Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times

 Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came.  And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, "You also were with Jesus of Nazareth."  But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are saying."  And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed.  And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, "This is one of them."  But he denied it again.  And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, "Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it."  Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know this Man of whom you speak!"  A second time the rooster crowed.  Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times."  And when he thought about it, he wept.

 - Mark 14:66-72

Yesterday, we read that after arresting Jesus in the garden at Gethsemane, they led Jesus away to the high priest; and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes.  But Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest.  And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.  Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.  For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree.  Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying, "We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.'"  But not even then did their testimony agree.  And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, "Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?"  But He kept silent and answered nothing.  Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?"  Jesus said, "I am.  And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with clouds of heaven."  Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "What further need do we have of witnesses?  You have heard the blasphemy!  What do you think?"  And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.  Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, "Prophesy!"  And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands.

 Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came.  And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, "You also were with Jesus of Nazareth."  But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are saying."  And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed.  And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, "This is one of them."  But he denied it again.  And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, "Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it."  Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know this Man of whom you speak!"  A second time the rooster crowed.  Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times."  And when he thought about it, he wept.  A classic interpretation of this scene calls it a kind of repetition of the temptation by Eve, the servant girl in the garden prompting Peter by telling him he was one of Jesus' followers.  This "temptation" is reversed in the story of Christ, not only because of the importance of His women followers like Mary Magdalene (who is the first to know of His Resurrection), but also His mother Mary, who accepted the announcement of the angel, the human being who gave birth to Christ and is known -- in the same spirit of her encouragement in John's Gospel for Jesus' first sign at the wedding of Cana -- as the greatest one who prays for the rest of us.  Peter has forgotten Jesus' warning in the Garden.   We remember that Peter swore that he would die with Christ, but here after the rooster crows, it all comes back to him.   His fear overwhelmed not only his intentions but his memory of Christ's words.

In the scene in the garden at Gethsemane, where Peter swears (along with the rest of the apostles) that he would die first with Christ rather than deny him, we take note of his vigorous assertion.  Jesus warned him then that he must pray, because "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Jesus taught then, "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation."    If we look carefully at the Greek word for "weak" we find a word that literally means "without strength."  It gives us the idea that of our own worldly resources, we can't really do that much, we're not really equipped with the kind of strength it takes to resist spiritual temptation.  Here, the temptation is to denial, but it is by succumbing to great fear.  We might surmise that Peter's fear of being identified as one of Christ's followers overwhelms everything else.  Even in front of a servant girl, he fears, and forgets Christ's warnings to him.  It tells us several different things, but first of all Christ's warning to Peter contains the one solution for this problem and a time of great testing or trial:  prayer.  Prayer, then, is the weapon that strengthens us for whatever it is we're called spiritually to do.  There may not be a clear way in this situation by worldly standards; it isn't clear to me what better way Peter may have handled this situation.  Was he supposed to be arrested with Christ?  Or perhaps if he were called upon to stand up and identify himself as a follower of Christ, something marvelous would have come of it.  Jesus' prophesy of Peter's denial comes as a warning and lesson to us as it is, that being alert to ourselves, watching and praying, is essential if we're really to know what we're about, what's being asked of us spiritually in difficult situations.  It's not worldly considerations that matter, but rather what God wants of us.  That's where we need spiritual strength, where our worldly capacities just aren't there.  The strength is in faith, that is the counter to overwhelming fear, and that comes via prayer -- dialogue and relationship to God.  We don't know how Peter "should have" responded. What we do know is that he was forgiven, and that this experience stands as our example for ourselves, for all the rest of us.  We might unwittingly believe that we're supposed to be all things the world seems to demand of us, and we're none of them.  What we want is prayer, strength in faith, where God calls us to go and what God calls us to do.  That's real self-awareness, watchfulness, a prayerful state of mind.  Let us remember when we are in our own battles with fear in uncertainty and chaos, a time of trial.