Mark 14:27-31  ²⁷“You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written:  ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ ²⁸But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”   ²⁹Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”   ³⁰“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.”   ³¹But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the others said the same.

Think of the impact of seeing the miracles that Jesus did and listening to all he said – getting to be with him three years and being one of the twelve.  Peter saw men and women and children beside themselves with joy after being healed or set free from demons or raised from the dead.  He even experienced walking on water with Jesus.  Then there was the triumphant entry into Jerusalem just a few days ago.

Now he’s not only hearing that Jesus will die but that they all will fall away.  So now Peter asserts his faithfulness and hears Jesus say how he will disown him three times.  Peter can’t believe that he could possibly deny his Lord.

A wonderful piece of this exchange at the Last Supper is included in Luke’s gospel (22:32) where Jesus says to Peter: “But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Later in the pain of having denied Jesus, Peter could have committed suicide like Judas did or totally abandoned the other disciples due to his shame.  But in his pain, these prophetic words would have come back to him and been a source of hope, “And when you have turned back…”

Just like He did with Peter, God puts us all into circumstances where things in our hearts will be revealed to us.  They might be things we aren’t aware of, or maybe we just have no idea how significant a problem something within us is.  Such experiences can be painful, as this was to Peter.  But we, like Peter, can and must respond to His Spirit and the hope we have in Him.  We must choose not to give up, but to respond to His grace and change.  He doesn’t show us these things to reject us, but to give us the opportunity to repent and become free.