Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death." Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me."…
…And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, "This man also was with him." But he denied it, saying, "Woman, I do not know him." And a little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." But Peter said, "Man, I am not." And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, "Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean." But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about." And immediately, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.
Luke 22 v33-34 &55-62
My thoughts on reading that passage were
What would I do if we were in Peter’s position?
How strong are my convictions?
How faithful am I to God?
Peter fervently proclaimed his unwavering love for Jesus and yet denial came down like a solid brick wall of a barrier to his faith…
How do we deny Christ? It needn’t be an outright negative statement, it can be more subtle, by omission, conveniently not telling friends and acquaintances we go to church, it can be by ignoring that nagging conscience, pricked by a decision we know wasn’t the Godly choice. We deny Him with our unkind words and selfish thoughts. We deny Him when we don’t allow him access to our hearts.
These are all everyday choices, they don’t appear to change the course of the world but they do change the course of our individual life and journey, those choices build up and they taint us. And yet He knew Peter would deny Him and He knew that we would too… “Jesus looked at Peter and Peter wept”… In Jesus’ eyes, Peter must have seen disappointment but also love, love and determination for what was about to happen, He knew He had to be a sacrifice to save us all. But before we can be forgiven before we can be saved, we must acknowledge our sin, our denials; we must look inwards and search through the rooms of our soul.
We are in the Lenten season, we think of Jesus in the desert, perfect and yet still subjected to temptation which He overcomes…
I can so relate to this painting by Briton Rivière, it has always spoken to me…but most particularly this Lent…
Alone in thought, searching my soul, and unlike Jesus my soul is in need of a spring clean. Tainted by a year of doubtful choices, denials and selfishness, I need to think on my Spiritual life before I can be ready to celebrate in the elation of Easter’s promise.
Right now I feel like Peter, and Jesus is looking straight at me and I feel ashamed under his love filled and yet disappointed gaze.
Lent a time for cutting back… on chocolate, beer?… a time for asserting ones self control… cutting back… That’s what Tom was doing a few weeks back, quite literally! ruthless with his chainsaw, what had looked like a postcard pretty weeping willow was cleared (some may say rather brutally) of unwanted growth, keeping it in check and under control… but fear not the new growth will be healthy, fresh and vigorous.
Do we need a serious prune?
Let us brutally discard all those unwanted burdens of guilt, bad habits, denials … we will grow back refreshed and more vigorous in our re-burgeoning faith, as an affirmation of what Jesus did for us.
He knew we would be tainted, He knew we would deny Him, and yet by His sacrifice on the cross, he allowed us to wash that tainted soul to allow us to come before our Father in the purest cleanliness.
Let us today look forward to the hope He gave us, baring our souls now before Him and saying sorry for all our wrongdoings. Let Him be with us as we attempt a pruning session, a Spring clean in the rooms of our soul, that we may be ready to welcome Him in at Easter, with no hidden shame as we celebrate His Resurrection and our promise of eternal life.
Dear father, I look at Peter and I see myself.
I have failed you, I have disappointed you, I have grieved you,
You can see into my heart and know my wrongdoings, but I must admit them to you, so that I cannot hide them from myself!
Thank you for the cross. Thank you for your patience.
Thank you for your love for me and for the whole world.
Thank you for Jesus. In his precious name I pray. Amen
(I must make reference to this online bible study and especially the prayer I adapted to my own, whilst thinking on this passage and writting my talk)
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