meant to challenge the disciples once again, into realizing that their Old Testament beliefs are being fulfilled right before their eyes. Its as if Jesus’ questions are actually lessons that if we’re paying attention, we will get:
“Why are you afraid? Where is your faith?”
“There’s no need to fear death anymore, I am the resurrection and the life…when you are with me, you will never die. Your faith is in this earthly life- but put your faith in me- the Way, the Truth and the Life.”
So now, we’re gonna fast forward…Jesus has already been crucified, buried, and has resurrected…His disciples walked through it all with Him, and finally began to understand this whole “resurrection” concept that Jesus was teaching about while He was with them. So in Acts 12, we see Peter- one of the disciples from that same boat…but now he’s in a prison cell awaiting his execution the following morning…and he’s fast asleep. In fact, he was so asleep that the Angel that came to save him had to legit kick him awake, which I think is freakin funny, because the disciples probably did that to Jesus that night in the boat.
But let that sink in…in both accounts, death was eminent, yet fear was nowhere. So what’s the connection? Where did that peace come from? How, in the face of death itself, could these men be fast asleep?
I used to think that Jesus sleeping was just a given- like “yeah ok, He’s God in flesh, so, duh- of course He would have no fear…” but the whole point of Jesus becoming man was to bring true, undefiled compassion to His people…so I think He understood the disciple’s reaction to fear. That lack of control and inability to ensure security/safety is scary…
But the reason Jesus was able to sleep in total peace that night wasn’t because He had some supernatural advantage that we don’t. In fact, multiple times in the Gospels, He tells us that everything that is His is also our inheritance. So His peace may have been supernatural, but it definitely wasn’t something only He had access to. We have full access to the Kingdom of Heaven right here and right now, and we see proof of that in Acts 12, when Peter’s attitude towards this earthly life shifts into alignment with Christ’s so that he too, could sleep soundly…even while bound in chains, waiting to be killed in just a few hours. Resurrection changes everything. And now that Peter saw the resurrection, and the Kingdom he was living for, his life was secured and rooted in something greater than the kingdom of this world.
Jesus said before His crucifixion “peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you- not as the world gives do I give to you. Don’t let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” I love that He said “not as the world gives do I give.” He’s reminding us that we’re living for something greater than this life. The same, supernatural peace that Jesus and Peter had had all because their hope was secured in a more perfect Kingdom is the same supernatural peace that we have inherited by the blood of Jesus Christ which gave us a place in that same, perfect Kingdom.
I was comforted by this truth this week, and am so encouraged that I have access to a supernatural peace so secure, nothing on this earth can take it away from me.
