Never Say Never

  

   He said it. Everyone there heard him. When Jesus told Peter his faith was going to falter, Peter emphatically denied it. He even upped the ante with a mixture of pride and self-righteous indignation, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." There it was...Peter's words, not so unlike our own, "I'd NEVER do that." 

Never say never.

"I'd never hurt a friend"...and then we gossip.

"I'd never tell a lie"...and then we give a false impression.

"I'd never kill"...and our careless words destroy someone.

"I'd never be disloyal"... then the going gets tough, and we bail.

"I'd never deny Christ"...and yet we do.

   

    The faltering comes to all of us. The moment we invest in our own abilities, we, like Peter, are vulnerable to being "sifted" by Satan. That is our first misstep. This is the subtle, yet dangerous attitude that takes us on that first step toward denial. We see in Peter's story, the next step. "Peter followed at a distance."(Luke 22:54) and then quickly after that, the third step, "Peter sat down with them."(Luke 22:55)

No longer close to Jesus' strength and protection, Peter then tries to identify himself with the crowd. 

    The stage is set and the three denials that he ever even knew Jesus come swiftly and without thought of anything other than his own self-protection. 

Faith has been replaced by fear.

And the rooster crows.

It is at this climactic point where the inevitability of human failure collides with the purpose of Christ's crucifixion. 

"The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter."(vs.61)

It was that heart penetrating look, that simultaneously spoke of truth and grace...of deep knowing and merciful forgiveness...of sorrow and of love.

It was in that moment that we see clearly the impossibility of our own ability to remain loyal to our Savior in contrast to the faithfulness of Jesus, even to His sacrificial death on a Cross 

for us. 

And just as it did for Peter, that realization should take us to our knees, in humble repentance.

As the grace of it all takes our breath away.