Peter

Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”  Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”   Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!  John 13:36-38

Peter was a fisherman.  He was a devoted follower.  He was a leader.  He was a rock.  

Peter declared Jesus as Christ.  He walked on the water.  He witnessed the transfiguration.  

Peter acted.  He jumped out of the boat.  He cut off the servant's ear.  

He denied him.
Not just once, but three times.

Peter denied knowing Jesus Christ - not as his lord, his savior, his messiah.  Knowing him at all.  Why?  How could he do that?

Some think he was a coward.  That at this pivotal moment in history, he gave into his fear the pretended to be a stranger, to save his own skin.  

Others think he was a strategist.  That in order to save Jesus, he had to remain incognito to give himself a fighting chance to join in the rescue.

We've all heard the first school of thought - that Peter's was the ultimate act of cowardice, abandoning Jesus when he needed him the most.

But this second school is intriguing.  The writer of the artofattack.blogspot.com says,  "St. Peter realized that Jesus had warned him that He was not the conquering Messiah, Son of David, but the suffering Messiah, Son of Joseph, from Jewish legend who would suffer and die for his people as it said in Isaiah 53. St. Peter was clinging to his messianic dream of monarchy and glory but this was not to be fulfilled at that time."

Peter wept not because of the guilt of his denial, but because of the guilt of his lack of understanding.  Jesus had been telling him all along who he had come to be, but none of the disciples had seen clearly.  If this line of reasoning is true, then Peter realized this his plan was much different than God's plan.  He realized that his plan to rescue Jesus would undo God's plan to rescue man.

Look, I'm not a bible scholar but this rationale is so interesting to me.  No matter which "side" you find more compelling, Peter's failure is epic.  His failure is not seeing Christ for who he truly, ultimately was.

Christ was not - is not - a one-sided, manipulated superhero here to do our bidding.  No.  He had a plan, one that continues to this day and will continue to eternity.  

One day we will meet Peter and understand exactly where he was coming from.  Today we can still learn epic lessons from his life.  We can see that we must be willing to accept all of Jesus, if we accept any of him.  We must accept that the conquering hero conquered sin, not Rome.  We must accept that he died . . . so we live.

Don't be too hard on Peter.  Don't define him simply by his failure, his denial.

Remember:  the rock. 
The leader.
Perhaps most importantly:  the follower.