City Life Starter

Written by Aisha Darwesh

The Word

⁵⁴ Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance. ⁵⁵ And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. ⁵⁶ Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” ⁵⁷ But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” ⁵⁸ And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” ⁵⁹ 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.” ⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. ⁶¹ 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.” ⁶² And he went out and wept bitterly.

–Luke 22:54-62 ESV

¹⁷ He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

–John 21:17 ESV

Aisha’s Analysis

Today’s verses display Peter’s failure of nerve, his undoing–the moment he came to the end of his strength and power of belief and stared straight into a face filled with mercy and compassion. Just imagine how he felt when Jesus looked in his eyes after he repeatedly denied knowing/being associated with Jesus? 

Let’s do a quick recap of some highlights in Peter’s journey with Jesus up until this point in scripture: 

• Peter lent Jesus his boat to preach from and cast his net at Jesus’ command even after a hard night of trying with no results (Luke 5:1-11) 
• Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on water at Jesus’ command (Matthew 14:22-33)
• Peter declared Jesus is the Christ, Son of the living God by divine revelation (Matthew 16:13-17)

Peter definitely had some shining moments in which he obeyed God, stepped out in faith, and declared the truth of who Jesus is publicly before men. There is no doubt Peter had faith in Christ and was willing to go the distance for Jesus. So then why did he lose courage at such a pivotal moment? Clearly, there was something deeper that Jesus could foresee long before it transpired. 

Despite his passion, sincere hope in the Messiah, and good intentions, Peter was still human. Jesus knew that. Jesus could see all of the ways Peter would fail, and what was His response? Jesus prayed for Peter: 

 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.

–Luke 22:32 (ESV)

Jesus saw past Peter’s failure. This should give us great hope. God is bigger than our deepest failures. And I love the way Jesus offered Peter hope long before it ever happened “And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32). 

Failure is just part of the human experience, but what’s important is what we do after we fail. That is a key turning point. As painful as it is to fail, it can lead us right into the presence of God as long as we’re willing to turn towards God in those moments.

Application

How has failure turned into an opportunity to let God direct your path in a new and unexpected way? While it is important to grieve failure and acknowledge the sting of disappointment in our lives, it is also equally important to remain open to what God wants to do next. It’s important not to get stuck in failure/shame.

 Is a past failure keeping you from experiencing God’s glorious future? Take a few moments to prayerfully reflect and answer that question. Ask God how He wants you to pivot from that failure. Whatever happened, it’s not big enough to stop God from loving you and leading you back into His wonderful plans if you’ll only turn to Him and trust Him to do it.

Prayer

Father God, thank You for giving me so much hope and a glorious future in Christ. I’m no longer bound by my failures because of Jesus’ ultimate victory over sin. Thank You, Lord, for writing my story and loving me despite every failure. In Jesus’ name, amen.