This Great Love : Part one

     I've been thinking and learning a lot lately about the disciples. The men who lived and walked with Jesus during His time here on earth. The ones who helped Him heal, teach and love the world around them.
 
  Imagine how close they must have been to Jesus, they were His best friends, His closest companions bonded together by this one great commission and the knowledge of a God and a Love much bigger then all of them.
 
  In light of this weekends holiday I thought it appropriate to elaborate a bit on one particular disciple I've learned more about recently. His name was Peter.

  In church a few Sundays ago we heard a sermon preached on Peter, one that brought many things to light about him that I didn't understand before.

 

  I think we all remember that Peter is the one who denied Jesus three times the night before His crucifixion. He was the one who devoted his allegiance to Jesus whole heartedly, and nearly in the same breath turned around and denied the man he knew to be the Messiah. Peter is remembered as a failure.
 
   And if Peter was one of Jesus' closest companions, why deny Him at the very moment when it was time to fight for Him? Why have Peter known forever as a failure for that one mistake? And what hope is there for us if Peter could not withstand the selfish tendencies of our flesh nature?

  I never understood this character in the bible until a few Sundays ago.

 

  Let me explain what I learned. Luke 22: 54-62  ( KJV ) says this :

Then they took Him, and led Him, and brought Him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, 

   "This man was also with Him." And he denied Him saying
    "Woman I know Him not." 

 

  And after a little while another saw him and said, 

"Thou art also of them."
And Peter said,
"Man, I am not."

   And about the space of an hour after another confidently affirmed saying,
"Of a truth this fellow also was with Him : for he is a Galilean."

   And Peter said,
"Man, I know not what thou sayest."

 In John's account of this same story it says that Peter grew angry the more he was asked about Christ. Peter raised his voice and cursed saying again that he didn't know Jesus. It was making him angry that they would not take his word for it, he was afraid of being found out.


 And immediately as he spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him,
"Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice."

 
  And Peter went out and wept bitterly.

 
  The second the words left his mouth, the rooster crowed. And Peter's realization of what he'd done hit him full force.
  He might have closed his eyes, breathed in deeply and felt the shame crush him beneath it's weight. And what's worse, when he opened his eyes they were met with Jesus'.  

   Just after his fear, his denial, the Father looked him in the eye and Peter could not hide his shame. He remembered the words that Jesus had said to him.
  Cowardly he'd denied the man he swore he would die for. And because of his shame, he wept.


  Consider Peter's position, it was just after Christ had been betrayed and captured and these people he was sitting with were sure they'd seen him with Jesus. Peter had walked by His side for nearly three years, his reputation proceeded him, and maybe this scared him. Perhaps he had a fleshly, selfish moment where he was very afraid the authorities would treat him as they were treating the man he was so loyal to. And so he denied his closest companion in order to protect himself.
 

  This is the story we hear of Peter, the failure. The one who didn't stand for what was right when the time called for it.
  

                                              But his story doesn't end here.