Sure About That?
“I would never…” Okay. What happens when your “I would never…” becomes your “I can’t believe I just did…” the thing? You may be confident about the vow you’ve just made. You may have the very best intentions. You may feel strong and sure of your ability to restrain yourself when the temperature rises.
Be careful with your prideful words, friend. You may sadly surprise yourself with what you’re capable of.
Let me tell you about a guy named Peter and how his story turned out.
But this is one of those hard stories where it’s important to hear the good news first: there’s no sin so big, so bad or so terrible that Jesus can’t forgive if you come to Him in true repentance. Remember that.
Now back to Peter…
Peter had walked closely with Jesus for three years. Jesus had called Peter to leave behind his fishing nets and learn to be a “fisher of men.” Even beyond that, Peter had become a treasured part of Jesus’ inner circle of three closest friends.
It was Jesus’ last gathering with His twelve hand-picked disciples before He would face execution. As He explained to the men what was about to unfold, He told them a time was coming when they would all scatter and run away.
Peter, sure of his faithfulness to Jesus, made the bold proclamation that he would never do such a thing. “‘I will lay down my life for You.’ Then Jesus answered, ‘Will you really lay down your life for Me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown Me three times.’” (John 13:37b-38) Peter vehemently refuted Jesus’ statement. That he would deny his Friend, Rabbi, and Lord was unthinkable.
But Jesus knew the heart of His dear friend Peter – a man in whom He’d invested three years of not only discipleship, but His very life. And He knew that as He entered the valley of the shadow of death, this man Peter would deny Him not once, but three times.
And that’s exactly what happened. When the rooster crowed, Peter knew he’d done the very thing he’d sworn he’d never do.
Luke 22:61-62 describes the moment. “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will disown Me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.” Peter was overcome with guilt for his undeniable sin of denying his Lord.
The gospels are full of stories where people come to Jesus with every kind of shameful history. They bring their deep sorrow over their sin, and Mercy meets them with open arms.
Fast forward three days in Peter’s story, and you’ll find the good news you’ve been waiting for. Now it’s Peter’s turn. On the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, with the scents of bread and fish cooking, Resurrected Mercy meets Peter with open arms.
That’s good news for us as well as Peter. No matter what you’ve done and how unforgivable it may seem, those same arms of Mercy are open to you, too.
Run to Jesus, friend. Run to Jesus.
