A servant girl saw [Peter] seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with [Jesus].” But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said. A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” “Man, I am not!” Peter replied. About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Luke 22: 33-34,56-62
In October of 2015, a man went into a classroom of a community college in Oregon, shot the professor and ordered the students to stand up if they were Christians. As they stood up, the gunman said, “Good, because you're a Christian, you're going to see God in just about one second,” and then he shot them. 9 people died and 9 more were injured that day.... Because they believed in Jesus.
This event happened about 18 months ago, yet it is still very vivid in my memory. The story bothers me on so many levels. This (unfortunately) happens frequently all over the world-this time in America. In a school. Normal every-day people. Christians.
It scares me because I ask myself this question: How would I have reacted if I was one of those students?
Would I think of my Husband, children, parents, friends? Would I protect the other students? Would I look for a way out? Would I try to stop this disturbed man? Would I hide under the desk? Would I cry? Would I scream? Would I pray?
....Would I stand up?
Behind the comfort of my computer and the safety of my little ‘bubble’, my response is easy. Yes, I am a Christian. Yes, I believe in God. Yes, I believe Jesus is my savior.
.... but if I was in a position where my life literally depended on my answer, what would I do?
Would my faith in God allow me to stand up?
or
Would fear make me freeze in my seat? Or worse.... would my fear make me deny Jesus?
Peter knows this situation all too well.
Peter was one of the 12 disciples. He spent three and a half years following Jesus. He physically walked next to Him, learned from Him, saw the miracles Jesus performed. Peter did believe Jesus was/is the real deal. In Luke 22:33, life is all hunky-dory. He loves Jesus and proclaims that he will be there for Jesus no matter what. In the next verse, Jesus warns Peter of his deception. I can picture Peter giving a weird look and saying something along the lines of “oh, come on, Jesus. That’s not gonna happen!”
However, in the next 22 verses, Peter watches the arrest of Jesus. Jesus is taken to Pilate and Herod for sentencing. He watches Jesus walk through the crowds of people who have now turned against Him- and are condemning those associated with Him. I can only imagine the emotions going through Peter’s head- sadness, confusion, panic, fear.
Paul is forced to make a decision: Be on the side of Jesus, or choose the “popular world-view”—quite literally, he’s choosing life or death.
It’s easy to be a Monday Morning Quarterback: The “woulda-coulda-shoulda” list is so much easier to analyze post-event than those in-the-moment actions. We can read this story and see the trouble that Peter is getting into as it’s playing out: we just want to stop and warn him! Doesn’t he know that siding with Jesus was the right choice, even if it wasn’t the easy option????... but, in the moment? Peter’s adrenaline had to be rising, his instincts to survive were kicking in. Satan’s seeds of doubt had to be growing inside of him. Even with Jesus’ warnings of deception, Peter’s fear overtook his faith. Peter was put into a tough situation and he failed Jesus... not once...not twice... but three times.
At that moment, he realized his failure. He was ashamed, embarrassed and disappointed in himself.
... and if Peter, one of Jesus’ chosen disciples and close friends, failed at acknowledging our Lord, couldn’t I do the same?
The truth is, we are forced to make this life-or-death decision every day. Every day, we choose to either accept Jesus, or we choose to deny Him. Every day we choose eternal life with Jesus, or not. Every day we need to acknowledge who He is and what He has done for us. Every day we need to grow our faith in Jesus and God. We need to make sure our faith is larger than our fears.
We need to make sure that when we are asked to stand by Jesus, we have an automatic response to Stand Up.
