Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Though all may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be.” Jesus said to him, “Amen I say to you, this very night before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you.” And all the disciples spoke likewise. (Mt 26:33-35)
Peter cannot even allow for the possibility that he would let the Lord down. “Though all may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be.” Then all the other disciples chime in with the same assurance.
The Book of Proverbs warns, “Pride goes before disaster.” There is about to be a disaster here. These disciples are only a few hours away from doing exactly what they said they wouldn’t do.
We’ve all done things “we’d never do.”
The best approach to sin is to look it straight in the eye. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is especially hard on hypocrites who pretend they have no sins. He calls them “whitewashed tombs which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones.”
It’s not just a question of my individual sins. It’s my sinfulness itself, the flaw in my system that only God’s grace can mend. Paul is dead honest about this: “For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want . . . It is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.”
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner.” Try saying that slowly 10 times. I can have a very good effect.
Spend some quiet time with the Lord.
