Thank You, Father, for the energy and drive to accomplish as much as we did today. May our time be productive as well. Amen.
Matthew 26:69-75, Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:54-62, John 18:15-18, John 18:25-27 (<<click here to read these passages)
Something that happens pretty regularly while driving my school bus is that in my head, I hear my trainer from over five years ago correct me. One thing that flashes through my mind is to keep my hands on the steering wheel at 9:00 and 3:00. Learning to drive as a teen, I was taught to keep them at 10:00 and 2:00. Somewhere along the line, they decided you had more control in case of an emergency with your hands a little lower on the wheel. I often felt that if she could have, she would have rapped my knuckles with a ruler to drive home the point.
In today’s passage, I think we have to give Peter a little bit of credit. John was the only other disciple closer in proximity to Jesus than Peter was at this point, because John had some family connections. No other disciple was to be found anywhere in the vicinity. Though his bravery was well-meaning, that was as far as it took him. Remember that the freight train was still out of control (An Out-of-Control Freight Train!), and Peter’s mind had to be scrambling to figure out how things had gotten so crazy so fast.
And then, seemingly out of nowhere, his reverie was broken.
A servant girl came over and said to him, “You were one of those with Jesus the Galilean.” Matthew 26:69b NLT
With everyone’s eyes on him, his knee-jerk reaction was.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mark 14:68b NLT
Later, as they stood around a fire to warm themselves (John 18:18), someone else said,
“This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath. “I don’t even know the man,” he said. Matthew 26:71b-72 NLT
A little of the old pre-Jesus Peter oozed out…the pressure was on, and the heat was coming from more than just the fire.
In rapid succession, one more person proclaimed for all to hear,
“You must be one of them; we can tell by your Galilean accent.” Matthew 26:73b NLT
And despite his efforts, despite his bravery, in the blink of an eye, the old Peter came out in full. Verse 74 of Matthew 26 says,
Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know the man!” NLT
Luke’s rendition states,
And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. Luke 22:60 NLT
With the crowing still echoing throughout the court, three of the four Gospel writers record that Jesus’ words flashed through his mind,
“Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
Only Luke specifies that when the rooster crowed…
At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter.
He was done; despite his best intentions, despite his determination, he had done exactly what Jesus said he would do…he had failed and failed miserably.
Often, we are in the same boat as Peter. When we fail, Jesus’ words may flash through our minds, but hold tight. Just because we can’t seem to forgive ourselves doesn’t mean that Jesus won’t, for though He knows us through and through, He still loves us.
Mar 26th, 2024, Tues, 7:46 pm
