Experience Easter: Joining Jesus’ JourneySample

Have you ever looked across a busy room and made eye contact with someone you know very well, and you both instantly are thinking the same thing?

Maybe a song comes on and you both share the same memory with it. 

Maybe someone says something that you both have an opinion about.

The cry of the rooster was a moment like that for Jesus and Peter.

Peter followed Jesus after He was arrested, but we read that he chose to keep his distance. It is not likely that Jesus would have been able to hear Peter’s three conversations. When the rooster crowed, Jesus and Peter suddenly made eye contact across what must have been a crowded courtyard. Perhaps Jesus was looking around desperately for a familiar face in His time of vulnerability - He was being questioned by the high priest at the time. Perhaps hearing the rooster crow, He looked up hoping to see Peter’s face as strong, faithful and committed. 

As you look at the painting, what emotions do you feel? It’s ominous, it’s dark and even a bit frightening. In a way, we are looking into Peter’s headspace - maybe catching a glimpse of what Jesus saw as He locked eyes with Peter across that yard.

We see the artist has placed a huge emphasis on the rooster, it is oversized and dominating. This was a pivotal moment for Peter and Jesus, haunting Peter for a long time to come. Would he remember this devastation every time a rooster crowed - which was at least once a day for him?

Look at Peter’s body language. What is he thinking? What is he feeling? The fact that the artist has included the cross already, even though Jesus hadn’t yet been crucified, suggests that maybe Peter has finally realised that everything Jesus said is actually going to happen. It’s more than just Peter’s denial that has been made a reality. Jesus was right all along, and He is going to die. 

1. Imagine you’re in Jesus’s shoes.

When you see Peter start crying, you know immediately what has happened.

How does it feel? 

Would you have felt a deep sadness, or once again abandoned? 

Would you have felt desperately sorry for Peter, knowing the guilt he must feel?

Where we would have felt angry, what would Jesus have felt?

Prayer:

Jesus, there are moments in my life that I still think about and feel ashamed. It sometimes feels like something is hanging over me, that I can’t shake. As I think of this, I look to You. You see me, and know everything about me, even my deepest struggles. As we meet in this moment, both knowing the truth that lies between us, I choose to stay in Your presence. I don’t want to run away from the truth in Your eyes, knowing that Your love and grace can set me free from my mistakes. Thank You for Your grace, Jesus. I don’t want to follow You from a distance, but up close. 

Amen.