Matthew 26:69-75

We all like to be liked, don’t we? And we tell ourselves that the approval of others is very important. We are so afraid of what people will say: “What will they think of me? What might they do if they know I’m a Christian?” In our society we can talk about anything, but if we talk about Jesus Christ and defend his honor and confess him as Lord, we run the risk of ridicule or even worse.

Many of us are intimidated, aren’t we?  We are filled with shame when we consider what Jesus asks of us: a witness in word and deed. When Peter denied his Savior, he was also filled with shame. He, like us, had sinned. He had disowned Jesus. He had abandoned his Lord. And yet, in spite of Peter’s terrible offense, Jesus did not stop loving him.

Jesus loves us, and he forgives us, too. If your sins and the kind of life you have lived and your denials of Jesus are keeping you from seeing that, then let me remind you where Jesus was going on that night when Peter denied knowing him. Jesus was being led to Pontius Pilate and then to Herod and then back to Pilate. His journey would end at Calvary where he would offer his life as payment for your sins. All the opportunities you have missed, all the wrong turns you have made, all the times you have spoken when you should have kept quiet, all the times you kept quiet when you should have spoken—all of these sins Jesus took off of you and placed on himself. Then he suffered and died for them and washed them all away. “I love you,” he tells us. “You’re forgiven, and now I’m going to give you an exciting future, a future in which you can look to me for strength, place your confidence in me alone, and live boldly to the glory of my name.”

Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, God no longer held that day against Peter.  And that is not just true for Peter, but for you and me, too. Not just Peter’s one day and one sin, but all the sins of all people committed by them every day, yours and mine included, have been forgiven by God. Jesus loves us! He died for us! Relying on him as our Savior, you and I are God’s beloved children forever!