DENIAL

DENIAL

Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” —Luke 22:56-61

“If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.” Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.” —Luke 22:67-71

            The Jewish leaders had no doubt at all Who Jesus was saying He was/is.  To them what He was saying was blasphemy and they believed He deserved death because of it.  Jesus did not deny that He was the Son of God, equal with God His Father (John 5:18).  Do you understand this?

       Peter had spent three years with Jesus.  He saw how Jesus lived.  He saw the miraculous events that Jesus did.  Thousands were supernatural impacted.  He heard Jesus speak, teach and preach.  After three years Peter knew Who Jesus was/is.  At one point “Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven’” (Matthew 16:16-17).

       So Peter actually was shown by the Father Who Jesus was/is.  And yet, when it came down to being identified with Jesus, He denied three times that he knew Him or was with Him.  When he denied Jesus the third time “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:61-62).

            It is easy to say that we would not do what Peter did if we were in his situation, but we are not in His situation.  Just as it would be easy to say that if we were in Adam and Eve’s situation we would not have done what they did.  But what about you and me today?  Are we being obedient to God’s Word?  Fully?  Do we speak the truth all the time we should speak the truth regardless of who we are around?  Oh, that it may be so…

Dear Father please help me to be the type of person You desire me to be and to speak according to Your desires for me.  May this be by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son Jesus.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rKKybs7o2Q