Mark 14:66-72

It is said that championships are won or lost not on the field but in the months before the first game, on the practice field.  So, Peter’s failure did not happen in the courtyard. In the courtyard the failure was manifested. It began with His pride that was expressed in his boasting about his loyalty and his superiority to others in verse 29.  It continued in his failure to discipline his flesh in verse 37. It took a stronger hold on him when he gave way to anger in verse 47. The denial in verse 67 started to manifest itself when he ran away in verse 50.  And when he pretended to be only an observer and cozied up to the enemies of Christ his verbal protestations and denial were all but assured. No one wrecks his or her life and faith in a rash moment. The rashness of the moment may have been unexpected to those on the outside, but in our inner life there was a long history of studied preparation for that moment. The outward moment of sin is in a dark way like graduation from college.   The ceremony and the pomp are both the public and outward manifestation of a long process and course of study.

The crowing of the rooster was a reminder for Peter of all his promises and all the depth of his failure. Then he began to weep, as he remembered and began to recognize the magnitude of his sin.  Our society wants pain relief at every level from a toothache to a guilty conscience.  Our objective is almost always to get rid of the pain.  Perhaps we ought to focus on the experience of pain and guilt and use the experience to recognize the true enormity of evil.  When we rush to relief we may fail to comprehend the true magnitude of evil and the glory of the cross.  If relief is the ultimate objective, we make our excuses the god we serve and the cross is just a pain killer for our convenience.