Peter: What Can We Learn From Peter's Life?Sample

"I Do Not Know Him."

Peter had emphatically declared that he would never deny Jesus, even if it meant his own death. Luke records the most heart-wrenching account of Peter coming face to face with his own failure.

After initially fleeing at Jesus’s arrest, Peter had followed the crowd at a distance to the high priest’s house where Jesus was first taken. The Teacher that he knew was the Son of God and the Messiah had allowed Himself to be led away, refusing to resist or retaliate. Peter must have been trying to process all of these events while attempting to find out what was happening to Jesus as well as keep himself safe. Self-preservation became much more important to him than he had ever realized it would.

What caused him to deny three times that he did not know or follow Jesus? We can draw parallels to the time he walked on the water. He had an initial spurt of faith and belief, and then saw the way the winds were blowing and let fear for his life get the best of him. Peter really believed that he would never deny Jesus but when the moment came for him to affirm their relationship, fear of his own arrest kept him from following through.

Luke tells us that after the third denial, the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Imagine what went through Peter’s mind at that moment. Imagine how his heart sank as he heard that rooster crow. The previous three years of being Jesus’s student and friend must have flashed through his mind along with a sense of horror and disbelief at the words that had come from his mouth. It was surely the worst moment of his life as he locked eyes with Jesus. Naturally, he was devastated by his own actions and found a place where he wept bitterly.

Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus to His persecutors, would also come to experience overwhelming regret. That regret led him to take his own life (Matthew 27:3-5). Peter, despite his regret and shame, would end up dealing with his failure very differently, as we will see.

Reflection:

How do you react to failure in yourself and in others?

How do you perceive Jesus reacting to your failures?