From Coward to Saint

March 22, 2016

From Coward to Saint

Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know the man!”

And immediately the rooster crowed.

Matthew 26:74

Full of love and loyalty, Peter makes his way to the place of Jesus’ interrogation. When questioned, Jesus tells the truth. When questioned, Peter lies. Immediately, Peter understands Jesus’ teaching: I am the vine, you are the branch. Apart from me you can do nothing. Peter embodied the weakness of sinful flesh that cannot be overcome until Jesus sends The Helper, The Advocate, The Holy Spirit.

In Jerusalem, at the site of the home of the High Priest, there is a statue depicting Peter sitting around a fire as he denied he knew Jesus. His loss of integrity, his act of betrayal is memorialized for all time. Saint Peter's Basilica is in Rome, and has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world. Tradition holds that this is the burial site of its namesake, Saint Peter. Peter’s journey from coward to saint affirms the power of God’s promise “that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Near the statue of Peter, there is also a pit, hewed deep into solid rock. Jesus was imprisoned in this pit overnight, before being taken before Pilate. When I visited Jerusalem, I stood in this pit and read Psalm 88 to our group. That vision is a continuing reminder to me that Jesus paid a very dear price in order to open heaven’s gate for a sinner such as me. The vision of Peter’s statue reminds me that the possibilities of new life in Christ, won by Jesus descending to the depths of the Pit, are endless.

You have put me in the depths of the Pit,

in the regions dark and deep.

Your wrath lies heavy upon me,

and you overwhelm me with all your waves.

Psalm 88: 6-7

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.