Live to Love Scripture Encouragement John 18.24

John 18:24-27. “So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, ‘You are not also one of His disciples, are you?’ He denied it, and said, ‘I am not.’ One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, ‘Did I not see you in the garden with Him?’ Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed. The last two of the three denials occurred while Annas was questioning Jesus. Apparently the initial inquiry by Annas took place in his courtyard in close proximity to each other. For Luke recorded that when Peter denied Him the third time and they both heard the rooster crow, Jesus turned and looked at Peter and remember the word of the Lord, how He had told him that he would deny Him 3 times before a rooster crowed today. (Luke 22:61). At that moment Luke said that Peter went out of the courtyard and wept bitterly. It’s difficult to imagine how ashamed Peter must have felt. In an honor/shame culture such as they lived in, the weight of guilt must have been unbearable. Have you ever been there? Have you felt like you have committed an evil deed that completely disqualifies you from ever being loved or used by God? We know the end of Peter’s story, but he didn’t at that point. We know that Peter was forgiven, transformed, and empowered by the love of Christ. I think that was where John was going with Peter’s story. He knew that in a matter of minutes his readers would be reading of Jesus’ encounter with Peter on the beach of the Sea of Galilee. We will get to those verses in 2023. For now, we can know that God has allowed our own failures to occur for our highest good. He knows what He is going to do with us, and He know His love will bring redemption, restoration, and transformation in our lives. So let us be sober-minded and on the alert for the prowling lion. Let us continue living to love with Jesus without fear. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com