Mark 14:66-72, CEB - Meanwhile, Peter was below in the courtyard. A woman, one of the high priest’s servants, approached and saw Peter warming himself by the fire. She stared at him and said, “You were also with the Nazarene, Jesus.”
But he denied it, saying, “I don’t know
what you’re talking about. I don’t understand what you’re saying.” And he went
outside into the outer courtyard. A rooster crowed.
The female servant saw him and began a
second time to say to those standing around, “This man is one of them.” But
he denied it again.
A short time later, those standing around
again said to Peter, “You must be one of them, because you are also a
Galilean.”
But he cursed and swore, “I don’t know
this man you’re talking about.” At that
very moment, a rooster crowed a second time. Peter remembered what Jesus told
him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke
down, sobbing.
Though
Peter’s thrice-denial of Jesus is famous, it is not why we remember Peter. He is revered in the Catholic church as the
first Pope. All subsequent Popes are spiritual descendants of Peter. Peter is the author of New Testament letters
and he is a central figure in the exponential growth of the first-century
church. Though this sad story is
definitely one of Peter’s low moments, it does not ultimately doesn’t define
the character of Peter’s legacy.
Having
said that, this denial of Jesus plays a critical role in Peter becoming the central
figure in the early church. It forces
Peter to see something in himself that Jesus saw, but Peter (ironically)
denied. Jesus tells Peter that he will
deny Him three times and Peter defiantly and boldly proclaims that it will not
be so – that he will die with Jesus before doing such a heinous thing. This explains Peter sobbing when He found
himself doing the very thing he boasted he would never do. It broke Peter. . . and this a good thing.
My
guess is that Peter never forgot this moment.
Even when he later did the same things Jesus did - confronting
authorities, attracting hordes of disciples, and starting new faith communities
around the known world – I feel certain Peter recalled this terrible moment
multiple times. It reminded him of his
capacity for failure and kept him humble.
It kept him from judging others’ failures too quickly. It reminded him that he was the beneficiary
of grace and so grace should be part of his legacy as well. In short, Peter’s failure made him more
Christlike. Another apostle, Paul, would
put it this way:
“Therefore, I’m all right
with weaknesses, insults, disasters, harassments, and stressful situations for
the sake of Christ, because when I’m weak, then I’m strong.” (2 Corinthians
12:10)
In the kingdom of God, awareness of our weakness is our
greatest strength because it causes us to depend fully on the power of God
instead of our own. Embracing our
failures and our flaws forces to live by grace alone.
There
are so many moments in my past for which I wish that I could get a do-over. I relive them in my mind from time to time
and it’s still painful. I know I’ve been forgiven by God and others for those
low moments, but the memory of them still stings. I suspect that might never change. But I’m okay if that is the case. Those mistakes and the memory of them have given
me a grace that I don’t know that I would have if I had always gotten things
right. Being a flawed and broken human is
good thing in the Kingdom of Jesus.
Praise be to God!
Question: How have your mistakes, and your memory of
them, helped or hurt you?
Prayer: Lord, to
the extent that our mistakes have paralyzed us, set us free by your forgiveness
and grace. But to extent that they keep
us humble, non-judgmental, and dependent on You, we are thankful. Make us more like You Jesus. Amen.
Prayer Focus:
Pray for the victims of mass shootings that are happening daily in our
country.
Song: Not By
Might – Leslie Phillips
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