Peter denies Jesus

¹⁵ Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Because this other disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard. ¹⁶ However, Peter stood outside near the gate. Then the other disciple (the one known to the high priest) came out and spoke to the woman stationed at the gate, and she brought Peter in. ¹⁷ The servant woman stationed at the gate asked Peter, “Aren’t you one of this man’s disciples?”

“I’m not,” he replied. ¹⁸ The servants and the guards had made a fire because it was cold. They were standing around it, warming themselves. Peter joined them there, standing by the fire and warming himself.

²⁵ Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing with the guards, warming himself. They asked, “Aren’t you one of his disciples?”

Peter denied it, saying, “I’m not.”

²⁶ A servant of the high priest, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said to him, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?” ²⁷ Peter denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

Denial

His closest follower, Peter, does the unthinkable.  Earlier that night Jesus responded to Peter’s confident support with a shocking revelation.  “Yes, even you Peter, will deny me in the end.”  Words that I’m sure hung with Peter for the rest of his life as the rooster reminded him of his betrayal.  It’s in us isn’t it. Denial runs deep in our blood and bones.  This nature that turns from the God who loves us so.  As we continue on this final leg of the Lenten journey we are reminded today of our ultimate denial that has separated us from God.

S   I   N

A little word that has been causing destruction since it first made its appearance in the hearts of man.  It’s presence remains and today we are called to not shy away from it, but to look it straight in the face and accept it as our own.

I am a sinner…

You are a sinner…

In this admission may the Spirit of the living God guide us to repentance, because it is in the posture of surrender and confession that we discover God’s grace and peace.

Fellow denier, won’t you join me at the cross.  The place where all may come and find hope where none is deserved.

Grace & Peace