"By His Wounds..."

One of my favorite stories is the story of Jesus’ trial and Peter’s denial in Mark 14:53-72. Imagine being witness to the following events:

It is late in the night, and Peter follows Jesus and his captives at a distance into the courtyard of the high priest. Peter joins the guards by the fire to warm himself. As Jesus’ trial begins, there is mass chaos. There are many who give false testimony against him, and, to add to it, none of them can agree! They each have their own slight alteration of the true story. When asked by the priest how he would defend himself against such accusations, Jesus gives no answer. Isaiah 53:7 says “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth.” I can imagine sitting next to Peter watching the events and wondering, “Why aren’t you saying anything? This is your chance; tell them who you are!” Still, he says nothing.

Remember, in Mark, Jesus has not made the claim that he is the Messiah. Demons have claimed him as the Son of Man, but he has told them to remain quiet. In his trial before the high priest he is asked, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Facing his time of great suffering, Jesus finally reveals his true identity answering, “I am.” Furthermore, he says, “...and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Here, he echoes the words of Daniel 7:13-14. In this he makes the claim, “You judge me now, but I am truly your judge.” The high priest becomes angry at these words and considers them blasphemy; the penalty for cursing a ruler is death. Jesus knew they would consider him to be committing treason, but he still stands faithful.

All the while during the trial, Peter is sitting in the courtyard. As we watch Jesus facing an unfair trial, we also see Peter in his own trial. First, one of the high priest’s servant girls points out that he was with Jesus the Nazarene. Fearing for his life, although earlier he claimed he would follow Jesus to the death, Peter denies her saying, “I don’t know or understand what you are talking about.” One would think at this point he would remember the words of Jesus, “You will deny me three times,” and leave. You would think he would hear this very warning and get away from others in order that he might not deny his Lord. Placing yourself in the scene next to the fire, you might even think, “If they accuse me like they are accusing him, I’m getting out of here. I don’t want them to wrongfully accuse me too!” However, Peter stays. Again, the same servant girl sees him and accuses him of being a follower of Jesus, and, again, he denies him. The man who was probably previously rejected by another rabbi denies the very one who chose him specifically, Peter, to be his follower. Then, those around Peter recognized him as a Galilean and as one of the disciples; however, as he had twice before, Peter denies the claims. He even curses himself and swears; he makes an oath that he does not know Christ. He earlier declares Jesus as the Christ, but in the face of the surrounding world, Peter says he does not even know this man. Immediately the cock crows and Peter remembers. He breaks down and begins weeping. Jesus has withstood the test, but Peter has failed, denying his Lord three times, even after being warned.

So many times I find myself, just like Peter, denying Jesus in the way I am living out my daily life. After being given all of the warning signs, I still manage to fall into the trap and fail in my greatest trial.

Many would see this as the end of the story. Peter has failed; he denies Jesus. But the story does not end there. Peter goes on to live a faithful life, possibly even suffering the same type of death as his dear friend, Jesus. Even greater than this, though, is Jesus’ response to Peter’s denial. As Max Lucado puts it, after his resurrection, Jesus could have very well seen Peter and said, “I told you so.” He could have said, “I even gave you a warning and you still denied me; therefore, I will deny you!” However, he does not even bring it up. He simply asks him three times if he loves him. After Peter replies, “Yes,” Jesus tells him, “Feed my sheep,” and, “Follow me.” This is a story of great trial and failure of Peter, but it is also a story of the faithfulness and grace of our friend, Jesus.

Do we know Jesus? Do we love him? Are we ready and willing to proclaim the name of Christ before others? Are you prepared to feed his sheep and follow him? It is not easy and times of great trial and failure will surely come, but praise be to God for his love, grace, and forgiveness.

“he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53

-Matt