Denial
Jesus told Peter he would deny him three times.
Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders who had come for him, "Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!" Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, "This man also was with him." But he denied it, saying, "Woman, I do not know him." A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, "You also are one of them." But Peter said, "Man, I am not!" Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, "Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean." But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about!" At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly. - Luke 22:52-62
Imagine how Peter felt when he did what Jesus said he would do.
We assume he did it because he was afraid of what would happen to him, and we assume that because he wept bitterly when he remembered what Jesus said.
But what if he hadn't denied knowing Jesus? What would the outcome have been?
Would he have been allowed to go on and become the leader of the Church?
At the end of Luke's Gospel, when Jesus is with them again in the flesh, Jesus shows no sign of being angry with Peter.
Maybe Jesus just accepted what Peter did as he had foretold it, a three time denial, possibly out of fear.
If Jesus could forgive that, he could forgive anything we do.
As long as we come home to Him, we will be fine.
Our love of God and love from God are all we need. We are safe in His arms, even when we fall away, so long as we choose to come back.
That, I think, is the real lesson here. It is not the denial that matters as much as the remorse and return.
More to come...