03/28/2024
Thursday: Peter Denies Jesus
Jesus gathers the twelve disciples together for the last supper.
He gives them bread to eat, representation of his body.
He gives them wine to drink, representation of the blood he will soon shed on Calvary.
Jesus warns Peter that he would deny him, and deny him three times at that.
Peter is shocked and insists he would never.
After all, Peter was the first disciple called by Jesus.
Later, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is praying and the soldiers arrive to take Him away.
Judas has officially committed his plan of betrayal.
They take Jesus before the court and Peter sits watching, later approached three separate times and asked if he knew Jesus.
And all three times, he denied.
He immediately goes to the courtyard and weeps.
But I wonder –
Being so faithful to Him for so long, the first disciple called, why?
I truly believe that Judas was always one foot out the door and doing the hokey pokey daily.
But Peter, he was all in. Steadfast in his following.
He’s known to be one of the most faithful, always there to stand up for Jesus and protect Him.
Was he afraid there was no one to protect him if he said yes?
Afraid of the consequences because of those around him?
Would it have made things worse for Jesus in that moment if Peter had said yes?
Just in distress at what his friend, his master is enduring?
How was Peter feeling in that moment?
From what we read we was in his own personal anguish because of what he’s just done.
I imagine He had a hard time getting up, for awhile.
In disbelief, full of disappointment and pain for what He had just done.
What would have happened if Peter stepped in or spoke up for Jesus?
Just as we all put on Judas’ shoes and betray Him, we also all put
on the shoes of Peter and deny Him.
My first thought of a denial of Jesus is the denial to accept Him.
Did you run when He first came calling? Are you running now?
Did you struggle and wrestle with it or just fall into the arms of the Lord as soon as conviction hit.
But then there’s denial as a believer.
Our consequences of proclaiming Jesus and publicly declaring Jesus most likely aren’t the same as the punishment Peter would’ve been given then.
But we still do it.
We deny Him.
And sometimes denial isn’t saying the words out loud.
Sometimes its when we don’t say anything at all when we should.
We deny His voice, His instructions –
To pray with that coworker having a hard time, to talk to that stranger in the parking lot, to give to the homeless man on the side of the road, send that message, call that person.
When we don’t listen, we’re denying Him.
And sometimes we’re afraid of rocking the boat, of people being mad at us.
Especially those closest to us.
We unfortunately risk our jobs, our friendships, our relationships, etc. when we proclaim Jesus publicly.
A conversation about Jesus isn’t always received well.
Sometimes it feels easier to just leave Jesus on the shelf or put Him in our pocket in certain situations to save face, to keep the peace.
We shouldn’t let those things stop us but the honest truth is that we do.
And the bigger truth is, that’s just fear.
If we’d just obey Him, speak the name of Jesus, He’ll take care of it all after that.
But no matter the denial -
Forgiveness is always there.
We learn later that after the resurrection and before Jesus ascends into Heaven he has a chat with Peter again.
Peter denied three times so Jesus confirms Peters love three times.
“Peter, do you love me?”
I truly believe that Peter’s three reassurances of “yes” to that question served as his testament of his true faith in Jesus and that
forgiveness was given to him just as it is us today.
In a world as cruel and ugly and evil as ours has become, sometimes it’s easy to just sit back and be quiet.
Someone else will speak up but not me, Lord.
And sometimes denying Jesus isn’t denying that you know Him, but denying what He’s asked of you.
Disobedience. Denying his request, His call for you.
Sing that song. Announce your call to preach. Take that Sunday School position.
Our choice to be obedient or disobedient ultimately determines who hears the gospel.
How a backslid believer or nonbeliever could or could not come into contact with Jesus through us.
Despite the way in which we deny Him, because we all do it in some way at some point..
Forgiveness is still there.
Just as He did Peter, and just as I believe He would’ve done Judas, He’s always ready to forgive and welcome us back into His arms.
I wonder – what was it like to be in the shoes of Peter?
Shared from Courtney Melton
