Luke 22:54-62
The religious leaders seized Jesus and led him away, but Peter followed from a safe distance. They brought him to the home of the high priest, where people were already gathered out in the courtyard. 55 Someone had built a fire, so Peter inched closer and sat down among them to stay warm.
56 A girl noticed Peter sitting in the firelight. Staring at him, she pointed him out and said, “This man is one of Jesus’ disciples!”
57 Peter flatly denied it, saying, “What are you talking about, girl? I don’t know him!”
58 A little while later, someone else spotted Peter and said, “I recognize you. You’re one of his, I know it!”
Peter again said, “I’m not one of his disciples.”
59 About an hour later, someone else identified Peter and insisted he was a disciple of Jesus, saying, “Look at him! He’s from Galilee,[aa] just like Jesus. I know he’s one of them.”
60 But Peter was adamant. “Listen, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Don’t you understand? I don’t even know him.” While the words were still in his mouth, the rooster crowed.
61 At that moment, the Lord, who was being led through the courtyard by his captors,[ab] turned around and gazed at Peter. All at once Peter remembered the words Jesus had prophesied over him, “Before the rooster crows in the morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” 62 Peter burst into tears, ran off from the crowd, and wept bitterly.
‘Following Jesus’ was a theme across the gospels - it was mentioned no less than 51 times.
Following Jesus involved physical proximity and it signified relationship, daily interaction, and daily provision. But after Peters ran from Jesus when the mob arrived to arrest Him in Gethsemane, there was a shift – there was now distance between Peter and Jesus.
“Peter followed from a safe distance.”
He was following the RIGHT person at the WRONG distance. Often, when you’re following the right person at the wrong distance, you’ll take a wrong turn or get completely lost.
From our part at least, failure causes distance.
Following Jesus is not about keeping a “safe distance”, it’s like what one person called walking in the dust of your rabbi – you’re walking so close that as they walk ahead of you, the dust being brought up from the ground covers you. It’s not about distance or earning access, it is about proximity and intimacy.
Here’s the bottom line: You are going to fail. You’re going to trip up, get it wrong, fall short.
BUT:
Your FUTURE is not a slave to your FAILURE.
Never let your failure cause you to believe that God will reject you.
“Though the righteous man will fall seven times he shall rise again.” Proverbs 24:16
The righteous WILL FALL. Does that mean they have 7 chances? It’s a Hebraism, an idiom within Jewish thought that they would have been familiar with. It just means “fall a lot!” When Nebuchadnezzar threw the 3 Hebrews into the roaring furnace, he said to heat it up 7 times. He just meant to turn it up a lot!!
The righteous WILL FALL A LOT.
Some of us have bought into the lie that we’re righteous when we’re failure-free and when we fall, we’re unrighteous and distance between us and God.
Nothing is further from the truth.
What defines the righteous is NOT their failure but their response to that failure.
The righteous are not defined by their FALLING but by their RISING.
If you’ve failed, you’re reading this right now because this is your time to rise. You’re not going to sit in your FAILURE another day longer because Jesus has given you HOPE for your FUTURE!
How do we rise?
When we turn from our failure, towards our Savior. When you're in Christ Jesus, it is never about what you've done, it's always about what He has done! Your identity is in Him!
Jesus is the way out of failure.
When you RETURN, you will RISE!
Let me encourage you today to boldly come before the throne of Grace!!
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