SKILLET DAILY DEVOTIONAL, SEPTEMBER 7
MONSTER
“Then seizing [Jesus], they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, ‘This man was with him.’ But he denied it. ‘Woman, I don't know him,’ he said.” - Luke 22:54-57
The dark, diabolical side of Peter took over when he least expected it. He always knew it was there, lurking under the surface. But he never thought it would come out against someone he loved.
After Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter crept into to the temple courtyard to eavesdrop. But this wasn’t a gathering of protestors or peace advocates. He stood around burning trashcans with people who couldn’t wait to see Jesus hang on a cross.
Peter tried to blend in. He only wanted to know what was going on. But suddenly the situation turned frightening. A young girl recognized Peter as one of Jesus’ disciples and hurled accusations at him. Roman soldiers were surrounding him, so it could have meant death for him.
What he did next was unthinkable. It wasn’t enough for Peter to escape into the night. He thought he had to prove them wrong. So he gave himself over to the beast that lives inside all of us – our sin nature. He began cursing with the vilest words he knew. He lied through his teeth with seething anger. And worst of all, he denied even knowing Jesus. He let the monster out of its cage.
At this one, shameful moment, Peter became an enemy of God.
Maybe you’ve sensed it within you too. You’ve been following Jesus, but there’s something horrible lurking inside you. Sometimes you’re surprised by the thoughts that flash through your mind. You refuse to tell anyone because you’re afraid of what they’ll think of you.
Take heart. You’re not alone.
Jesus didn’t tell Peter not to betray him. He told him that he would betray him. In other words, he expected it. Jesus knew something about human nature – that even when we’re filled with the spirit of God, we still have to contend with our old, sinful nature. And as long as we walk this earth, we’ll always struggle to restrain it.
When Peter realized what he had done, he was mortified. The story says that he wept bitterly. What’s worse, he had even told Jesus that he would never deny him. Can you imagine the shame he must have felt? Peter hated himself for it.
The magnificent part of this story is that Jesus knew about the monster inside Peter and loved him anyway. Jesus predicted that Peter would betray him, but he never turned his back on him.
It turns out that the monster inside us is exactly why Jesus came to earth. We could never restrain the monster ourselves; it’s much too powerful. Jesus took the punishment for our sins on the cross because we could never gain favor with God on our own.
As we walk in the presence of God, he gives us the power to become a new person in him. Our lives are no longer judged by the actions we take, but by the belief that we have in him.
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