The Denial of Peter

As we continue through the final 24 hours of Jesus' life we are in the wee hours of Friday morning. Jesus was arrested between 1 and 3 in the morning. He was taken to a cell at the house of the high priest and held there until the council of religious leaders could be assembled. Once they were assembled they tried Jesus for blasphemy and found him guilty and sentenced him to death.
While this was going on inside the house of the high priest, Peter is warming himself by a fire in the courtyard. He is trying to see what is happening to his teacher. However, he is also trying not to draw attention to himself. He wants to blend into the crowd so not to be noticed and connected to Jesus for fear he will be arrested too.
If you know the rest of the story you know that Peter was not able to stay in the background. A servant girl first recognized him and he denied knowing Jesus. Two more times people asked if he was a friend of Jesus and two more times he denied it even calling curses on himself if he was lying. Then a rooster crowed and Peter remember Jesus had told him this would happen, and Peter wept.
I want to invite you to try to put yourself into Peter's shoes. How would you have responded to such questioning? Maybe a better question is, would you have had the courage to even be in the courtyard when he was? No other disciples is to be found at this time. Peter had courage enough to follow Jesus to the high priest's house, but lost his courage when questioned. Where would you be?
I had one person yesterday ask me why Peter did not go for help. I don't know the answer to that, but that was a good thought. What if instead of staying close Peter had gone to gather the other disciples and brought all of them to support Jesus. I usually like to face tough times with other people, so I would hope I would have thought of something like that. Jesus had more followers than just the 12 disciples. At one time he sent out 70 followers to do ministry. Peter could have gathered a large group to support Jesus, but instead he was there alone.
Of course, I want to say I would not have denied Jesus like Peter did, but I also think Peter is bold and brash and if anyone would stand strong in a crowd he would be someone who would. So if he couldn't then the surrounding situation must have been intimidating.
This story in Peter's life does challenge me to do more than just say I would not have denied Jesus, but rather to work at not denying Jesus in my life. Each day we have chances to deny Jesus by things we say or do that are not pleasing to God. Things we have justified by saying everyone else is doing it or I am not hurting anyone. The crowd is not concerned about our denial, but I know God is. God wants us to follow His example and always treat others with compassion. God wants our lives to show his love and grace to everyone, including ourselves and those we may not like. I accept that challenge and will strive to live it. How about you?