I’m sitting in the courtyard outside Caiaphas’ house where Peter betrayed Jesus.  What a great place to reflect.

Simon, son of John, was nicknamed Cephas or Petros, the Rock.  In my reading of the Gospels today, I’ve read from Matthew 4 and Mark 1 where Jesus approaches this hardened, tough fisherman and gives him a new job.  More than a new job, Peter is given a new purpose.  For all his faults and inadequacies, somehow Jesus still believed in Peter.  He would make something great out of Peter.

“Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men!”

From being called “the Rock” to being invited to fish for men…  to this place… this moment.  The depths of despair.  Denial.  Disgrace.

This courtyard serves as a powerful reminder.

Even the strongest among us falters in moments of weakness, yet no failure is so great that it pushes us beyond the reach of God’s grace.  We’re all works in progress, under construction, unfinished products.

Jesus wasn’t finished with Peter.  He would become the rock once again.  Jesus would make something great out of his life.

Jesus is never finished with me.  Even when I blow it, like Peter, there is still hope!  I’m never so disgraced that I’m beyond the reach of God’s grace.

Is that a license to sin?  No way!  (Or as the Apostle Paul writes in Romans, “God forbid!”)  Grace is not a license to sin.  It’s a license to live.  It’s a license to love.

Amazing Grace!  My chains are gone!  I’ve been set free!

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