A lesson on two trials, and their contrasting outcomes. One is of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself up willingly to be delivered up before the Jewish leaders. He stood faithfully to do the will of the Father. And though no accusation could be justly brought against Him, the leaders slanderously and falsely indicted Him. Peter meanwhile was under a trial of his own; the bystanders outside accused him of being a disciple of Jesus, which was of course true. Yet Peter feared man more than God, and having overestimated his own ability, he faltered in his tri-fold denial of the Lord.
While you have failed the Lord countless times, even as Peter did, if you have placed your faith in Christ alone for salvation, you have a High Priest who has never, and will never fail. We are saved not by our ability to cling to Him, but by His faithfulness to execute His sovereign will and promises, including our being held fast through the fiery trials we face. God uses such tests to humble us and grow us ultimately in Christ-likeness. Since Jesus obeyed the Father perfectly, the judgement we incurred and continue to incur has been laid on His shoulders at the cross. Even the sin of our own denial of Him in our thoughts, words, and deeds, have been paid for.
In light of that truth we can be confident and reassured even through seasons of serious and humiliating failure and backsliding. We fail Him more than we realize, but He never fails us. While we may hide our failures, or even foolishly convince ourselves that they aren't so, God knows all. Sometimes we must be shown our failure in an undeniably way to be humbled to the point where we can finally see what sinners we are.
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