Journey Through Holy Week With the Archbishop of CanterburySample

Thirty percent of the gospels relate to just seven days of Jesus’ life – the events of Holy Week. Part of the richness of the story of these days is the way the narrative zooms in and out. We are sometimes dealing with the macro story of God’s salvation for all humanity. At other times we are presented with the deeply personal wrestles of specific individuals.

The story of Peter’s denial of Jesus is one of these moments where we zoom right in to the personal. Peter has fervently promised Jesus that he’ll never abandon him, even if it means death. But in the heat of the moment, he is paralysed by fear. Going into survival mode, Peter pretends that he has no idea who Jesus is – not once, but three times. In the agony of realising what he has just done, he weeps. In Luke’s gospel, this moment is particularly painful because we’re told that Jesus looks directly at Peter.

The big question for Peter is: what now? Both Peter and Judas betray Jesus. Judas sees that as the end of the story. Peter somehow appears to hold on to the sense that his story is not yet over. In John’s gospel, we have the joy of seeing Peter’s reconciliation with Jesus after the crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus not only forgives Peter but entrusts him with the task of leading his church.

Every one of us will make mistakes – sometimes serious mistakes. We can sometimes find it harder to forgive ourselves than to forgive others. One of the invitations in Peter’s story is to let God’s forgiveness in to our brokenness – and to learn to forgive ourselves. This is easier said than done and can take time but Peter shows us that our mistakes do not need to define us.

Let’s take a moment to pause and reflect:

• What things make it hard to forgive yourself when you get things wrong? Can you offer those to God?
• Is there a context where you could offer understanding and hope to someone who has made a mistake?