About Jesus  -  Steve Sweetman

In this short section we see Peter’s second and third denial.  Peter was asked, "You are not one of His disciples, are you?"  Peter flatly denied being a disciple of Jesus.  There was no hesitation on his part.  There just happened to be one standing by who happened to be a relative of the man whose ear Peter cut off and he challenged Peter on his denial and still Peter denied.  After this third denial the rooster crowed.

One thing to note here is that the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem did not allow chickens or roosters in their city because of their messiness.  How this rooster got here is uncertain.  This, as small of a thing it might be, must have been the hand of the Lord.  Every time the rooster would have crowed must have sent shock ways through Peter's heart.      

How horrible Peter must have felt.  He’d be the first to do anything for Jesus yet now he has denied knowing Him three times.  Peter may have denied knowing Jesus, but his faith and trust in Jesus did not fail, as Jesus prayed.  We at times fail Jesus.  Failing Jesus is a sin, and I’m sure He doesn’t like that, but not trusting Him any more is something different altogether.  The important thing is that after denying Jesus, we come to Him in true repentance and trust.  This shows that we have not forsaken our faith in Him.  It is our faith that saves us in the long run.  Peter did return to his Lord in true repentance and faith.