Then he began to curse and to swear,
saying, I don’t know the man. And immediately the cock crowed. And Peter
remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crows, you
shall deny me three times. And he went out, and wept bitterly. Matthew
26:74-75
As Peter sat outside the palace of the High Priest, on three
separate occasions people in the crowd identified him, asked if he was
associated with Jesus.
The first denial Peter evaded the question with a vague
answer by saying he did not know what the servant girl was talking about.
The second denial he clearly said with an oath that he did
not know Jesus.
The third denial he swore and started to call curses on
himself if he was lying.
Peter was so irritated and angry with himself and with the
Jewish authorities who had captured Jesus. He at that point in time did not in
any way want to be associated with Jesus.
Peter was cripplingly under the shadow of denial. He was in
the company of people who were out to kill his teacher and Lord and he was too
ashamed to say that he knew him. When we are in bad company nothing really
matters but the approval and praise of those we associate with.
When he denied Jesus for the third time he heard the cock
crow, and he was so overwhelmed with guilt that he went out and wept bitterly.
He suddenly realized he had abandoned Jesus and wanted to have nothing to do
with him. This guilt made him so full of shame and remorse he could not contain
himself any longer (Matthew 10:32-33).
Peter had earlier in the upper room told Jesus proudly that
he would not only go to prison with Jesus, but also to death. Proverbs 16: 18
comes to mind where it says pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit
before a fall. The arrest of Jesus came so unexpectedly for Peter he was not
prepared.
But it is the same Peter whom Jesus prophesied that he would
build his church upon (Matthew 16:13-20). Peter who wept so bitterly with tears of repentance
after denying Jesus, went away never to deny Jesus again.
1 comment:
We deny Jesus in so many ways, we break the ten commandments, there are times we do not show love to God or our neighbors,
It was the Peter who was rebuked for being Satan that Jesus told Peter you are the rock on which I will build the church and give the keys of heaven (Matthew 16:13-23).
There is always evil in the world and we can easily fall prey to it. Peter said something divine and was praised by Jesus, but almost immediately said something satanic and was rebuked.
Jesus was slowly training Peter. Peter who left everything to learn from his masters feet towards the end of his life was everything that Jesus said he would be. We can be assured that we are going to be judged by a very kind God. Our Heavenly Father is a real father who will accept the erring children.
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