Denial
A Holy Week reflection
Taking a break from the usual to reflect on the Gospel of Matthew this Holy Week.
Denial. As is said in Recovery circles, it ain’t just a river in Egypt.
But that’s different, right? The denial that an addict depends on-- It’s not the same as Peter lying to everyone that he never knew that preacher from Galilee? Is it?
If you had to get sober, you admitted the truth that nobody else was fooled. You were just trying to fool yourself. Denial may have worked to keep you drinking or using… but it didn’t work.
So you did The Work, told the truth about your addiction, and gradually your life started to work.
Peter’s three denials didn’t manage to get those slave girls to change their minds – they had seen Peter with Jesus. They could spot a Galilean accent. They were Not fooled.
Peter got away that night, but he didn’t get away with it. The cock crowed, Peter remembered Jesus’ prediction that he would deny Him three times before the rooster went off. Peter wept bitterly.
69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A female servant came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before all of them, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” 71 When he went out to the porch, another female servant saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.”[m] 72 Again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” 73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74 Then he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment the cock crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. (Matthew 26)
Denial. We can’t fool Jesus about who we are, what we’ve done. We don’t have to. Jesus knows the truth.
Jesus IS the truth. And the truth is, He love you. He is for you. Undeniably.