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I am naturally curious about what “today” was like in the lives of the disciples, Mary and Joseph, and the other followers of Jesus.   How did they honor the Sabbath in the shadow of a day that was unlike any other they had experienced before?  Scripture repeatedly says the disciples didn’t get it when Jesus spelled out the plan of His death and resurrection.  So it seems obvious they would be experiencing deep grief and loss today.  Were there any among them that spoke of hope or life?  Whatever was happening, scripture is completely silent.  Not even a single word about this sacred Sabbath.

For today, let’s embrace the silence and become quiet in the presence of God.  Let’s rest as creation did after exerting forces so violent that “…the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.” (Luke 23:45)

As you rest, be sober and vigilant … Resurrection is coming!

Passion Friday has become far more than a brief respite from the rhythm of work in my life.  It is no longer a tepid or timid remembrance of Christ’s willful giving of his life for me (and you!).  It has become a sacredly solemn and deeply meaningful day in my intentional walk through the last week of Jesus’ earthly life.  This is a day when there is no shortage of things to draw from in writing.  The problem becomes more of how to focus.  What event, what person, what detail, what emotion would be of profit to share?

This year, on this day, my mind is fixed on a curtain; a curtain that must have been a “seventh wonder” sort of thing to behold.  After researching it, I can only imagine what it was like.  No vibrant and descriptive words, or skilled artist’s rendering could do it justice, of that I am sure.  I was unable to find a definitive source, but common descriptions note the veil as 40 cubits (60 feet) high and 20 (30 feet) wide, with a thickness of a man’s hand (4 inches).  One particularly vivid description (from the writings of Josephus) noted the curtain was made of “Babylonian tapestry, with embroidery of blue and fine linen, of scarlet also and purple, wrought with marvelous skill  … the scarlet seemed emblematical of fire, the fine linen of the earth, the blue of the air, and the purple of the sea.”

Beyond its awe-inspiring form, it had a sacred function.  It was hung to mark the distinction between the sacred center of the temple and the Holy of Holies.  It was a barrier that only a single person could pass through on single day after a strict and significant ritual of preparation.  On the Day of Atonement, and only on that day, the High Priest entered the dwelling place of God with a sacrifice of blood to make atonement for the sins of the people.  There was a curtain that separated God and man.

The Bible says, And it was the third hour when they crucified him. (Mark 15:25 ESV)  And so began a grueling six-hour period of time when Jesus hung on the cross, suspended by a single spike in each hand and one through both feet.  And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. (Mark 15:33 ESV) … a span of three hours that were unlike any other in eternity past or future.  For three hours Jesus drank from the cup that I believe He was speaking of in the garden the evening before.  The cup that He desperately wanted to be removed; the cup He submitted to because it was the will of his Father.  For three hours God the Son was completely and utterly separated from God the Father.  It makes me wonder if it was during those three hours that  the sins of all for all time were quite literally born in His body.  God cannot look on sin, and for three hours He turned his back on his Son.

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. (Mark 15:34-37 ESV)

In the moment immediately following His final breath, the temple curtain tore in two.  The 60 foot, by 30 foot, by 4 inch thick curtain was ripped as if a piece of paper.  The only force equal to that moment was the redemptive force of the willing death of Jesus.  At that singular moment, the barrier between God and man was forever torn open.  On that one last day of atonement, one single Man walked up to the curtain, tore it in two and left it forever open for us in His wake. My God, my God, what can I possibly say in response to that?!  I think the Bible has an answer…

And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39 ESV)

The veil is gone.  Jesus said, “It is finished!” And it is. Thank you Jesus, for finishing your Father’s work and making a way.  Thank you Jesus, that I have believed, and your sacrifice has once and forever redeemed me.  How about you? Have you believed?  Thank you Jesus, if you have.  If you haven’t, don’t wait another minute!  Call out to Him, and He will answer.

We stand in this place and expectantly wait.  All of creation and God’s Word goes silent after Jesus is taken down from the cross, and the stone is sealed on His tomb.  But it does not stay so.  Resurrection day is coming!

This second post of the day is an estimated timeline of Friday in the last week of Jesus.  It’s being posted this afternoon to draw your attention to the very beginning of the timeline that notes the Passover Seder Jesus shared with his disciples.  It’s something to consider as you sit down to dinner tonight.

I also hope this is helpful as you prepare for bed tonight, wake tomorrow morning and travel through your Friday.

Thursday (our definition of the day)
6:00-11:30pm
Passover Seder – Jesus and his disciples
11:30-1:30am
Garden of Gethsemane

Friday
1:00-1:30am
Confrontation in the garden; Jesus arrested.
1:30-3:00am
Trial 1: Annas, former Jewish High Priest for 16 years; Jesus receives initial physical abuse.
Trial 2: Current Jewish High Priest, Caiaphas, and the Sanhedrin Court; Jesus bloodied by abuse.
3:00-5:00am
Imprisonment at Caiaphas’ palace.
5:00-6:00am
Trial 3: All the Jewish elders, including the High Priest, scribes and whole Sanhedrin. They decide to ask the Roman government to kill Jesus.
6:00-7:00am
Trial 4: Hearing before Roman governor Pilate, who declares, “I find no guilt in this man.”
7:00-7:30am
Trial 5: Hearing before Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great who had jurisdiction over Galilee; Jesus refused to answer any questions so Herod returned him quickly to Pilate.
7:30-8:30am
Trial 6: Pilate repeatedly tried to release Jesus but the Jewish leaders continued to object. Pilate physically tortured and beat Jesus beyond recognition seeking to satisfy the Jewish leaders. However, the Jews still demanded that Jesus be crucified. Pilate resists but eventually gives the order to execute Jesus.
8:30-9:00am
Pilate’s Roman soldiers take Jesus into the court (“Praetorium”) and continue to mock and torture him, including driving the “crown” of thorns into his skull.
9:00am-12:00pm (the “third” hour)
Jesus forced to carry his own cross to Golgotha
Crucifixion
Jesus and the Criminal
12:00-3:00pm (the “sixth” hour)
Darkness covers the land
Jesus hangs on the cross for 3 hours separated from his Father.
3:00pm (the “ninth” hour)
Jesus dies.
Earthquake, temple veil torn in two
Soldier pierces Jesus’ side
before sundown
Jesus is buried.

I love language.  I hold a strong belief in the power of words, and I have a particular affinity for poetic prose.  There is a specific phrase from a single translation of today’s paramount event that makes my heart soar.  In the words of the NIV, Chapter 13 of John’s gospel begins this way …

It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world…

The sun had gone down on Thursday afternoon in the life of Jesus.  What that meant to He and his disciples, was that Friday had just begun.  But in our definition of a day, there were several more hours before our Passion Friday would begin.  The disciples were gathered in the room Jesus had sent a few of them ahead to prepare earlier in the day, and He was about to begin the sacred Seder.

What comes next are some of the most powerful words of the Holy Week narrative.

he now showed them the full extent of his love.
John 13:1b (NIV)

After reading the last word, can’t you just feel yourself swelling with expectation, bracing for what comes next?  Well, here is what comes next …

Jesus gets up from the table, takes off his outer clothes, wraps a towel around his waist, grabs a basin, fills it with water and begins to wash the feet of his disciples.

Wait … hold on … what?!  This is the full extent?  This is love?  Yes and YES … and for all the other questions, YES!  This is a Jesus-sort-of-kingdom moment.  This is the sum total of His last-shall-be-first teaching.  This is the King who was born in a feed trough in a stable.  This is the King who rode into his coronation parade on the back of a young donkey.  This is the King who was anointed by an unnamed woman in the house of a leper.  This is the King who broke the power of sin and conquered death itself by walking the cross road and willingly giving His life as a ransom for ours.

In removing his clothes and taking this posture, Jesus Christ showed us the standard for His kingdom.  To belong, you must become a servant.  When Jesus had finished washing his disciples’ feet and returned to His place at the table, He spoke a strong and clear message to them and to all of us who choose to follow Him…

So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. (John 13:14-15 MSG)

Last year at this time I issued a challenge.  Were you a reader then?  If you were, did you act on the challenge?  I’ll repeat it again this year … Before resurrection day ends, find someone, and wash their feet.  Seriously, do it.  Do it as Jesus did, and in His name.  We don’t still wear sandals as our primary footwear, and our streets are not composed of the same grit and substance as those of the ancient’s. But Jesus’ command was never about dusty roads and dirty feet.  He commanded his disciples and all of us, because He knows how it can change us and make us more like Him.  I can confidently say that it has changed me.

Jesus showed his disciples the full extent of His love.  Will you also show it?

There is little recorded about this “central” day in the last week of Jesus.  Central, in the sense that it is a small point with seemingly little activity that marks the transition of the crescendo of the triumphal entry, temple cleansing and marathon teaching to the descent towards betrayal and crucifixion.  Wednesday in the life of Jesus is a tipping point.  Emphasized in Mark’s language as he begins chapter 14, “It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.”  His words seem to set the stage for the primary action which is soon to come.

The use of that word (central) is also purposeful, as it is illustrative of an interesting literary technique that Mark is known for.  It’s called the sandwich technique and involves the writer taking two smaller, related stories and breaking them up with a larger, seemingly unrelated story.  This larger story usually has big action or significance which would represent the meat in the sandwich.  While the two smaller, related stories act as the bread.  On further analysis, the central story has elements that tie the other stories together and, in a certain sense, create the “sandwich.”

Our two pieces of bread are the silent but substantive nudge that sends the snowball that is the plot to kill Jesus on its way down the hill towards crucifixion.  The religious leaders need a way to get to Jesus, who is seemingly at His peak of popularity.  Judas shows up and in him they find their way.

But before the action goes any further, Mark narrates the story of a significant meal and an unnamed woman.  A story that Jesus declares as central when He says, “And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”  (Mark 14:9 ESV)  This woman did something risky and supremely sacrificial.  We are not told of her motivations in anointing Jesus, but they can’t be anything short of Spirit-led.  She approaches the table as the guests were reclining after dinner.  She breaks open a bottle of highly valuable perfume and pours it over Jesus’ head.  The reaction to her actions was one of shock and anger that Jesus was quick to rebuke.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.”
Mark 14:6 (ESV)

After quoting from the Old Testament text in Deuteronomy 15:11 to remind them that the poor they seemed so worried about would always be with them, while He would not, Jesus said these words…

She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.
Mark 14:8 (ESV)

God knew … Jesus knew … that a criminal’s body was not ceremonially prepared for burial after their death.  God knew that his Son would die a criminal in mans eyes.  God would not allow man to have that say and made a way for a proper anointing.

And I love the words, “She did what she could.”  On this side of eternity, I want my Savior to say those words of me.  Our perpetual offering to our God and Savior should be to do what we can.

For as many years as God allows me to share thoughts with you during Holy Week, I will join the chorus of voices that proclaim what that woman did for her Savior.  May we live broken and poured out in service to God.  And before we stand before Him with the desire to hear “well done, good and faithful servant,” may our Savior say of us, they did what they could.

On this specific day in the final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry, all those who were within earshot went to school.  From the early morning lesson involving the fig tree that Jesus and the disciples passed leaving Bethany until the last lesson of the day centering on a fig tree and His coming again, Jesus is in full-on teaching mode.  And with precious few exceptions, He teaches with story.

Last year on this day, I shared my love for Jesus’ kingdom stories.  You know … the ones that start out, “the kingdom of God is like…” or “the kingdom of Heaven is like…”  In my post, I shared a story I had heard a couple of years earlier that painted a beautiful picture of what I have come to believe the kingdom of God looks like. After writing that post last year, I admit to thinking I wanted to include that story every year.  But how good is God that only a few days later He would gift me my own kingdom story to tell.  It’s a story that I may struggle to tell coherently, because it’s so wide and deep that I might be tempted to run down rabbit holes and lose you.  But it was a gift from Him, so it’s more than worth it to try.

Last year on March 26^th, I was copied on an email from a two-week old friend.  No, my friend was not two weeks old, but rather I had just met him two weeks earlier 🙂  Have you ever had the experience of meeting someone new because you both shared a person in common?  And you happened to both show up at the same place on the same day because of that person, and within minutes of randomly being paired together, you felt and acted like life-long friends?  Yes, well … that was (and still is) my friend Scott and me.

Scott’s email was an invitation prompted by an emotional phone call he had received from a dear friend.  The invitation was to attend a memorial service for a homeless veteran, Sam, at an inner-city Detroit church/mission.  That inner-city Detroit church/mission? … It just happened to be the site of my “same day, same place” meeting with my new friend Scott just two weeks earlier.

Scott provided a link in his email that told Sam’s story, and the desperate search for anyone that might have known him.  The article began like this…

If you knew Sanderious Crocker, please read this.

He died.

He was 67. Folks called him Sam. He was living in poverty in downtown Detroit. A Vietnam veteran who was seriously wounded, he’d been homeless for a while. He struggled with alcohol. Maybe you know this. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you lost touch. Maybe you wanted to.

Whatever the case, you should know that Sam’s body had been sitting at a Detroit morgue for a week before a friend called me and asked whether there was a way to find his family — any family — because a soldier shouldn’t die alone and neglected.

My fifteen year-old son joined me that Friday, and we met up with Scott and a couple of his friends in the parking lot of a local restaurant to share a ride together.  I cannot possibly share all the sacred details of that day, but there is one more important detail to share before I go any further.

I met another new friend in the parking lot that day.  His name was John, our driver for the day.  John, like Scott, was a Vietnam veteran, and I would later learn of the amazing things he was doing to heal both his wounds and those of others via service projects in Vietnam through the D.O.V.E Fund.  John had brought a personal memento from his time in Vietnam, which he felt had significance to where Sam had fought.  He intended to give it to Sam’s family, a very small measure of which had been found as a result of the newspaper article and the power of the internet.  I learned a forever lesson about the power of healing in simple acts of selfless love from John that afternoon.

The trip to the church was short.  As we exited the highway and turned the corner on the street where the church stood, I was completely overwhelmed with what I saw.  Something close to a hundred motorcycles lined the street next to the church, all with American Flags proudly flowing in the breeze behind them.  There was also what seemed like hundreds of people milling around in the street.  I was so moved, I couldn’t speak.

It was an amazing service, with all the ceremony of a military funeral.  I fought back tears as scores of veterans paid their respects walking past Sam’s casket.  There was music, moving words from people who served at the church/mission, and a beautiful message delivered by the current pastor of the church.  Sam was a close friend of the founding pastor and had been a resident at the mission several times over the years.  From the stories that were told, it was apparent that Sam was well-loved, had a happy childhood, a bright future, and fell completely off the grid in returning from Vietnam with a body, mind and life that had been ravaged by his experience in war.

In the couple of days preceding it, I began to feel a prompt to prepare words for the service.  I fought the prompts and struggled with their source and reason.  I didn’t know Sam, and had no earthly idea why I should be prepared to say something at his memorial service.  Yet, in the most ordinary of activities (like mowing the lawn), words began forming in my mind.  Those words found their context and resonance when we turned the corner that afternoon.

What I saw in that formation of motorcycles, and continued to see in the sacred souls who had gathered for that hallowed occasion, was a vivid image of the kingdom of God.  Nameless people from every corner of life simply showed up because a soldier shouldn’t die neglected and alone.

In finding an appropriate spot in the order of service, I chose to be obedient to the prompting of the past few days.  “Sanderious never knew my name, and I was only introduced to his a few days ago.  This section of the service reads, ‘Remarks …. Family and Friends.’  You might be wondering what right I have to be standing here right now.  What I was thinking that motivated me to stand and speak.  I would quickly and confidently answer that although we did not know each other in life, I stand up for Sanderious today because we are brothers in the kingdom of God.  Sam believed in Jesus, and that makes him my brother.”  I went on to share how the images of that day were a loud and clear reminder to me of how we should all act as members of the kingdom in the here and now.  The simple act of showing up for one of our brothers or sisters … it isn’t any more complicated than that.  And with my last few words, I shared how I thought it was divinely fitting that we were all gathered together on Good Friday.  To remember a precious child of God, and what Christ did for him, and us all, in dying on the cross.

I apologize if my narration of this story sounded disjointed, or carried on too long.  I wish you could have experienced it with me!  And I’ll be quick to draw attention away from my own words and actions, because they are not included for the purpose of inserting myself into God’s story.  All the attention and glory goes to the One who made it all possible, and who gifted that day to me, my son and all my brothers and sisters who attended.  All I hope to say, is …

The kingdom of God is like … the memorial service of Sanderious Crocker.

One of the great joys in really reading and experiencing the Bible, is having moments when you are reading along in a familiar passage and suddenly feel compelled to put the Good Book down, sit back, and say or think the words, “It’s like I just read that for the first time!”  Another, is coming together with brothers and sisters around the Word and having someone share what God has spoken into their life and seeing with new eyes a truth of Scripture.  The post today has both of those elements at its source.

Since reading Mark 11:11 like I had just read it for the first time, my view of Monday’s major event in the last week of Jesus has been fixed on the measured and intentional nature of Jesus’ temple cleansing.  To know that He was there the day before and “looked around,” casts a whole new light on what could look like a “reaction” to something Jesus was seeing for the first time.  And while this truth remains a core part of this story, a friend shared something with me during last year’s lent season that has come back up in conversation many times since.

A few weeks ago, I felt a strong leading to talk with Dennis and ask him to consider collaborating with me on today’s post.  Please come together with me around today’s passage in Mark 11 and share in what God has spoken into my friend’s life…

I must confess, whenever I read the story of Jesus’ cleansing the temple, I feel my own heartbeat quicken and the adrenaline pumping in my veins. Jesus is angered and indignant over what is going on in his Father’s house. In my mind I see the tables flying, the coin scattering, the animals scurrying about, and people stepping out of his way. It feels good … “Get ‘em Jesus.” But more recently, I have come to see that I really have missed the whole point! Jesus’ anger and indignation truly is for his Father’s glory, whereas mine is for those who have frustrated my plans or belittled my purposes.

I have also come to see that Jesus’ concern for his Father’s purposes is larger than I had first thought. I see this in His words to crowd around Him when He says “Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? (Mark 11:17)  While Jesus’ actions were showing his devotion to his Father they were also showing his devotion to the love of his Father for all people. You see, the outermost court of the temple was called the court of the Gentiles. This was the place that God had provided for the people who were not allowed in the temple proper, to come and worship God. And many biblical scholars believe this was the site where all this took place. The people of Jesus’ day, the chosen people, were saying in effect as they worshiped God, “we don’t care about you”. This breaks the Father’s heart and, in-turn, the heart of Jesus.

I’d like to be able to end here and send you off with an appropriate biblical quote or a wise snippet, but I can’t. For you see, at times, I have been that money changer. I have set up shop in the court of the Gentiles. I have done that every time I have ignored, put off, or just been indifferent to someone, because I didn’t think they were worth my time or the interruption they would cause as I ran off to worship or serve my God!

But our God is gracious, and loving, and forgiving. What He did that day was an act of love toward those money-changers, those in the temple that bought and sold, those who had forgotten the true purpose of worship. What He did that day was for us. In everything that God says and does, He is redirecting us back to the center, to His purpose, to Himself. He does not want us to get lost in the outward trappings, schedules, and busyness of worship and service. If we are sensitive to His leading, He will help us keep all things in proper order as His love flows through us to the people around us.

So today, as you walk with your God, enjoy all the people who He brings into your courts.  And if after stopping to spend time with someone, you find you didn’t accomplish all that you had planned, it’s okay … God said so!!

“For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere”. Enjoy Him!!

I wonder what the buzz was like on the streets of Jerusalem as dawn broke on the Sunday we find ourselves celebrating today.  I can conjure it in my mind’s eye, but I wonder how close my picture is to what it was really like.  The hopes and dreams of an entire nation were rising to a crescendo.  The King was coming, and no one was going to miss the parade.

We know the “story.”  We have been taught the sequence of events over and over.  We see the starting point and endpoint all at the same time.  We hear today’s triumphant cries of “Hosanna!” echo back “Crucify Him!” only a handful of days later.  What happened?!  It all had to happen.  It was all a part of God’s redemptive plan.  But what happened?!

There are significant details and truths that I can draw from to attempt to answer that question as it relates to “them” and “then.”  The cry of “Hosanna!” … it wasn’t the jubilant, praise-type word I was left thinking it was after being taught the Bible story as a child.  The palm branch … it wasn’t just a natural material in large supply that was commonly waved during a parade-like procession.  The small donkey … it wasn’t a random choice carrying the Messiah into the city that day.

I pause for a minute to make this personal.  I have found myself in this place many times before.  My hopes and dreams or very real needs had risen to a crescendo, and I knew my King was coming.  As beautiful as this Palm Sunday story looked on the flannel graph of my youth, and as important as it is that we take time during Holy Week to experience the details of the events in Jesus’ life, I am more interested in what this means in your life and my life right now.  The Bible is the living and breathing Word of God, and the “then” and them” always speaks to the “us” and “now.”

Can you remember a time when your hopes and dreams or very real needs came to a crescendo and you found yourself running to grab a front row spot to see the King you knew was coming?  What were the words that flowed in the form of thoughts and prayers?  What did you hold onto in the form of expectations of the coming King?  How did He show up?  What did He look like as He traveled through it with you?  What did He do?  Or maybe the better question is what did He not do?

I believe that question is at the heart of the answer to the “what happened?!” I posed above.  In the context of “them” and “then,” I believe it’s as simple as Jesus was not the messiah they expected.  They wanted a conquering hero on a war-horse to deliver them.  What they got was Jesus, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8)

Is it so hard to see why the cries of “Hosanna!” turned to “Crucify Him!” only a few days later?  What is our cry when God shows up in the midst of our hopes and dreams or very real needs, and looks far less like the Savior we want Him to be?

We need a Savior.  The world needs a Savior.  Let the truth of Scripture remind us to see Him and share Him as He is.  Let the work of his Spirit transform us to be like Him.  May we pick up our cross and walk the road with Him and those He has given us to walk beside in this life.  May the question of “what happened?!” be the one others ask us, because they have experienced Him through our decision to follow Him.

In just a few days, the world will turn its attention to Holy Week. Based on your particular spiritual background, you may have very definite feelings about the last days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. You may even hold some traditions very close that cause reflection on the ultimate sacrifice paid for our salvation. To help you reflect, learn, and meditate on the events of Holy Week, one of our team members at Journey onWord, Mark Robb, will take us on a day by day journey of the days leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. His articles will also reflect on the hinge of history – the death, burial and resurrection of the Savior.  It is our hope that your life will be challenged, motivated and changed by spending the week reflecting upon the critical days that changed history.

Today’s article is different. The words aren’t intended to challenge or teach. They are meant as an encouragement to begin preparing your heart and life to journey with us through the very special days of Holy Week. Our readings for next week will remain consistent and focus on Jesus’ words.  We’ll leave Matthew briefly for timely sections of the gospel of Mark’s account of Jesus’ final week on earth.  For your benefit, the following are also offered as additional sections of Scripture that tell the story of Jesus’ final week.

Luke Chapters 22 through 24
John Chapters 12 through 20

We are expectantly waiting for what God has for us as we journey together through Holy Week.

As someone who depends on his phone for both work and pleasure, I must admit that cell phones have been a source of great irritation to me. Several years ago, I dropped (and lost) a phone on Park Avenue in New York City (My daughter was thoroughly amused that I thought I could go back and retrieve it!). Once, I left my phone at an airport in Chattanooga at 4:30 in the morning. I have dropped a cell phone in water (it died), called people countless times without knowing it, and even had a phone die on a trip, at completely the wrong time. I can’t figure out how I can Google, listen to music, check email and talk with a lady name Siri on such a small device.  You may think I’m a cell phone failure, but there is hope (I’ve stopped talking back to Siri)! Yesterday morning, I read and considered another failure. You may have heard of him … His name is Peter.

Often, when reading Matthew chapter twenty-six, the garden of Gethsemane takes center stage. With good reason! Peter’s life is woven among the verses, and not in a flattering way. His weakness abounds and resounds. Talk about failure! Take a glimpse at how bad this chapter was for him.

Matthew 26

…Peter declared that he would never disown Christ.

…Peter and two other disciples were sleeping during a critical time for Christ in Gethsemane.

…When Christ was arrested, Peter reacted with a sword and cut off the ear of Malchus.

…He and the other disciples deserted Christ.

…Before the rooster crowed the morning after his bold declaration, Peter had denied Christ three times.

Matthew 26:75 (MSG)
Just then a rooster crowed. Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and cried and cried and cried.    

Talk about a failure!

Thank goodness Peter’s story did not end with chapter twenty-six. He was restored and used of Christ to dramatically impact the world. Peter preached and 3,000 were saved at Pentecost. God used Peter to open the door of the gospel to the Gentiles. He wrote two epistles in the New Testament. Church history records that he was crucified upside down because he did not feel worthy to be crucified as His Savior was. On one hand, we see his incredible failure. But then we are blessed to see how God can forgive, restore and use someone who is fully devoted to Him.

You may not be as brash as Peter, or as cell phone challenged as me, but I am sure you struggle with failure. Repeatedly, you are reminded of your weaknesses. You may even have some “twenty-six” type chapters in your life. Whether our failures are public or private, they can cause us to lose effectiveness for the Savior. I am here to tell you that God can handle your weakness and failures, and can use them for His good and your growth. Peter could have just pulled back or run away after denying Christ. But for the cause of Christ, and because of God’s incredible grace and love, Peter’s story ended well. No matter how deep and numerous our failures are, our story can end well too.

Tomorrow, next month, and next year, I’ll have some cell phone frustrations. Failure will be part of the story we all write. But it should never be the end of the story. Peter’s life moved beyond chapter twenty-six. Whatever holds you back from effectiveness for Christ can be overcome. Determine that your next chapter will be filled with growing deeper in love with the Father, and with others.

Confess, submit and then live in the freedom of God’s forgiveness, grace and love!

By the way, I wonder what Peter would have done with a cell phone?!