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| Daily Devo/Bible Study - 2/23/2010 - John 18:25-27 |
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| Deep Thoughts | |||
| Written by Jonathan Hsieh | |||
| Tuesday, 23 February 2010 14:58 | |||
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18:25 Meanwhile Simon Peter was standing in the courtyard warming himself. They said to him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” Peter denied it: “I am not!” 18:26 One of the high priest’s slaves, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the orchard with him” 18:27 Then Peter denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.
While Jesus was being interrogated inside, Peter and the others are still outside trying to keep warm in the courtyard. Some people in this group turn to Peter and ask him if he's one of Jesus' disciples. Peter again gives the statement "I am not"(ouk eimi), which is, again, the opposite of Jesus' many statements of "I am" (ego eimi). The third denial comes from a relative of Malchus, who Peter attacked. This person was there at the garden when it all went down and he would probably remember the one that tried to kill his relative, so he asks Peter. Jesus denies it. Right after he denied it the rooster crowed. This was no coincidence. Jesus' prediction came true. The other gospels say that Peter remembers the prophecy and starts crying (Matt 26:75, Mark 14:72, Luke 22:61-2). John probably left this out because it would be a given.
So Peter denied the first and the second time without any repercussions, but when he makes the third one, the rooster crows. It dawns on him what he had been doing. He had been denying any relationship toward his Lord and Master. Just hours earlier on that very same night Peter had said he would die for Jesus (John 13:37), to assert how far he would follow Him. Suddenly his dedication disappears. It's one thing when Peter denies Jesus once. It could be a fluke, perhaps, or a moment of weakness. But when he denies Jesus three times one can be pretty sure his faith in Jesus had dissipated. It's never a good thing to ever deny being a follower Jesus, but it's a huge problem if it's a regular occurrence. It's a big issue if a Christian repeatedly and continually hides their affiliation with Jesus Christ. Let's live the exact opposite. Let's be the ones that answer the question "Are you a follower of Jesus?" with an emphatic "I am!"
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