One thing we need to keep in mind when we read the stories of Jesus and people…we must follow the story to its end. We must let Jesus finish what He started. There is always something good that comes out of a bad situation.
Take the account of Peter’s denial, for example.
Let’s be real. Many of us think that Jesus warned Peter about denying Him before it happened to show him up for what he really was…to catch him out for being a coward when the chips were down…or even, perhaps, to stop him before it happened.
What was the real reason for Jesus’ warning? If we follow the story as it is played out, something begins to emerge.
Peter was the cock-sure, motor-mouth, know-it-all, self-appointed spokesperson in the group. He was always the first to speak, to make a comment, to reply, to say what the others were thinking…and then…to assure Jesus of his undying loyalty when he had no idea of how real the danger was, or how much his inflated ego would expose him and disqualify him from grace.
On many occasions, Jesus had attempted to alert His disciples to what lay ahead for Him but…they refused to take Him seriously. Peter had actually rebuked Him for daring to think that way.
“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
Matthew 16:21 NIV
“Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Matthew 16:22 NIV
After a few years of living intimately with Jesus, seeing how His words and actions had endeared Him to the people but antagonised the religious leaders, the disciples were finally beginning to realise that Jesus was in real danger of going too far. At the final Passover celebration, the penny began to drop.
It was in the “upper room”, on that night when the New Covenant was revealed…and sealed, that who Peter thought he was began to unravel. Judas had left…the mood was sombre…the disciples were uneasy, afraid, unsure of what to think…then..Jesus dropped a bomb…
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Peter was startled…shocked…outraged…how could Jesus ever accuse him of doing such a thing…or even think of such a thing… he, Peter, the stone…the strong, steady, loyal, brave one?
“But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
No, Peter, it’s time to find out who you really are!
“Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”
Luke 22:31-34 NIV
Peter reassured Jesus that, no matter what, he would be there for Him…
…and then…it happened…just like Jesus said it would…and Peter was devastated…broken…exposed! After all his protesting and promising, he fell flat on his face…and Jesus was right. He was only a big mouth with nothing inside to back up his words.
Why did this happen? What was really going on here? One thing is sure…Jesus didn’t make it happen but…He knew it would happen and…in His knowing, He had a plan.
Peter didn’t know it then but… grace was at work.
Unlike Judas, who, after his dastardly deed, finally ended his own life, Peter was on a life-changing learning curve. Devastated as he was at his own failure, he stayed the course…not knowing how it would end but hanging around with the rest of the group who were, in actual fact, also guilty of the same failure, but less dramatic…because he had nowhere else to go.
“Then all his disciples deserted him and ran away.”
Mark 14:50 NLT
What would Jesus do with this cowardly bunch?
The sequel to this story is the revelation of the real Jesus…the one of whom Isaiah spoke centuries before He came.
“He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. He will bring justice to all who have been wronged.”
Isaiah 42:3 NLT
In the face of gross cowardice, Jesus gently restored His fallen friend…three times…one question for each denial…beside a charcoal fire…at the spot where it all began…not with accusation…or discipline…or probation…or a warning. Just, “Peter, do you love me?”
That was it! The past was wiped out with a simple question…asked three times, one for each denial…to clear his debt. Did Peter get it? Would he ever forget? There were always three triggers to remind him…a charcoal fire…a crowing rooster…a lakeside breakfast!
For the whole group…a shared meal…the symbol of reconciliation…camaraderie…togetherness!
What a life-lesson for fickle, failing, fallen saints! Jesus doesn’t interfere or halt the process. He allows it to play out to the end. He doesn’t disqualify…retrench…fire! He doesn’t put us on probation…rehabilitate…demote! He loves without faltering. Then He asks, “Do you love me?” After the failure, not disqualification but a new assignment…three times!
Love is the only enduring qualification that obliterates failure and begins again…sets a fallen follower back on the road and keeps him going to the end. Love is the only powerful bond that holds Jesus and His people together through thick and thin until they reach the destination…together.
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins….We love because he first loved us.”
1 John 4:9-10, 19 NIV
We all need this lesson because we know how quick the accuser is to cash in…to condemn…to crush with guilt…to separate with shame…when we fall…but not Jesus! Failure is a better teacher than all the warnings. It’s on-the-job training…a life-lesson on steroids!
When we feel the pain, we don’t forget. Do we disappoint Jesus? No! We trigger His grace…forgiveness…restoration…and the sober awareness of who we really are. Yes! Gone for good the hot air…the inflated ego…the false notion that we can go it alone…and there is no better lesson that we can learn!