54-56 Arresting Jesus, they marched him off and took him into the house of the Chief Priest. Peter followed, but at a safe distance. In the middle of the courtyard some people had started a fire and were sitting around it, trying to keep warm. One of the serving maids sitting at the fire noticed him, then took a second look and said, “This man was with him!”
57 He denied it, “Woman, I don’t even know him.”
58 A short time later, someone else noticed him and said, “You’re one of them.”
But Peter denied it: “Man, I am not.”
59 About an hour later, someone else spoke up, really adamant: “He’s got to have been with him! He’s got ‘Galilean’ written all over him.”
60-62 Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” At that very moment, the last word hardly off his lips, a rooster crowed. Just then, the Master turned and looked at Peter. Peter remembered what the Master had said to him: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and cried and cried and cried.
Peter loved his Master Jesus but he followed at a safe distance. When Peter was confronted by others regarding his relationship with Jesus. He even denied of knowing Jesus at all. Nevertheless, Peter still loved Jesus no matter he was too self-confident and later found out that he was so weak in the midst of trials. He cried for his own self-arrogance; he cried for his failures; and he cried for hurting his master's heart when he was mostly in need of other's support.
I like Peter for his sincerity of following Jesus; I like Peter for his immediate response to Jesus' calling; I like Peter for his hunger for God's kingdom and the spiritual reality. But Peter's failure is also my strong reminder that only relying on God's strength and knowing our weaknesses before our enemies is the only way to live out a victorious life in this spiritual warfare. I need your protection as I continue in this spiritual journey. And at the same time, cultivate in me a strong sense of spiritual awareness of knowing Your presence but also the tricks of Satan in attacking the people of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment