When there is a person at church who just came to salvation, but still struggling to stay on the righteous road, do we sigh and give up on them? “Well, I told you he/she wouldn’t last. They don’t know what we know.”

When a person is overwhelmed by life situations, do we walk away so we don’t get overwhelmed in the waves of their “bad luck”? “I’ll pray for you”,,,is all we offer to make us feel better?

Are we the ones being bullied? All these thoughts come to mind as I read the next small portion of the story of Jesus, of His last days on this earth. I understand the power of these words as my heart weeps for Peter, who came close enough to what His Teacher, Jesus, was going through but stayed with the rest of the curious crowd trying desperately to fit in…for his own protection.

Matthew 26, The Message
Denial in the Courtyard
69 All this time, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard. One servant girl came up to him and said, “You were with Jesus the Galilean.”

70 In front of everybody there, he denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

71 As he moved over toward the gate, someone else said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.”

72 Again he denied it, salting his denial with an oath: “I swear, I never laid eyes on the man.”

73 Shortly after that, some bystanders approached Peter. “You’ve got to be one of them. Your accent gives you away.”

74-75 Then he got really nervous and swore. “I don’t know the man!”

Just then a rooster crowed. Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and cried and cried and cried.

Peter remembered what Jesus had said about denial just hours earlier. I wonder if flashbacks roar through Peter as he also remembered all the precious moments watching Jesus teach of God’s love, mercy and grace, all the times of healing, the feeding miracles and the time on the mountain seeing Jesus in glorious splendor? Peter probably remembered ALL that Jesus said and did…and he cried. His love for Jesus overwhelms him while fear paralyzes the most often brash and bold Peter. And he cried.

But later, he is forgiven. He becomes the “rock” who builds the church. Wow. What a thought!

Dear Heavenly Father, Sometimes we cry, too, We are a sinful people for when push comes to shove, we fail sometimes to stand up and come alongside those being bullied or hurt by words of a jeering crowd. Forgive us as you forgave Peter for denying You. Thank you for your salvation. Thank you for the power of Your Holy Spirit living in us to change us, to transform us to be more and more like you with every lesson we learn and remember. Go with us. Be with us in the next opportunity and help us to act wisely, in ways that please you. In Jesus Name, Amen