The Rooster Crows

September 26, 2016

The Rooster Crows

“But one of the household slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?”

Again Peter denied it.

And immediately a rooster crowed.”

John  18: 26-27

Full of love and loyalty, Peter makes his way to the place of Jesus’ interrogation. When questioned, Jesus told the truth. When questioned, Peter lied. However, Peter’s courage cannot be questioned. He alone, in the face of overwhelming force, took his sword to defend Jesus. Even after his confrontation with the arresting force in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter followed Jesus into the hostile camp that held Jesus captive.

As Peter warmed himself by a fire, and verbally sparred with the others around the fire, a rooster crows after the third time Peter denied knowing Jesus. I suspect Peter’s experience in the courtyard of the High Priest served to ground Peter in Jesus’ teaching: I am the vine, you are the branch. Apart from me you can do nothing. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter’s courage was bolstered because Jesus was with him. In the courtyard, Peter was separated from his Master. Peter’s experience reveals the weakness of our sinful flesh that cannot be overcome until Jesus sends our Helper, our Advocate, the Holy Spirit.

(By the way, remember, John never includes a meaningless detail. John points out that Peter warmed himself by a charcoal fire. Peter will warm himself by another charcoal fire when he has a conversation with Jesus on the beach in John 21:9.)

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, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.