John 13:38 (NIV) Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”

One of the many tragic events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus was when all of the disciples ran and abandoned Him when He was arrested. Even sadder was the fact that Peter, arguably Jesus’ most outspoken and devoted disciple, disowned Jesus three times. He was questioned three separate times about whether he was associated with Jesus at all and all three times, he denied that he ever knew him. After he did this and he heard the rooster crow, he was reminded of what Jesus predicted that he would do and he wept bitterly.

Many of us who read the scriptures wonder what in the world got into Peter that day. He seemed to be unafraid of anything, even having the temerity to cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant with a sword during the commotion of Jesus’ arrest. Jesus undid that fiasco by healing the servant’s ear on the spot. We wonder how Peter could have turned on Jesus so quickly by disowning Him three times, but then we are hit with the reality that we are no better than Peter. There have been times in every believer’s life where we, too, have disowned Jesus. Perhaps it was when you had an opportunity to share your faith with someone and you chose not to do it out of fear of rejection. Or maybe it was when someone within your hearing was maligning the name of Jesus and you failed to speak up and say something to correct what was said. Maybe it was the many times that you were at the crossroads of doing something right or wrong and you chose to do wrong. How about the sinful habits that had gotten a hold of you that you just couldn’t let go of? In all of those things and in one way or another, we have all disowned Jesus.

Thankfully, we have the story of how Jesus restored Peter when He saw him after the resurrection. Peter, probably out of depression over what he had done, decided to take up fishing again, something that he had given up to follow Jesus. But Jesus was keeping tabs on him all along. He made his way onto the shore where He knew that Peter would wind up after a fruitless night of fishing and was preparing a breakfast for him and the other disciples who had accompanied him on this sorry fishing trip (they had caught nothing). Jesus called out to the disciples on the boat and told them where to cast their net, just as He had one time before in their lives. Sure enough, the net got so full of fish that they couldn’t haul it into the boat. That’s when they realized that this was Jesus. Peter got so excited that He jumped into the water and swam to shore, not being willing to wait for the boat to get there. There on the shore, in a conversation specifically designed to heal a broken man, Peter was restored. In the same way, Jesus has restored each one of us from our tragic disownings of Him. But if you are reading this today and you have not been healed from your disowning of Jesus, just have a little talk with Him right now. Jesus will speak words of healing and restoration into your life and will heal you with His love and care and will show you the way forward into a fruitful life of sharing the awesome good news about Jesus with many others.

Pastor Joey Vazquez