Mathew 26:31-35
31 – Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
32 – But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.
33 – Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.
34 – Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
35 – Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.
Mathew 26:69-75
69 – Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.
70 – But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.
71 – And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.
72 – And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.
73 – And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
74 – Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
75 – And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.
Of all the twelve disciples, perhaps none loved Jesus and believed that He was truly the Son of God more strongly than Peter. After all, he had personally witnessed many of the miracles that Jesus had performed, and when his faith failed him as he was walking towards Jesus on the water and he began to sink, Jesus’ outstretched arm pulled him from what would have surely been a watery grave literally into the arms of safety.
At the Last Supper, Jesus told His disciples of the events that would soon unfold around them. He explained how His betrayal by Judas would lead to His arrest and how He would die a horrible death on the cross, only to rise again three days later and appear before them in Galilee.
He also informed them that they would all be “offended” by Him, shying away and failing to stand up and defend Him when the Roman soldiers came to arrest Him. Peter was hurt and disappointed that Jesus had included him, and He told Jesus that He would never deny Him.
But Jesus realized something that Peter did not: As much as Peter loved and trusted in Jesus, he was still just a mortal man, and when faced with defending Jesus and possibly losing his own life in the process, he would buckle under the pressure and refuse to do what He knew to be right. And sure enough, when the “rubber met the road”, he did exactly as Jesus had predicted he would do.
I have heard people say that Peter was just as bad as Judas, but I don’t agree. Peter’s denial of Christ was a deplorable, yet completely understandable failure by a man to stand up and do what was right in the face of intense pressure and possibly eminent death. Jesus understood this, and although He was deeply disappointed in Peter’s actions, those actions didn’t diminish His love for him one bit.
Judas, on the other hand, willingly betrayed Jesus in exchange for money. He did what he did out of pure greed, not because a threat of death was hanging over his head. I believe that Judas is spending eternity in hell because of unbelief. Peter is spending eternity in heaven along with the Saviour that he loved with all his heart.
Yes, Peter failed his Lord when He needed him most, but each and every one of us Christians also fail Him as we go about trying to live a good Christian life. But Jesus forgave Peter for his failure, and He will forgive ours as well if we will repent and ask forgiveness.