Brief Description of Station 4 and the reason why the secondary images are included
Station 4 – Peter Denies Jesus (Matt 26:58, 69-75; Mk 14:54, 66-72; Lk 22:54-62; Jn 18:15-18, 25-27)
a. Golden Calf (Exodus 32, esp vs 1-8)
b. David’s sorrow over sin with Bathsheba (Psalm 51; 2 Sam 11:1-12:23, esp 12:13-17)
Reason – During the golden calf episode the Israelites denied the Lord, Peter also denied the Lord.
David felt real sorrow after his sins were confronted and so Peter also felt real sorrow for his sin.
Meditation
Peer pressure can be a deadly thing. The crowd is so often wrong. So the crowd was wrong when they demanded Aaron build a golden calf for them to worship. Aaron caved. Peter, when standing in a courtyard filled with the enemies of Jesus, caved also and claimed that he did not know Jesus.
But we are blessed in that we have a Lord who is always more willing to forgive than we are to ask. So David discovered after his sin with Bathsheba was forcibly exposed. What he had done in private was not concealed from the eyes of God.
But we discover one of David’s truly great traits. He repented. David, while certainly flawed, was a man who would honestly repent. Saul, the king before David whom God rejected, always began with rationalizations about why he failed. “It wasn’t my fault,” he would cry. But it was. It always is for all of us. When we cave, when we fail to follow Jesus, it is our fault.
David’s repentance came with bitter tears, in this case. So did Peter’s repentance after he denied his Lord. What a comfort to know that, while we may prove false at times, Jesus is never false towards us. When we repent, he forgives us of all unrighteousness.
O Lord Jesus, we are beset by many temptations to betray you. Sadly, by word, or action, or inaction, we have succumbed. But we are truly sorry for our betrayal, and in sorrow turn to you, knowing that you do forgive and restore us, so that we have again clean hearts and a right relationship with our Lord. Amen.