Wicked or Weak

Luke 22:54-62

This passage narrates the third of a series of rejections of Christ in Luke 22. We began with the disciples failing to stay awake as Jesus prayed in Gethsemane in verses 39-46 and Judas' infamous betrayal in verses 47-53. The third rejection of Christ comes from Peter, who himself claimed that he would follow Jesus to death in verse 33. Jesus in his divine knowledge responds in verse 34 that Peter would deny him three times that night before the rooster crows. These words must have startled Peter and confused him but in this passage we see the fulfillment of that divine statement. Sometimes we are victims to the same predicament as we place ourselves in situations that cause us to commit sins against God knowing fully that God would be displeased. We fail to do what Christ did (v.42), yield our desires to God's will so that God's will would be done and not our own.

We are told in verse 54 that Peter followed Christ as he was taken away, but at a distance. There is so much packed into that small detail as it profoundly proclaims to all of us that if we desire to truly follow Christ, it is to be in close proximity and not afar. Peter sits at a fire perhaps pondering what he should do and clearly in fear of what is to come. Three opportunities arise through a servant girl, an unnamed man and another man who recognizes his Galilean descent. All three times Peter denies association with Christ, each time his proclamation becoming more and more defiant. And then he hears a sound that must have been tormenting and horrendous to him as verse 33 rings in his mind; the crow of the rooster. Peter did it. He did the very thing Christ warned him he would do and he still did it.

I see a difference in Judas and Peter's denials or betrayals of Christ. Judas was acting on wickedness and Peter acted on weakness. In the hour of darkness, both figures succumb to sin but their hearts in very different places. Peter has been here before. He walked on water towards Jesus in faith and as soon as he set his eyes away, he fell. But who comes to pick him up? Jesus! Brothers and sisters, we at times fall to the trap of sin by letting ourselves hide our identity with Christ in the world. We lose out on opportunities to be witnesses of Christ to the world because of shame and fear. But be reminded here today that it is out of our weakness that we do so. For if it was out of pure wickedness, then we would be in a place of no return like that of Judas. It does not justify our acts, but it is healthy for us to know that we can be picked up again. Do not seek to fall or deny Christ, but know that when you do, it is important to know that it is because you are weak. That's the difference between Peter and Judas. They essentially did the same thing, but from two very different states of the heart. That's why their futures ended up being so different. Remember that Christ teaches us not to be ashamed of him and he teaches us to that we are to seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit to be powerful witnesses, because he knows we are not powerful witnesses on our own. Read Acts 2 after the Pentecost and you will see a vastly different Peter from today's passage. Let us seek to be bold witnesses of Christ.