Peter said to him, “Even if everyone else stumbles, I
won’t.”
But Jesus said to him, “I assure you that on this very
night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
But Peter insisted, “If I must die alongside you, I won’t
deny you.” And they all said the same thing.
If we
see anything plainly in this passage, it is that God has a completely realistic
view of us. God is not surprised when we
lack faithfulness. God does not give up
on us when we find ourselves denying that we are God-followers. God is not deterred in caring for us even
when we flee in multiple directions. God
sees us as we are – gloriously flawed and fickle creatures.
This
is not to say that God has a pessimistic or negative view. God sees our gifts (after all, they came from
God in the first place). God sees our amazing
potential. He rejoices in our wise
choices. But God is not deluded as we
sometimes are. We often have grand
visions of how we will perform in situations when our character is put to the
test. Sometimes, we live into those
visions. Sometimes those visions turn
out to be fantasy. God knows this about
us. God even accepts it.
Listen
to Jesus speaking to Peter and the other disciples above. He is not scolding them for something they
haven’t done yet. He wants to prepare
them for their own disappointment in themselves when their faithfulness
falters. Just as Jesus wants them not to
be destroyed when He is crucified (He warned them countless times), Jesus wants
the disciples not to give up on themselves after they find themselves giving up
on Him. Jesus calmly tells them that
even after they have all failed, He will be together with them in Galilee.
Obviously,
Peter (and the others) aim to prove Jesus wrong. Peter protests that not only will he be
faithful, his faithfulness will remain true even if he should die because of
it. The others claim the same about themselves. Unfortunately, I have found myself all too
often making soon-to-be-exposed-as-false claims about how I will do when the test
comes. I’ve also seen that I’m not the
only one.
But
again, God sees us not as we foolishly hope we are, but as we truly are. God embraces the real us, not the us we want
everyone to believe is real. When we
fail, and we will, God will be waiting for us on the other side. There won’t even be an “I told you so.” With all the pretense wiped away by our
failure, we will actually be in a better position to have an even more real
relationship with God. That is what Jesus
was laying the groundwork for when He had this little talk with His
disciples. And Jesus is still doing the
same for us.
Question: Are
you tempted to believe that God sees your flaws as negatively as you sometimes
do?
Prayer: Lord
Jesus, help us accept and even embrace that we flawed and, despite our most
valiant efforts, we will fail You in the future as we have in the past. When we fail, help us hear Your reminder that
You will still be here for us. Amen.
Prayer Focus:
Pray for those who have in the midst of consequences caused by their own
mistakes.
Song: Faithful
– I Am They
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