Restored After Denying Christ

March 23, 2026

READ JOHN 18:15-18 & 25-27

Jesus had been betrayed by Judas and arrested by the temple police in the Garden of Gethsemane. "Meanwhile Simon Peter was following Jesus, as was another disciple. That disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest; so, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard. But Peter remained standing outside by the door. So, the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the girl who was the doorkeeper and brought Peter in (John 18:15-16).

Peter denied knowing Jesus when asked by a slave girl: "Then the slave girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, ‘You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?’ ‘I am not!’ he said" (vs. 17).

John continues the story, to which he must have been a personal witness. He wrote, "Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, ‘You aren’t one of His disciples too, are you?’ He denied it and said, ‘I am not!"

Immediately after that, Peter denied His Lord a third time. "One of the high priest’s slaves, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, ‘Didn’t I see you with Him in the garden?’ Peter then denied it again. Immediately a rooster crowed" (John 18:26-27).

We might well wonder why Jesus allowed Peter to fail so miserably and deny his Lord three times that night. He was equipping Peter to strengthen his brothers (Luke 22:32). Not only did Peter strengthen the other disciples, but he became the pillar of the early church in Jerusalem, exhorting and training others to follow the Lord Jesus (Acts 2).

Have you ever denied Him? Are you denying Him now? We all have and will mess up. Jesus knows how to get you back on track to fulfill your God given purpose. Allow Him to make that change.

SCRIPTURE READING

LUKE 22:31

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

Satan has you wrong. Jesus will get you right.