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The police had a warrant for a drug dealer named Daron. They caught him as he was leaving home. When they asked his name, he gave them a false name. But they saw the name Daron tattooed on his arm. He denied he was Daron but the police did not believe him, and took him into custody. Jesus’ disciple Peter denied who he was. It happened after soldiers arrested Jesus and took him to the home of Annas. As Peter was sneaking into the gate, the female gatekeeper asked him, “You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?” “No,” he said, “I am not.” Even though he boasted earlier he would never abandon his friend Jesus, he caved in to peer pressure. Later, standing around a fire, someone asked him again, “You’re not one of his disciples, are you?” Again, he denied, saying, “No, I am not,” Then a third person asked him, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?” For a third time, Peter denied it—“Man I don’t even know what you are talking about.” As soon as he said it, a rooster crowed, fulfilling Jesus’ words that before the rooster would crow, Peter would deny him three times. Like Peter, we can be tempted to deny our Lord under pressure. Jesus gave the best antidote when he told his disciples in the Garden: “Watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
