Hello, welcome to the Foundations podcast for Tuesday 14th May. This week we’re going through Mark’s account of Jesus’ last hours on earth. Yesterday we saw Jesus talking with Peter and praying in the garden of Gethsemane. In today’s passage Jesus is arrested and taken before the Sanhedrin. We also see a little more of the Peter story. As we head through this week we’ll be building up to the point where we see Jesus die on the cross. Fittingly we’ll read that verse on Friday. This week is a great chance for us to zoom in on parts of the Easter narrative and explore themes that we may not give much thought to over Easter itself. Holy Week and the Easter weekend is, after all, a relatively short amount of time to be unpacking all that happens in these chapters.

REFLECTION:

Today we’re going to follow the thread of Peter’s experience of this pivotal time. Peter is one of Jesus’ closest disciples. He’s seen Jesus up close and personal for the last 3 years. He’s lived alongside Jesus, travelled with Him, ate with Him. Peter He’s more than a follower now, He’s a friend. Yesterday we heard Jesus tell Peter that he would disown Jesus. Peter obviously refused to believe this but let’s look now at verses 66-68 and 71-72 to see how that panned out.

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him.

“You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said.

But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway.

He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.”

Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

What a day to pick to spend a day in Peter’s sandals! This isn’t his finest. In fact this is a particularly sad day in Peter’s journey. I can definitely empathise with him though and I’m sure you can too. Whilst all our experiences in life are different, we all do things that we know are not God’s perfect way for us. Maybe it’s something we have a habit of doing now, or maybe it’s a time in our past that we can particularly recall. We all have those moments when we go our way rather than God’s way. I’m sure many of us will be able to recognise times when we’ve considered an action, decided to live God’s way and then ended up not following through with that. That’s what has happened with Peter here.

When we fall short of these standards that we try and live by sometimes we respond with feelings of failure, guilt or even shame. This only ends in a place of feeling unworthy, unusable by God. We start to limit what we think God can or will do in and through us. Yet there is nothing in Jesus’ response to Peter that should lead us down this path. Jesus’ response isn’t to condemn Peter. In fact if we read John’s Gospel we see the incredible story of Jesus reinstating Peter. After He is resurrected Jesus meets His disciples by the Sea of Galilee. It’s there that Jesus three times gives Peter the chance to say I love you Lord. Three times, once for each time he denied knowing Jesus. Peter is later tasked by Jesus to go and lead the early Church! Jesus is a God of grace. If we ever feel like Peter after he’d disowned Jesus then we must remember, Jesus always offers us a way back to Him through His wonderful Grace.

PRAYER:

Thank you Lord for your grace at work in our lives. Thank you that when we walk away from you we can always be brought back into right relationship with you. Be with us today, Amen.

READING: Mark 14:43-72

Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests,