Sometime ago, I was channel surfing and I stumbled on a movie channel that was showing one of the most iconic movies ever made in modern times: The Passion of the Christ. It didn’t matter that I’d seen the movie more times than I could remember – I ended my surfing and settled to see the movie.
I happened to join the airing at the scene where Peter denied Jesus three times before the cock crowed. The next scene then showed Judas returning the thirty pieces of silver he’d been given back to the Pharisees in belated regret.
As someone who believes that there’s a level of significance in every experience, I couldn’t help thinking about why I’d stumbled on those interesting scenes. Was God trying to tell me something? Had I “slyed” God too much in recent times? (*LoL*)
Some days later, I came across a light-hearted post on X (f.k.a Twitter). I can’t exactly remember what the post was about, but I recall going through the comments and seeing someone expressing their amazement about how Peter so easily denied Jesus.
And all of a sudden, it struck me how we so often upbraid Peter and Judas Iscariot for throwing Jesus under the bus, but yet lack the insight to see how often we ourselves do the same thing.
I believe that Peter really meant it when he told Jesus that he would stand by Him no matter what. And I believe Jesus knew that Peter really had good intentions. That has to be the reason why Jesus warned him (Matthew 26:34) and tried to prepare him in the place of prayer before the crunch time (Matthew 26:36-46).
So what was Peter’s mistake?
Peter didn’t seem to be getting the subtle warnings:
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
(Matthew 26:41, KJV)
Peter didn’t realize it, but his declaration of support was standing on shaky ground. He was trusting in his own ability to keep himself standing. And when it mattered, his “arm of flesh” failed him, which isn’t surprising; the human nature is what it is.
How about Judas, the man from Kerioth?
Judas had probably thought about everything and concluded that it was a waterproof plan. He only wanted to make a quick buck. Surely Jesus would perform a miracle and deliver Himself when His antagonists came calling. He didn’t realize that his brilliant plan to satisfy his cravings would snowball into what eventually happened.
How many times have we, like Judas, chosen to fulfill one desire or the other in exchange for quality time with God?
How many times have we, like Peter, made resolutions to God, only for us to break them because we didn’t trust God to help us through His Spirit?
Trust goes beyond saying “I trust God”. Our trust in God is shown in the little things: like how much quality time we spend with Him and how much we carry Him with us throughout the day.
“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”
(Romans 15:4, KJV)
It’s not enough that we analyze all the possible reasons why Peter and Judas did what they did? Are we learning from them? Are we making the same mistakes they made?
All these stories, experiences and instructions are in the Bible for a reason. The onus is on us to actually learn and progress everyday on our journey to perfection.
In Plain Sight 
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