Yesterday we were reflecting on Peter’s journey and where he went wrong the night Jesus was arrested. 

At the last supper, he was over-confident in himself and swore that he would never deny Jesus, even if everyone else fell away.

When they went to the garden and Jesus asked him to stay up and pray, he couldn’t stay awake. As a result, he wasn’t spiritually alert.

And then, when the armed mob came, instead of following Jesus’ lead, he tried to save the day by drawing his sword. 

Jesus rebuked him. 

And then Jesus was taken away.

Before we read anything else, consider what Peter must’ve been thinking and feeling. 

Confused, for sure. Why would his Lord, the one he believed to be the Messiah and the son of God, allow himself to be taken? Why would he stop Peter from fighting?

Then there was probably shame. Clearly, he’s not getting it right. First he can’t stay awake, then he makes the wrong move, and then he is publicly rebuked by Jesus.

If I were Peter, I would be questioning what I believe about Jesus, and also questioning who I thought I was.

What is my next move? What am I supposed to do? 

On top of that, I’d be scared. Scared because if they took Jesus, they might come for his followers - especially me, the one who viciously attacked the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

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After Jesus was taken, Peter followed the mob to the house of the high priest. Let’s pick it up in Matthew 26:69:

Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said. But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. 

Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.” He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!” 

After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.” Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”

Honestly, I completely get it. He’s scared, he thinks he might be next, and the one who has given him all his courage has been taken away.

Peter has put everything into following Jesus. He has risked it all believing that Jesus is the one to start a new kingdom....but now Jesus is being taken away. Peter’s got to protect himself and his family; he can’t risk getting arrested himself. 

That’s at least how you and I might rationalize it.

Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. - ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭26‬:‭69‬-‭75‬ ‭

The rooster crowed, giving way to the dawning of the darkest day in history.

Peter remembers the words of Jesus and is cut to the heart. He remembers how he had sworn he would not do this. But he certainly wasn’t expecting things to go down like this.

Now… How in the world would Peter go on to become one of the leaders of the early church? Why would he go on to be so admired? How would he ever regain the courage to lead, the boldness to preach, and the tenacity to persevere future suffering? 

What would take Peter from this point - coming face-to-face with his weakness, his cowardice, his denial, his faithfulness - to the point where it says this about him in Acts 2:

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say….Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

- ‭‭Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭14, 36‬ ‭

A few clues:

Cut back to the Last Supper. Luke’s account tells us something important: 

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” - ‭‭Luke‬ ‭22‬:‭31‬-‭32‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus said Satan would sift him, but his faith would not fail - because Jesus has prayed for him. 

This blog post does not allow room to go into further details, but John’s gospel tells us that after Jesus rose from the dead, he sought out Peter in particular in order to bring him back in. In John 21 he restored him to his place of apostleship. 

And then, most importantly, Jesus pours out his spirit on Peter and the others in Acts 2. 

So, it really had nothing to do with Peter. Peter didn’t bounce back from his failure because Peter was anything special. Jesus was praying for him. Jesus went after him after he rose from the dead. And Jesus filled him with his Spirit. The only thing we can give Peter credit for is not killing himself like Judas did, and hanging around long enough to see God redeem his failure.

And that’s what Jesus does for us in our failures. It's why he died. It's why he paid the price. In the old hymn "How Deep the Father's Love For Us," it asks:

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

So if you don’t feel like a failure today, praise God. But if that moment comes, remember Peter. And more importantly, remember the grace, the power, and the relentless love of our Savior, who comes after us to restore us and fill us and use us.