Peter's denial of Jesus

[2ndAmendment]

Peter's denial of Jesus

Peter told Jesus he would always stand by Him.

John 13:36-38

36Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered, "Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later."

37Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You."

38Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.

But Peter denied that he knew Jesus three times after the Jews seized Jesus to try Him.

15Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was another disciple Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest,

16but Peter was standing at the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter in.

17Then the slave-girl who kept the door said to Peter, "You are not also one of this man's disciples, are you?" He said, "I am not."

...

25Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself So they said to him, "You are not also one of His disciples, are you?" He denied it, and said, "I am not."

26One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?"

27Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

After the trial, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus, Peter is confronted by Jesus.

John 21:15-17

15So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You " He said to him, "Tend My lambs."

16He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Shepherd My sheep."

17He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You " Jesus said to him, "Tend My sheep.

What are the lessons for followers of Jesus? What does this teach us about sin and forgiveness?

 

[Railroad]

We would like to think that we have the strength of our convictions to keep us from sinning, but in truth the only way to resist temptation is through prayer - real time, right there. Peter thought he could do it; I'm convinced he felt that his love for Jesus was strong enough to get him through anything.

We're humans; our faith is inherently weak. We need conviction, and some of us have that, but even the conviction of a saint requires bolstering by the miraculous hand of God in the heat of battle.

Jesus knows how flawed we truly are; He loves us with a love beyond our imagination; he bore our sins and died to be a sacrifice, an intercessor, for each and every one of us. Jesus is the primary instrument in the ultimate act of forgiveness! That's what He's all about. How easy, then, for Him to forgive Simon Peter, whom he loves so much.

All of these kinds of things about Jesus should be teaching us to love one another and to be forgiving of each other's failings, and at the same time engraving in our hearts the true depth of God's love for us, and inspiring our love for Him, our surrender to Him.

 

[2ndAmendment]

Good stuff RR.

Some other thoughts or similar from a different perspective are these. Peter sinned against Jesus by denying Him. He did it repeatedly. Jesus required Peter to confess and confirm his love for Jesus once for each time Peter denied Him. This serves as an example that we are to confess our sins to Jesus and ask his forgiveness each time we sin. Our repentance is not to be the "morning after" type of repentance but true repentance with the heart felt desire to not repeat the same sin again. We may still repeat it, but it is our earnest desire in our spirit not to. We repeat only because of the war between our flesh and our spirit.

 

[Railroad]

Good stuff RR.

Some other thoughts or similar from a different perspective are these. Peter sinned against Jesus by denying Him. He did it repeatedly. Jesus required Peter to confess and confirm his love for Jesus once for each time Peter denied Him. This serves as an example that we are to confess our sins to Jesus and ask his forgiveness each time we sin. Our repentance is not to be the "morning after" type of repentance but true repentance with the heart felt desire to not repeat the same sin again. We may still repeat it, but it is our earnest desire in our spirit not to. We repeat only because of the war between our flesh and our spirit.

Also good stuff, 2A, and more apropos to a broad-spectrum audience! Thanks!