But I have prayed for you

Luke 22:54-23:12 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now they arrested Him and led Him away, and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance. ⁵⁵ After they kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter was sitting among them. ⁵⁶ And a slave woman, seeing him as he sat in the firelight, and staring at him, said, “This man was with Him as well.” ⁵⁷ But he denied it, saying, “I do not know Him, woman!” ⁵⁸ And a little later, another person saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” ⁵⁹ And after about an hour had passed, some other man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, for he, too, is a Galilean.” ⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” And immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. ⁶¹ And then the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” ⁶² And he went out and wept bitterly.

⁶³ The men who were holding Jesus in custody began mocking Him and beating Him, ⁶⁴ and they blindfolded Him and repeatedly asked Him, saying, “Prophesy, who is the one who hit You?” ⁶⁵ And they were saying many other things against Him, blaspheming.

⁶⁶ When it was day, the Council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led Him away to their council chamber, saying, ⁶⁷ “If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe; ⁶⁸ and if I ask a question, you will not answer. ⁶⁹ But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” ⁷⁰ And they all said, “So You are the Son of God?” And He said to them, “You say correctly that I am.” ⁷¹ And then they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth!”

23 Then the entire assembly of them set out and brought Him before Pilate. ² And they began to bring charges against Him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.” ³ Now Pilate asked Him, saying, “So You are the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “It is as you say.” ⁴ But Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no grounds for charges in the case of this man.” ⁵ But they kept on insisting, saying, “He is stirring up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee, as far as this place!”

⁶ Now when Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. ⁷ And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, since he also was in Jerusalem at this time.

⁸ Now Herod was overjoyed when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him. ⁹ And he questioned Him at some length; but He offered him no answer at all. ¹⁰ Now the chief priests and the scribes stood there, vehemently charging Him. ¹¹ And Herod, together with his soldiers, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, dressing Him in a brightly shining robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. ¹² And so Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for previously, they had been enemies toward each other.

In today’s text it says:  Now they arrested Him and led Him away, and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance. After they kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter was sitting among them. And a slave woman, seeing him as he sat in the firelight, and staring at him, said, “This man was with Him as well.” But he denied it, saying, “I do not know Him, woman!” And a little later, another person saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” And after about an hour had passed, some other man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, for he, too, is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” And immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. And then the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.  It is easy to look at peter’s denial of Jesus as a failure, but was it really?  Remember what Jesus said to Peter:  “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you men like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail; and you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death!” But He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”  Can we really consider it a failure if a person does what Jesus says they will do? Romans 8:28-30 says:  We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.  God caused the expected failure of Peter to work for good, to conform Him to the image of Christ.   We see the result in Peter’s life. Acts 5:12-16 says:  At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all together in Solomon’s portico. But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem. And increasingly believers in the Lord, large numbers of men and women, were being added to their number, to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any of them. The people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together as well, bringing people who were sick or tormented with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed. 

Like Peter, are faults and our failures are not unknown or unexpected by God. Instead, if we love God, He will cause all things, the good things, the bad things and even our failures, to work for our good, according to His purpose, that through the cross, we would become conformed to the image of Christ, justified by Him and glorified in Him. Like Peter, we would do the works of Christ.  In John 14:12-14 Jesus says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”  Just as Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you men like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail; and you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers,” He has also prayed for us and continues to pray for us daily. Romans 8:34 says:  Christ Jesus is He who died, but rather, was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.  Jesus prayer for us is that we will, like Peter fulfill the call and commission of Christ; the purpose of God for our life. In Mark 16:15-18 Jesus says:  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, in spite of my faults and failures, You loved me and paid the price for my redemption and restoration. Day by day, through the power of the Holy Spirit, may I be conformed to Your image as You intended from creation. May I do the things that You have called me to do for Your glory.  Amen.