Peter Denies Jesus Just As Prophesied

Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly. Matthew 26:69-75

Steps: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Jesus told Peter that he would deny Jesus that very night. But when a person’s addiction is to trust in self, Peter ignored Jesus’ warning and continued to trust in his own ability to watch over himself. Peter wanted to be close to Jesus to see if there was a way to help Him because he had already forgotten that Jesus had told him that He would be turned over to the Priests and that they would beat Him and then kill Him and He would rise again after three days. Matthew 16:21. When Peter was near the judgment hall people began to ask him if he was with Jesus of Galilee he grew fearful and denied that he knew Jesus. Finally the people said surely you are one of them because of the purity of your speech. To convince the people that he did not know Jesus he started cursing and swearing to show them that he was not a follower of Jesus for Jesus did not use any bad language. Once Peter committed to this display and fulfilled the issues of the prophecy then the rooster crowed and then Peter remembered what Jesus had said about his denial. It then dawned on him that he did not know himself and that he should have trusted Jesus to know what to do to help him, then he went out and wept bitterly for now he knew that he was capable of anything in order to take care of himself first, even deny his best friend.

Prayer for Today: God You know what we will do in a pinch, especially if it comes to taking care of ourselves – the first rule of addiction – self must come first. We have even seen ourselves doing these sad things and we can’t stop ourselves. Please help us and deliver us from our addictions. We don’t know how You will do it but we trust that if it can be done, it will have to be You that does it. Thank You for coming to help us, and just like You promised to pray for Peter please pray for us as well.