The Journey to the Cross in ASLSample

The Denial

Will we stand by Jesus and our faith in Him, or will we falter and deny Him in the midst of our biggest trials? 

Declaring God’s truth and praising Him can be super easy when we are hiding behind social media, or when we are among our friends and other believers. But when our lives are shaken and grief hits us when our dreams are shattered and things are taken away, the question remains, will we still stand by Him? Will we confess Jesus as Lord then? 

Matthew 26, we see that moment that was offered to the disciples. Peter, one of Jesus' closest friends and disciples has been there with Jesus through so much. He has witnessed many things that Jesus has done up to that point. But on the night of Jesus' betrayal, Peter denies Jesus three times just as Jesus predicted. When the rooster crowed three times, Peter recognized what he had done. His conviction was set. 

Like Peter, I’ve had my own moment of mistakes and regret. I suspect we all have those kinds of life-moments. Just like Peter, the good news is that his story doesn’t end there. Just the same for you and me - our story continues. How do we know this? Well, Jesus says in Matthew 16:18, “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” This means Jesus knows that Peter will make a mistake, but he will also turn it around. We see that throughout Scripture, Peter comes back to serve and glorifies the Lord. What that means for us is if you feel like there’s no hope because you feel convicted by your past mistakes, or you feel it’s impossible to turn back to God because of failures or regret, we can be encouraged by Peter. Let’s dive into the Scriptures and see the men and women who have been saved by grace. Peters shows us that their hope for each one of us is to know that Jesus welcomes us back with open arms. 

How do we know that? First Peter 1:3 tells us, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” 

Peters shows us that he understood how deep a person can fall into sin, but also that he understood the wonderful saving grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus.