Truly, Truly! – Saint Peter

Truly, Truly! – Saint Peter.

“Simon Peter said to Jesús, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.’ Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for your sake!’ Jesus answered him, ‘Will you lay down your life for my sake? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied me three times.” (John 13:36-38).

There is a much-used Hebrew word in the Hebrew Bible that points to its root word “truth.” The Greek in the New Testament also picked it up and used it for “truth” as well. That common Hebrew word is “amen.”

Amen. This biblical word basically means: This is truth! I agree that this is true! Yes! We heartily accept and approve of what was said! We are assured that this is certainly true! So be it! We believe this is trustworthy and we take it to heart!

Amen! Amen! is often translated as Truly, Truly, or Verily, Verily in the New Testament. This double Amen is only recorded in the gospel of John, and is said by Jesus before He offers a statement, not after.  He is the only Person to say this, because He is the only Person who has the authority to say this before He says it. This double Amen, as opposed to a single Amen, must be an important distinction for Jesus, because He felt compelled to use this preface twenty-five times in John.  When Jesus begins a statement with that double “Truly,” He is intending to be doubly intense when He says it, and so He wants the listener to be doubly attentive. He wants to emphasize the importance of His words. He is saying, In all truth I tell you. He wants the listener to focus, and He is serious about preparing the listener to be receptive. When Jesus says Truly, Truly, He is saying: Most assuredly, what I am about to tell you is absolutely true and trustworthy. So listen up, because an eternal truth is coming to you now. In all sincerity, says Jesus, this is the solemn truth. Take these words in, says Jesus, and have them go into your mind and then straight to your heart. For these words of mine are double truth, they are doubly true. Jesus might as well have been saying… And you readers out there centuries from now, get ready to apply your hot pink highlighter, get ready to do some double underlining! Truly, Truly, what you are about to hear is the honest to goodness truth. This is True! Really True!

Peter was the leader of the Twelve, and probably the closest friend to Jesus during their years together. He was brash, impulsive, impetuous, and yet was faithful to Jesus throughout their ministry. He was the first disciple to declare that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Son of God, the disciples’ first confession of faith in Jesus. Peter was given the amazing privilege of being present at the Transfiguration. He once declared that he would never desert Jesus, and would rather die than abandon Him. And yet, there he was sleeping while Jesus suffered in the Garden. He couldn’t seem to do anything right that fateful night. With good intentions he took up a sword at Jesus’ arrest, and was quickly rebuked by Him. He promised to never deny Jesus, and he soon broke that promise by denying Him three times. He first denied knowing Jesus; then he denied being one of His followers; then he denied even knowing what those accusers were even talking about. After these denials, Peter went off by himself and wept bitterly in shame, humiliation and guilt. At this point, Peter was a big disappointment, to himself and to Jesus. Yet there was Jesus in mortal agony on the Cross, asking for the Father to forgive those who had a hand in His Passion. There is no doubt that Jesus had Peter in mind with a number of others. Father, forgive Peter, for he doesn’t know what he is doing.

St. Peter is a tough nut to crack. We shouldn’t try to read the mind of anyone, no less someone who lived 2,000 years ago and is as complicated as he is. So on the one hand we shouldn’t judge Peter as if we understood fully what he was thinking in that courtyard in the high priest’s house. But we can note various observations about his temptation, denials, shame, and subsequent restoration. The written accounts, in all four gospels no less, do allow the opportunity to note what seems to have happened and relate that to what we can learn from Peter’s momentous mistake. His series of denials seems out of character when Simon Peter is studied before and after his denials.

(1.) Solitary. One might find fault with Peter as he seems to go it all alone after Jesus’ arrest. After all, there he was, all by himself and distant from any support or encouragement he might receive from his fellow disciples. Actually, Peter is not at fault here. The disciples had all fled for places unknown, and Peter remained with the one disciple, John, who wanted to stay with Jesus. John was granted permission to accompany Jesus into the house, while Peter was relegated to the high priest’s courtyard with all the high priest’s servants. He was surrounded by antagonists all by himself without protection from his friends, but it was unavoidable. What else could he have done?

(2.) Lack of Prayer. Peter, along with James and John, were asked by Jesus to accompany Him to the Garden to pray. The three disciples fell asleep at their post while Jesus agonized in prayer with the Father. After finding all three disciples asleep, Jesus singled out Peter for rebuke, and then told him, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38). Just before that word of caution, Jesus had told Peter personally that Satan had asked in particular for Peter’s soul, ‘”that he may sift you as wheat.” Jesus then tenderly said that He would pray for Peter, that his faith would not fail. It is then that Jesus had predicted that Peter would deny Him three times. (Luke22:31-34). It’s clear that there was a lot of spiritual warfare over Peter, the future leader of the new Christian church in Jerusalem. Not only did Jesus predict his denials, but He also said that Peter would return to Jesus and would strengthen the brothers. Could it be that Peter was simply not prayed up enough after his nap in the Garden, and that he was unprepared for Satan’s assault in the courtyard? On the other hand, were it not for Jesus’ prayers of protection over Peter, we may have never heard from Peter again.

(3.)  Overconfidence. Peter had made many strong statements about his belief in and support of Jesus earlier: “Lord, I am ready to go with you, both to prison and to death.” (Luke 22:33); “I will lay down my life for your sake.” (John 13:37); “Even if everyone else falls away, I will not.” (Mark 14:29); “Even if all are made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble.” (Matt. 26:33); “Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you.” (Matt. 26:35). Peter meant well, and surely meant every word, but he overestimated his ability to remain true to Jesus. His spirit was willing, but his flesh was weak, just as Jesus had warned him only hours ago. Perhaps he talked himself into thinking he had the ability within himself to make his promises come true. It wasn’t long before he made all those promises come true at the end of his life.

(4.)  Short Memory. Peter seemed to panic at Jesus’ arrest and questioning before the authorities. He had forgotten the words of Jesus said earlier, on three separate occasions actually, that He would suffer death but then would rise again. The hope of the Resurrection certainly seemed to be the last thing on Peter’s mind during this scene in the courtyard. It seems that Peter also forgot Jesus’ earlier words that very evening, “Without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)). Peter didn’t take those words to heart as he had a monumental weak moment and trusted in his own abilities to withstand stiff opposition and spiritual assault. Peter forgot that he was weak and needed Christ during that time. Apparently, Peter even temporarily forgot Jesus’ prediction that he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed. It wasn’t until Jesus glanced at him that Peter remembered about the rooster crowing and his denials. “And the Lord turned and looked at  Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord” about the denials (Luke 22:61). No wonder Peter went away shamed and brokenhearted, and he wept so bitterly. He betrayed his best friend, he betrayed his Messiah, and he might have even been panicked about losing his salvation if he recalled Jesus words from earlier, “He who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.” (Luke 12:9). Fortunately for Peter, and the rest of us, Jesus is a God of mercy.

(5.)  Fear. It does seem out character for Peter to lose his nerve and become so fearful. He was the first disciple to declare the divinity of Jesus. He was the only disciple bold enough to walk on the water to Christ. He was impulsive sure, but he seemed to be filled with courage as well. Maybe he experienced some of what we all feel if we sense that our life is endangered. Maybe his fear was mixed with doubt upon seeing that Jesus was headed to execution. Maybe his fear was mixed with confusion, unsure about this Man he thought he knew, this Man who would lose his dignity by washing feet, this Man who wouldn’t lift a finger in self-defense. If it was fear that Peter battled with, the battle seemed to be over by the time of Pentecost. He was the first disciple to stand up and go on record as being a follower of Jesus, the first disciple to offer brilliant sermons to the crowds, the boldest disciple in the group as he continued to lead the early Christian movement. Peter’s fear was temporary, to be sure.

(6.) Shame. Peter felt bitter shame to the core of his soul. He denied he ever knew Someone who was his best friend, someone who trusted him for years. After his three denials, Matthew reports that “he went out and wept bitterly.” (Matt. 26:75). Peter wept tears of sorrow and remorse, of profound guilt. The following beach scene after Jesus’ resurrection should be seen in the context of Peter’s deep shame and how Jesus led him to the inner healing he needed so badly.

(7.) Restoration. There at the beach after some fishing (John 21:15-19), Jesus was very intentional about undoing the damage of Peter’s denials. Jesus wonderfully, with insight and wisdom, gave Peter three times to confirm Peter’s love for Him. Did Jesus astutely plan on speaking with Peter with the smoke of the charcoal fire in the air around them? If smell is our strongest sense and what brings our memories to the surface, was the charcoal fire at the beach helpful to bring about Peter’s redemption, reminding Peter of how he needs his relationship with Jesus to be restored? Three times to profess his love, three times to be assured of Jesus’ forgiveness, three times to be restored, not only in Jesus’ eyes, but also in the eyes of Peter himself. Jesus gave Peter the chance to redeem himself through these three questions. Jesus removed the cloud of Peter’s denials, and in the process put the nails in the coffin of Peter’s shame. Jesus helped Peter to silence the crowing of the rooster that surely was blaring in his spirit. Jesus proceeded to display confidence in Peter, revealing that he believed in Peter enough to ask him to be the shepherd of the Christian community soon to develop in Jesus’ absence. Peter said Yes to Jesus… Yes, Jesus, I do love you; yes, Jesus, I will feed your sheep and lead your people. Yes, Jesus, I commit myself to serving you for the rest of my days. This is a profound story of Peter’s redemption.

(8.)  Another Truly, Truly. Immediately after Peter’s restoration and re-commitment to Christ and the fledgling Christian community, Jesus said a rather unsettling thing to Peter, probably privately… Truly, truly, I say to you Peter, when you were younger, you dressed yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you, and carry you where you do not want to go.” (John 21:18). And then John informs the reader that Jesus said this to Peter to signify by what death he would glorify God. This prediction of Peter’s martyrdom by Jesus became true around 64 AD. Peter was arrested by the Roman Emperor Nero and sentenced to death. The executioners wanted to crucify him like they did his Master Jesus, but Peter refused. He didn’t feel he was worthy to die just like Jesus. So they bound him to the cross and hung him upside down, and he died soon thereafter. After Jesus’ prediction of Peter’s death, He then said the same thing to Peter that He said to him three years ago… “Follow me.”

And so at the end of his final letter, 2nd Peter, just before he was martyred, what were Peter’s final thoughts? Growth and Knowledge. Beware false teachers and wicked people, he admonished his readers. Don’t lose your secure footing.  Grow in God’s favor and grace, grow in knowledge of Jesus. And finally, he utters words that are timeless, that all the angels in heaven sing eternally. To God alone belongs all glory. Yes, Peter’s final words were exclamations of adoration and praise. (refer to 2nd Peter 3:17-18).

Peter is a solid representative of a human being, with his fears and his weak moments as well as his courage and redemptive qualities. The Bible doesn’t shy from exposing all of this regarding its historical characters. Peter’s denials are in all four gospels, right out there for all the world to see. Each of us could easily have done the very same thing as Peter in the high priest’s courtyard. If we have, it’s important to remember that Jesus is the God of forgiveness. Jesus is the shame-breaker. Pray that we can learn from Peter and develop long memories that will help us to scorn shame and revel in Jesus’ forgiveness on our road to redemption.