Peter Disowns Jesus
Luke 22: 54-62
Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance.When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man also was with him.”
But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.
A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, “You also are one of them.”
But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”
About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
’Then about an hour later yet another kept insisting, “Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.”But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed.The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
Devotion
Are we like Peter? Do we need to have Christ physically turn and look us in the eye to make us remember His words? Do we also have roosters who are sent to remind us of our loving God who knows all of our human weaknesses and shortcomings and still calls us to be in relationship with Him? What is in the background of our lives that we are ignoring? What can we do to make ourselves stop and pay attention to the roosters that might be crowing for us to listen?
It is too easy to be like Peter and follow at a distance that we perceive to be safer or more comfortable. Our human nature leads us to “play it safe.” We don’t want to offend, to chance mixing religion with work, or run the risk of looking like a fanatic. Our logical reasoning sometimes puts us in the shadows pretending that we don’t really know Christ or are not really with Him. What will it take for each of us to remember Christ’s words–to step forward and walk with Christ, to live and be visibly present and counted as “with Christ”? We need to claim and walk with Christ beyond the pews of our church.
Prayer
Lord, thank you for loving us and directing us to your words and to be in relationship with you. Help us to find and hear the roosters in our lives to remind us that you claim us and we need to claim you. Thank you for giving us your son to show us the way. Please give us the strength to step forward to be present with you rather than choosing to follow at a safe distance or hide in the shadows. Amen.
Kathy Porterfield
Lent at Lewinsville, 2013: The Cross 