When we think of Lent and Peter’s denial, we are reminded of forgiveness.
I recently read a post on the website #SheReadsTruth about Peter’s denial of Jesus when he was arrested. You can read the post here if you like. http://shereadstruth.com/2015/03/23/peter-denies-jesus/
I have never liked the account of Peter denying Jesus. It has always made me uncomfortable. I mean Jesus warned him ahead of time that he would deny him three times before the rooster crowed and Peter swore up and down that he would not, and of course, he did.
I always want to scream at Peter each time he denies Jesus, just like I used to scream at the “Friday the 13th,” movies back in high school. “Don’t go outside!” “Don’t split up!” “Don’t check out that noise!” But, they always did with disastrous consequences.
I desperately want Peter to remember that Jesus warned him. Did he forget already? It couldn’t have been more than a few hours. But, to be fair, Peter was likely scared out of his mind and confused and anxious. We never get that way; do we?
The post I read earlier brought a new thought to light, that I hadn’t considered before. She said that Jesus wanted Peter to realize that he had sinned so that he could be forgiven. Jesus pointed it out. I never thought about it that way. We can’t be forgiven of our sins if we don’t admit that we have sinned. We can’t be forgiven if we don’t repent.
That notion changed my view of this story, completely. Jesus forgave Peter after the resurrection. Peter repented. He wept bitterly when he realized Jesus had been right all along and he was wrong.
We are all sinners, but isn’t it a lot easier to see our neighbor’s sin than our own? We sometimes comfort ourselves by thinking, at least we’re not as bad as the other guy. While that may be true, that’s not really the point is it? We can only repent of our own sin, not anyone else’s, so isn’t our own sin the thing we should be most concerned with?
And if we are really truthful with ourselves, don’t we all deny Jesus in us everyday, when we do things like gossip, or say unkind things about someone, or look down on someone, or refuse to help others when we can? If we claim to be believers and followers of Jesus, aren’t we supposed to do the things he would do? When we don’t, aren’t we denying him in some way?
We are going to mess up regularly. We are likely going to get it wrong more often than right, but that’s okay. We have grace and that changes everything. We can be forgiven endlessly and the only catch is we have to ask and the slate is wiped clean.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂