Luke 22: 54:62
Peter Denies Jesus
54 Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance. 55 And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. 56 Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58 And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” 59 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.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.
You might be thinking why would you chose this passage to reflect on during Maundy Thursday which typically commemorates the Last Supper and Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. If you didn’t know what Maundy means it is derived from the Latin word for "command," and refers to Jesus' commandment to the disciples to "Love one another as I have loved you."
As the story unfolds, Jesus and his disciples leave this beautiful setting and head to the Garden of Gethsemane where after a time of prayer is betrayed by Judas and arrested and from there the disciples scatter. It is at this time the story of Peters denial comes.
We know this story well, Peter when asked if he knew Jesus denied it three times. As I read this passage over the years I have said how can he do that, I would never do that however more recently I have looked at this and said would I do anything different given the circumstances. I have never been in fear of my life, I’ve had trauma for sure but I have never been in this same type of circumstance so how can I cast any judgement on Peter. As I read this passage I feel nothing but profound compassion for Peter and I know that Jesus did too. How do I know this?
Alyssa Jones from the Gospel Project describes Peter’s restoration. “The disciple who told Jesus that he would die for Him had denied Jesus three times. Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Jesus. Each time Peter responded yes, Jesus told Peter to feed His lambs. Jesus restored Peter to ministry.”
She goes on to say: “Jesus’ plan for the disciples did not end with His death and resurrection. When Jesus first called the disciples to follow Him, Jesus had promised to make them fishers of men. Instead of catching fish, they would tell people about Jesus. The disciples had left Jesus when He was arrested, but Jesus still wanted to use them in God’s plan to rescue people from their sin. Jesus is a Lord who forgives us and makes things right again.”
Have you ever thought that restoration can only happen if we fall. I’m not in any way trying to encourage failure or falling into sin but no one has lived a perfect life except Jesus and we have all fallen. God is in the restoration business and we see in this story the beginning of the wonderful restoration story of Peter.
Lord, we thank you for the cross, we thank you for your sacrifice. We thank you for the gift of communion you gave us to commemorate your atoning work on the cross and your glorious resurrection. We thank you for example of humility you showed your disciples when you washed their feet, may we all have the same level of humility to the people we love and serve especially those in our families during this time of imposed isolation. Lord we thank you that you are in the restoration business and that you restore each one of us as you restored Peter. Thank you for Peters humility and example, he was a deeply flawed man that you chose to be the rock on which you built your church, the church we are a part of today. Lord we pray for unity in our churches and among churches as we enter into the Easter Weekend, restore relationships, restore dreams, restore ministries, restore mission.