Day 18: Twice

3rd Tuesday in Lent

Scripture: John 18:25

^{NRS 25} Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, "You are not also one of his disciples, are you?" He denied it and said, "I am not."

Devotional: The prediction of Peter’s denial in the Gospel of Mark is slightly different than the other three Gospels. Mark’s account includes a second rooster crow. His three denials were sandwiched between two cock crows, but his weeping was after all of them. The first crow tolled the bell of warning. The second crow tolled the bell of predictions fulfilled and promises failed. Today we encounter the second chapter in this novel of denial. Still in the courtyard, Simon Peter was cold so he snuggled close to the fire. The people gathered with him raised the gatekeeper’s question, “Aren’t you with Him?” We know the story, but I never cease to be amazed at the simplicity of this second response, “I am not.” The denial continues but the second has no hesitation, no stammer, no thinking before he speaks, simply, “I am not.” Here was the man who had followed Jesus from the very first of His ministry. He led the disciples, walked on water, and recognized Jesus as the Messiah. This sword wielder swore to lay his life down and was ready to do so in the torchlight of the garden, but something had changed. Boldness was replaced with fear, and the denial rolled off his tongue without effort. “Are you with him?” “I am not.” In our self-righteousness we can be quick to be enraged at his denial coming so easily. We want to condemn Peter as we pat ourselves on the back, confident that we would never deny Christ under any circumstances. Self-righteousness produces a different kind of denial. As much as we don’t want to admit, we are no different. We know the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness that Peter was facing. We know the fear of what other people think about us. We know that sometimes the circumstances of life overwhelm us and we can barely stand for ourselves, much less for Jesus. We know that while we pray for strength to not fail a second time, we often do. But we also know, because of Peter’s example, that no matter how many times we fail Christ will forgive, the Holy Spirit will empower, God will use us to further His Kingdom and we will know redemption. Sometimes the hard soil of boldness needs to be tilled to let the roots of humility grow deep enough to change the heart.

Prayer: Lord, so often it feels like we live our life between the rooster crows; constantly facing another denial, another failure, another disappointment. But Lord, we know that in You we have hope, forgiveness, and the experience of great joy. Lord help us experience You anew before the rooster crows a second time, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Song of praise:            Grace Like Rain by Todd Agnew

                                               

Spiritual discipline challenge: Today we study to prepare us for tomorrow and the third denial. In our devotional we discovered a difference between Mark’s prediction and denial accounts and the other Gospel writers. Our challenge is to read the four accounts of Peter’s denial and note the similarities and differences. How has each author used the differences to communicate their particular theological message?