You can find this post on You Tube here: https://youtu.be/IV2stXNVi34

Luke 22:54-62 If you don’t have a Bible nearby, you can read this here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2022%3A54-62&version=NI

It’s no secret that I adore Peter.  He has had his triumphs and his tragedies.  This was one of the tragedies.  Fear can make us ugly.  It can make us weak.  I know my own heart well enough.  I may well have behaved the same way.  Jesus had told him it would happen.  I don’t think he said that in the hope that Peter would choose otherwise.  He knew he wouldn’t. Again, Jesus wanted to be clear that he knew what was coming before it ever happened.  Remember that he had also seen through to a future time when Peter would be used to help and heal the other disciples. Jesus knew it all and loved him unwaveringly. 

Something occurred to me as I read this passage today.  The only disciple who knew what happened in this dark moment was Peter.  In order for Luke to tell us about this, Peter had to tell him.  In another account of this event we are told that John was present, but apparently he had connections and was allowed inside to watch the proceedings.  Peter was alone outside, alone among strangers.  So the fact that we know about this is evidence that he wanted future generations of believers to know he blew it.  This is a detailed account, people building a fire in the courtyard, a servant girl, some man, a guy who recognized his Galilean accent, catching Jesus’ eye as he was being interrogated, the rooster.  This was a vivid memory for Peter.  You know he relived it frequently in his mind.  If there was ever a moment in which he utterly failed, this was it.  But instead of trying to forget, he wanted us to know about it.  

I’m just going to go ahead and ruin the first few chapters of the book of Acts, which is the sequel to Luke. I cannot beg you eagerly enough to immediately read it when you finish Luke.  

Here it is: Peter is about to be transformed.  In a matter of days, this weak, fearful, broken man will become a powerhouse of faith and confidence.  But unless we walk through this moment with him we won’t understand how absolute the change in him will be. 

I think both Peter and Luke want us to know this so that we can have hope for ourselves.  Brokenness does not exclude us from the kingdom of God.  It doesn’t even exclude us from being powerfully used to build the kingdom of God.  

God loves to use people who are of no use to anyone else.  In Isaiah 61:3, the prophet tells us that God gives beauty for ashes.  Peter was standing in the burned out shell of a life.  There was nothing of value, nothing usable, nothing at all, just ashes.  And you are not going to believe what God does with that.  Just know that God can do beautiful things with failure.  He can do powerful things with ashes.  If God can use Peter after a night like this, he has a purpose for you no matter what happened yesterday.