{"id":21840,"date":"2024-03-26T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotion-26-march-2024"},"modified":"2024-03-26T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T06:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-26-march-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-26-march-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion 26 March 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

St Mark 14: 66 – 72<\/span><\/p>\n

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came by.  When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, \u2018You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.\u2019  But he denied it, saying, \u2018I do not know or understand what you are talking about.\u2019 And he went out into the forecourt. Then the cock crowed.  And the servant-girl, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, \u2018This man is one of them.\u2019  But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, \u2018Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.\u2019  But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, \u2018I do not know this man you are talking about.\u2019   At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, \u2018Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.\u2019 And he broke down and wept.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflection<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This is one of those Biblical passages that always makes me pause. In many respects there is very little actually written there, and yet the depth of what it contains is challenging and demanding. It asks questions of us, and it demands a response from us as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

For many of us, when we read this passage, we cannot but help putting ourselves into Peter\u2019s place and wondering how we might have reacted, or responded, if we had been challenged and asked the questions that he was asked. We might, as we initially read the story, be horrified that Peter, of all of the disciples, might so easily turn his back on the one he has proclaimed as the Christ. And yet, as we reflect further, we might recognise just how easily we too turn our backs on our Saviour and, if we are honest with ourselves, we do so without the threats and provocation that Peter faced.<\/span><\/p>\n

And the trouble is that we always realise what we have done after the fact. It is always something we view with hindsight. This was also the case for Peter, even though he had been given fair warning of what was going to happen. And it leads to one of the great understatements of the Bible.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each of the Gospels deals with the aftermath of Peter\u2019s denials with a brief sentence that can never fully encapsulate the pain and shame that he must have felt at that moment. And it is a pain and shame that we understand because we have acted in similar ways. Although we haven\u2019t walked in Peter\u2019s shoes, we have walked on similar paths and so we know those feelings of guilt that come when we have let someone down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet despite these feelings, we must remember that there is always the possibility of reconciliation and forgiveness. Although Mark\u2019s gospel may not provide us with the continuation of this particular story, we know from the gospel of John that following the resurrection, Jesus comes to Peter and restores him. This gives us the knowledge that we too can be restored.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prayer<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Loving God,<\/span>
thank you for never letting us go.<\/span>
Thank you that you are not like us,<\/span>
and will never disown or deny knowing us.<\/span>
Forgive us our faults and frailties and,<\/span>
as you did with Peter, restore us,<\/span>
so that we might be able to serve you<\/span>
as we respond to your call on our lives. Amen.<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St Mark 14: 66 – 72 While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came by.  When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, \u2018You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.\u2019  But he denied it, saying, \u2018I do not know or understand … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “URC Daily Devotion 26 March 2024”<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21840\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}