You’re sitting at home reading the newspaper when your door flies off its hinges with a bang so loud you jump out of your chair. “Hands up, and don’t move,” shouts the first officer of a SWAT team as he shoves a cocked .357 magnum in your face.
Two hours later at the police station, you are relieved to see your best friend walk into the room. You know he can verify you were with him earlier in the evening when a man was shot and killed at a convenience store one block from your house. “I don’t know this man,” says your friend. Your mouth drops open in disbelief, but then, you think this has to be a practical joke.
“Are you sure?” asks the detective. “Absolutely!” he says.After swearing, your friend then says, “Never saw him before in my life!” and walks out of the room.
In some small way, this modern day story illustrates the denial Jesus experienced from one of his closest disciples, but why did Peter act in this way? Just hours earlier while they were dining, Peter swore, “Though many may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be.” When Jesus cautioned Peter that he would deny him three times, Peters aid, “Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you.” He swore that he would never deny his master and yet he did so, not once, but three times.
Many people see this as an act of cowardice on Peter’s part in order to save himself from being arrested in the courtyard. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Like the other Apostles, Peter believed Jesus to be the Davidic Messiah-King who would free Israel from pagan bondage. He expected Jesus to lead the Jews to victory over the hated Romans. When Jesus told Peter that it would be necessary for Him to suffer and die, his faith was shaken just as Jesus said it would be.
The Greek verb in that sentence, which some scholars translate as “scandalized,” means to “cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey.” And this is what Peter had reason to do. Scandalized by what was happening in the courtyard, he denies Jesus three times. In Semitic culture, a three-fold denial was irrevocable. No wonder Peter wept bitterly. He had ended their friendship. The last thing on his mind then and there was the likelihood that Jesus would ever forgive him.
Some people think Peter reacted out of fear when he denied that he was one of Jesus’ disciples. But fear didn’t stop him from cutting off a servant’s ear in the garden or even coming to the high priest’s house. But we could consider another kind of fear, namely, the fear of ridicule or being laughed at. Imagine what manner of reaction Peter would have gotten from the bystanders in the courtyard had he admitted to being one of Jesus’ disciples. Perhaps the worst thing themaid could have done to him was laugh. “Man, you really picked a winner there! He certainly made a fool of you, didn’t he?” Others might have jeered, “How does it feel to have spent three years following that charlatan?”
Before we think less of Peter for denying Jesus, we should ask ourselves how often we have yielded to the same sin. Has there ever been a time when you hesitated to speak up on behalf of Jesus because you were uneasy about the response you would get?
It’s so easy to wonder how Peter could deny Jesus and never consider that we may be denying him every day with the choices we make whenever we act in a manner that is unchristian by what we say and do. Christ endeavors to lead us into paths of righteousness yet how often do we ignore his wisdom when making our choices? Because of pressure from others, do we abdicate Christian values for fear thatthey will ridicule us if we stood up for what is right? The fear of ridicule or rejection paralyzes many Christians today so consequently they too are gradually accepting values thatthey once considered morally wrong or unchristian. We deny Jesus when we seek after gods made in our own image instead of submitting ourselves to the will of Christ but loyalty to him is the measure of true wisdom.
Matthew tells us that Peter wept bitter tears after denying Jesus and what he stood for but after the cock crowed, what did he do? He didn’t deny that he had denied Jesus, did he? To the contrary, he repented and following the resurrection, Jesus forgave him and he went on to become a powerfulwitness for Christ and the early Church.
Unlike Peter, many of us are hesitant to evangelize the good news for any number of reasons from the fear of beingscorned by others to feeling as though we don’t know our faith that well. Sometimes the most effective witness for Jesus Christ is the new Christian who is eager to share hisor her experience with others.
May we never have our faith in Christ shaken. It could easily happen if we take our relationship with Jesus for granted anddo little to nurture it for I have seen many abandon their faithfor any number of reasons ranging from indifference to being scandalized by the misconduct of other Christians but if we follow Peter’s example and repent when the need arises, God will give us the courage to stand up for our beliefs no matter what our non Christian neighbors might think.
O God, who by the Passion of Christ your Son, our Lord,
Abolished the death inherited from ancient sin
By every succeeding generation
Grant that just, as being conformed to him,
We have borne by the law of nature
The image of man on earth
So by the sanctification of grace
We may bear the image of the Man in heaven.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.