Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.” Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
I like Peter. If there is an ordinary guy in the Bible, it's him. He was a complicated jumble of right and wrong and good and bad and profound and foolish. We see him draw his sword, preparing to defend Jesus with his life, and then a few hours later he is skulking around pretending not to know Jesus at all.
What we don't see here in this passage is that Jesus restored and forgave him; but He did. In fact, what seems clear is that Jesus was not surprised and not angry. He already knew what was going to happen. He had already warned Peter that he was going to fail. And what we know from later Scripture is that after Peter was restored, he went on to become the catalyst at Pentecost, a mighty preacher, a foundational teacher in the early church, and ultimately a martyr for the Kingdom of Christ. Jesus already knew that was going to happen as well. At this point in the story, Peter is struggling, but the story isn't finished yet. Peter finishes strong.
This brings me to us. Because Peter was such an ordinary guy, we ordinary people are a lot like him. We are, in fact, just like Peter. One minute we are praying and worshiping and serving God with all of our hearts, and the next we are saying or doing or thinking something completely wrong and contrary to everything Christ has done in us. We too are a complicated jumble of right and wrong and good and bad and profound and foolish. And we too are forgiven. Jesus already knew our junk when He called us.
Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying that our sinful garbage is ok. It is harmful to us and hurtful to the Kingdom and not at all ok with God. But whatever we are struggling with today, God already knew -it didn't take Him by surprise. And we are already forgiven. So, when we fall down, we get back up and set our hearts on Jesus and get back to Kingdom work. Just like Peter. Whatever the struggles of the past and even the present, by God's grace we can finish strong. Just like Peter.
Dear Father, I ask that you allow our failures and struggles of today to become our testimonies tomorrow. Thank You that even knowing our weaknesses and failures, You chose us to be Your own. But we don't want to stay in the harmful, hurtful cycle of failure. Help us, Lord, to finish strong. Amen.
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