Peter Denied Knowing Me

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

February 20, 2020

Peter Denied Knowing Me

Page 291

Matthew 26:69-75; Mark 14:66-72;

Luke 22:56-62; John 18:17, 25-27

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.

Today 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. Also today, in Rome, there is Saint Peter's Basilica. It 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.

“You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths.”

Psalm 88:6

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.

My Takeaway: 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.

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.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

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.

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.