“Even if I have to die with you,” Peter told him, “I will never deny you,” and all the disciples said the same thing. 26:35
We often give Peter a hard time for making rash statements and then failing to back them up. By far, this was likely the most shameful moment of his life. I am sure that after he was restored by Jesus and long after Jesus had ascended to heaven, Peter remembered his moment of betrayal with great shame and regret. The bible is full of poignant passages, but there is none more powerful and ironic than that moment when Peter denies the Lord, the rooster crows and then he lifts his gaze to lock eyes with Jesus who is looking straight back at him from the other side of the courtyard. I can imagine the pain of that moment, and I can sympathize with the waves of shame that washed over him and washed him relentlessly into the night to weep bitterly before the Lord.
The reason I can imagine it is because I am no better than Peter; let’s be honest, none of us are. 26:56 says, “Then all the disciples deserted him and ran away.” Yet, in our text of vs. 35 when Peter said, “I will never deny you,” all the disciples said the very same thing. How many times have we made promises and broken them? How many times have we betrayed the Lord and fallen short? I am not absolving Peter of anything, because he reaped what he sowed. I imagine that every rooster that crowed for the rest of his life caused a shudder and a memory that pierced his heart. At times I see something, hear something or even smell something that brings painful memories flooding back to my mind. It is in those moments that I have to lean into the grace of God. If your not careful the Accuser of the brethren can use your past and your shame to paralyze you. That is how he works. But I am reminded that the same Peter who committed this egregious failure is the same Peter who was later restored and led the early church to take the gospel to the world. God is in the business of second chances (even third, fourth, fifth, etc.) and that gives me hope. No matter what happened yesterday, tomorrow is a new day and his mercies are new every morning.
