Scripture Reading(s)
Matthew 26:71-72
26:71 When he went out to the porch, another servant-girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
26:72 Again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.”
Reflections
This second denial of knowing Jesus was no revealing Peter’s heart of fear even more so. Notice how the text says “he denied with an oath”. Peter was now making a vow that he ever knew Christ. To go a step further and make it a point to back up his claim with a promise meant that he was not only denying having known Christ but also having had his own life by completely changed and transformed by Christ.
Peter was so blinded by fear that there was no room for him to remotely associate himself with Christ. The sin kept on escalating and there was no break or hesitation in denying Jesus for a second time.
Another lesson that we can learn from Peter’s second denial is that once we step into sin, it is very hard to make it stop. The first time we may see that we are “getting away” with it and that there are no bad consequences being brought on. Peter did not experience any real guilt right away. The first time he said it there was no follow up except for him to deny it again.
Our God is a God of second chances and here Peter was given a chance to boldly stand up for the name of Christ, say no to sin and be a shining light for God. However, he gave into fear once again.
Whenever we are faced with fear we have to remember that God’s word promises that fear is not from Him.
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
Under the fear of Peter’s own possible arrest and death he goes the easy way out. To be sure, if Peter had not denied Jesus he also would have been arrested; his fear was legitimate. But like Peter, we also deny Jesus and we don’t even have the threat of arrest hanging over our heads. How often have we skipped out on being a witness for Jesus because we felt we might be embarrassed or mocked? How often have we participated in sins we know we should have have part in but we won’t want to seem like a stick in the mud?
In our present context there is no reason to ever deny Jesus. We should be standing with Him in all occasions. As with Moses, God will be with us wherever we go in His name. Will we ever face difficult situations because we are Christians? Possibly. Will we always be comfortable? Probably not. But those who stand with the Lord will have their reward in the next life when we are raised up with the rest of the faithful to spend eternity with the eternal God.