HOST: Ron House
SPONSOR: Start2Finish
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
In real time, it had only been a few hours since Peter had stood before Jesus, adamantly denying Jesus’ warning that he would deny Him. In Peter’s mind, there was nothing that could happen that would cause him to shrink from his commitment to His Lord and friend. But he never imagined things would go as they had. When the armed mob showed up in the garden to take Jesus, he had tried to fight in defense of Jesus, but had been rebuked. Jesus had allowed them to bind Him and take Him away. Peter, along with all the others, had fled the scene, but he hadn’t gone far. He was confused and concerned. He wanted to see what would happen, and he was willing to go into harm’s way to follow Jesus. But before he knew it, Peter found himself being confronted. “You were with Him.” Fear took over and—not once, not twice, but three times—Peter heard himself denying his relationship with Jesus. Then, as he heard the rooster crow, Jesus’ words came flooding back into his memory, crushing his spirit and sending shockwaves of guilt and shame through his body. “And he went out and wept bitterly.”
What do you think motivated Peter to follow Jesus into the city?
Don’t forget to pray and have a great day!
