Day 32
Start with Posture of Silence and Solitude (2 minutes)
Read Scripture: Luke 22:54-65 Peter Disowns Jesus
Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. And when some there 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.
A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
The Guards Mock Jesus
The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” And they said many other insulting things to him.
Devotional:
The Jewish leaders did not arrest Jesus in the temple for fear of a riot and had him delivered to the high priest in the middle of the night. They did this in secret and wanted the execution over before the beginning of Passover as to not interrupt with the celebration.
Peter wept with great sorrow when he betrayed Jesus, not only because he was the Messiah (and he knew that) but because he betrayed a good friend. Peter had said he would never disown him even though Jesus said he would.
Peter’s actions here change his life from someone who believed to a repentant follower. He now was in a place to build the Kingdom here on earth.
Questions to ponder:
- The leaders did their dirty work in secret. Do we sometimes choose to hide what we are doing, thinking that no one including God will find out?
- Peter had to go through many trials to get to the point of being the person that God called him to be. This happens to us as well. We sometimes go through trials of all kinds until we surrender to God. Was there a trial that broke you?
- Given this passage, what is the best way for you to pray today?
End with Posture of Silence and Solitude (2 minutes)
