As the years go by, I have learned an important lesson: Never say never.  “I will never go to that state to live”—and we did.  “I will never say that to my children when I’m a mom”—and I have, many times, in fact.  “I will never eat broccoli”—and now I love it.  “I will never quit teaching”—and God called me to His full time, specific Kingdom work that included what I learned from teaching!  We think we know exactly who we are, what we will and will not do, how we will react to certain situations and scenarios that occur without notice in our lives but we really do not.  But one thing I do know— “never say never.”  The crow of the rooster is ready to warn us and wake us up from our pride.

Peter is a perfect example of “never say never.”  Let’s back tract and glance at verses 27-31—

“Jesus told them, “You’re all going to feel that your world is falling apart and that it’s my fault. There’s a Scripture that says,

I will strike the shepherd;
The sheep will scatter.

“But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you, leading the way to Galilee.”

²⁹ Peter blurted out, “Even if everyone else is ashamed of you when things fall to pieces, I won’t be.”

³⁰ Jesus said, “Don’t be so sure. Today, this very night in fact, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”

³¹ He blustered in protest, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” All the others said the same thing.

And there it is.

Mark 14, The Message

The Rooster Crowed

^66-67 While all this was going on, Peter was down in the courtyard. One of the Chief Priest’s servant girls came in and, seeing Peter warming himself there, looked hard at him and said, “You were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”

⁶⁸ He denied it: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He went out on the porch. A rooster crowed.

^69-70 The girl spotted him and began telling the people standing around, “He’s one of them.” He denied it again.

After a little while, the bystanders brought it up again. “You’ve got to be one of them. You’ve got ‘Galilean’ written all over you.”

^71-72 Now Peter got really nervous and swore, “I never laid eyes on this man you’re talking about.” Just then the rooster crowed a second time. Peter remembered how Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows twice, you’ll deny me three times.” He collapsed in tears.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“All have sinned (yes even today as in Peter’s days on earth) and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3 23) We are not perfect, so none of us can say we have arrived at perfection (though many behave as if we have, so be watchful)!  That will be the exact moment when we fall from our prideful boasts of “never will I” as the wisdom of Proverbs predicts!  (Proverbs 16:18)

Because of Jesus, and only because of Jesus work of redemption, we have hope!  Peter, the “never say never” guy, will learn from Jesus the reason He had to go the cross to forgive us of the sins we try to avoid but fall into when fear or neglect of God sets in.  Peter, full of remorse, collapses into tears, as he remembers immediately what Jesus said would happen—happened.  Unlike Judas, who hung himself out of the grief of getting caught, Peter’s heart is broken and contrite.  Peter is still connected to the One who will forgive him when the work of redemption on the cross is paid in full.  And hallelujah!  This payment is made for all of us!

Read 1 and 2 Peter for his great testimony of what Jesus has provided for all of us through redemption of our hearts, minds, and souls!  Here is an excerpt of Peter’s letters expressing our “living hope” in Jesus; “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:8-9

Read Acts 2 for what happened in and through Peter after forgiveness from Jesus was humbly received with joy.  Peter, by the power of the Holy Spirit now living in him, boldly preaches so others can be saved!  Here is an excerpt; “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Jesus’ forgiveness changes everything.  We cannot save ourselves, if we could we would fall to pridefully boasting about it!  Pride offends God.  Jesus’s forgiveness in Peter and the other disciples (who also ran away) launched them as compelling and committed Truth tellers of who Jesus was and what He did to save us!  It all began, as Jesus said, first in Galilee then spread like a wildfire to the rest of the world! 

A man named Saul, a devout religious Jew caught up in this wildfire, had a passionate goal to kill all the new believers in Jesus.  Could Saul, full of hate of evil within him have said, “I will never believe in this Jesus of Nazareth”?  Mm, just a thought.  We learn that on the road to Damacus with a “few good men” with the goal to rid the world of new believers, Jesus changes his mind with an awakening vision, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  Read Acts 9 for the exciting account of the amazing work of the redemption work Jesus did in and through Paul.  Paul changed from being pride-filled protestor to a compassionate preacher of the Good News of Jesus Christ! 

Paul will write to churches he helped to establish with Jesus as the Cornerstone of their faith. The compassionate preacher replaced is pride with humbled adoration for the One who forgave and saved his soul.  He also realized that even though he gave his heart to Jesus, he was not perfect—only perfectly forgiven.  This alone is a great lesson for all of us who believe and “fall short” when our pride gets in the way of our relationship with Jesus.  Here is an excerpt to entice a full reading;

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:7-14

Press on, dear brothers and sisters, press on…we’re not there yet, but fully forgiven!

When we hear the first “crow of the rooster” who warns us and signals the sin of pride in our lives, we must fall to our knees, repent and turn back to One who loves us most.

Lord,

Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with y our new mercies this morning, and restore the joy and peace of your salvation work so powerfully at work within all who believe and call on Your Name.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Thank you, Lord