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| Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial |
Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ However, after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee.”
But Peter said to him, “Although all will be offended, yet I will not.”
Jesus said to him, “Most certainly I tell you, that you today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
But he spoke all the more, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” They all said the same thing.
This was one of the most dramatic moments in the life of Peter. He was not the only one to claim that he would not stumble, all my disciples did the same, saying that they would not deny me. Yet, he was the one who claimed it with the greatest conviction. I knew what would happen, because the Father spoke to me about it, and I spoke to them in order to prepare them. Although it was painful for them to hear that, and they were not ready to accept that they would stumble and fall, my purpose was simple: I wanted them to know that after they would deny me I would forgive them, and that after my resurrection I would meet them in Galilee. This forgiveness would be very important.
Sometimes, you have to say things to people who are not ready, but you know that for the future it is important to do so. Remember though, it is only in an intimate fellowship with us that you will be able to discern whether you should speak or not, what to say and when. discernment is not a matter of analysis, but rather a matter of intimate fellowship with me and the Holy Spirit, of listening to us.
It was painful to know that my disciples would flee and abandon me, yet I did not blame them but prepared them to go through the process of humble repentance. Knowing that I already would forgive them helped them to come back to me, and to avoid the path of bitterness and despair of Judas. I forgave them in advance, so that after my resurrection they could forgive themselves. Forgiveness is a matter of renouncing to play the role of judge in your life or in the life of others. You have not been created to judge others but to love. You don’t have that required ability to judge others, because you know only a very limited portion of the reality. That is why the Father is the only one who can judge rightly, and the Spirit and I participate in this judgment for His glory. As you learn the foolishness of judging, as you learn to welcome our words and guidance, you have to renounce to judge others or to judge you.
When you judge, when you refuse to forgive, you express two things, the first one is that you have this foolish belief that you are able to judge rightly, the second one is that you lack faith in our righteous judgment. Therefore, when you don’t forgive you show more faith in your judgment than in God's judgment. You thus try to play the role of God, without having the aptitude to do so. You are then like a little kid who plays to be the dad and forgets that it is at best only a game, and that you are only a child. It is true, as you grow in our love, we will share more with you and we want you to participate more in our decisions, but this growth is possible only as you learn to trust our judgment.
One of the most insidious judgments is when you judge yourself. You will almost always miss the mark, either judging yourself too kindly, or too harshly. Without our vision of love you will not find peace, while in our loving eyes you will learn to receive our gracious acceptance, to let go of what is not good in your life, and to learn to walk in our love.
This kind of judgment on himself was what Peter still struggled with. He first thought that he would never deny me, judging himself to be stable in the relationship with me, and then he would later despair because he struggled to forgive himself for what he did. Learn from him to relinquish judgment on yourself, learn to welcome my love and guidance, so that you don’t have illusions about your strength. It is only in me and through me that you will find the refuge and strength that you seek, it is in me that you will find the stability and peace that you long for. On your own, like Peter, you will shift from proud words of certitude to despair and condemnation of yourself. I dearly loved Peter, I dearly love all those who come to me and want to find rest.
Don’t keep the unnecessary burden of judgement or unforgiveness. Forgive and commit judgment into our hands. Learn to welcome our discernment in fellowship with us. Unlearn to decide on your own, learn to decide with us. To be my disciple means that you learn to imitate me. I did not say a word without listening first to the Father. I did not do anything without seeing the Father do it. He taught me, as I want to teach you. In this way, you will be released from stress and the many judgments that crush your spirit and make your world narrow and fearful. Trust in me, and I will teach you our love. In welcoming our love, you will find the peace and discernment on how we want you to walk in this broken world, and how to receive healing for your heart and bring our healing to many.
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