Peter's Lament
Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. “Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Matthew 16:16-23 NKJ
Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Matthew 26:33-34 NKJV
Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.” And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.” But again, he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!” And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.” Then he began to [o]curse and [p]swear, saying, “I do not know the Man! “Immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly. Matthew 26:69-75 NKJV
And he began to run, faster and faster, not caring where he was going, seemingly being pursued by an unknown assailant. His pace slowly exhausted him until he collapsed and could run no more. When his gasps for air returned to normal breathing, he found himself in a forest, pitch black without moonlight. “What have you done! We had everting! The people would have followed you and the Zealots would have joined us. We could have wiped out the Roman garrison because of our sheer numbers. If they sent more legions our nation would have converged upon them. The religious leaders would have switched allegiance quickly to sustain their positions of power. I told you not to go to Jerusalem, we weren’t ready, but you wouldn’t listen and you called me Satan! You thew it all away and now you are going to die and they will get the rest of us too. Come back, you have the power, I’ve watched your miracles, save yourself and us.” Peter began to weep and sob uncontrollably his body shaking, falling to the ground, he screamed “COME BACK, I CAN’T LIVE WITH OUT YOU, PLEASE FORGIVE ME, I’M SORRY FOR WHAT I DID, PLEASE… my friend, my brother.” Peter could no longer speak and he cried until h every tear had drained from his eyes.
Peter could barely see-he was lost. Movement; someone or something was moving in the trees, quickly with stealth, then quiet, movement, quiet, again and again until a sickening rhythm developed, faster and faster. “Who is there, show yourself.” Peter thought he heard laughter, in the distance and also pressed against his face. He swung his sword back and forth slicing through the air, which was becoming thicker, without substance. BLINDING LIGHT-followed by an explosion; lighting had stuck his sword, thrown it from his hand, embedding it up to it’s guard into a nearby tree. Torments of rain began to crash down from the Heaven, so thick, he could not even see his hand in front of his face, the force of the deluge was so powerful, he could not move in any direction-ANOTHER EXPLOSION of immense light. The air suddenly SPLIT apart, like a torn parchment and there appeared 3 winged creatures surrounded by brilliant light and swords of fire. The voice of laughter, now became horrible screams. A sound from the heavens like a massive sheet being torn from top to bottom thundering as an earth quake, the chaos of battle illuminated the now visible landscape. Cold power grasped at him making him feel sick and completely unprotected.” Save me Father, I have sinned the waters of darkness are pulling me under!” He felt a warmth comforting him like a loving hand encasing his body and soul. He could see the flickering light of a fire in the night surround him. Pete knew he was safe and he gently fell to the ground into a peaceful sleep. In the next second, it was morning and he heard a voice from within say. “Peter, walk and find the remaining ten disciples and I will find you.” Peter tried to remove his sword from the tree.” Leave your arrogance, anger and wrath here and do not look back.”