Listen
Read
Matthew 26: 69-75 nrsv
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant-girl came
to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he
denied it before all of them, saying, “I do not know what you are
talking about.” When he went out to the porch, another servant-girl
saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus
of Nazareth.” Again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the
man.” After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter,
“Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.”
Then he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know the
man!” At that moment the cock crowed. Then Peter remembered
what Jesus had said: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three
times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
Look
Observe the visual qualities of the image: line, shape, movement, and
texture. How do the visual elements connect to the scripture text?
What emotions emerge for you as you observe the art?
Reflect
“Jesus is denied three times. He is mocked by the number of the
Triune communion; he must feel as if the very holy community has
abandoned him. I imagine this feels like the holiest of rejections.
In the wake of Peter’s denial, the rooster cries out. The rooster’s
crowing reminds me of the image of God as a mother hen protecting
her young under her wing. I wonder if the rooster’s cry is a comfort
to Jesus. I wonder if the sound at once voices the cry of Jesus’ own
anguished heart and also reminds him that, though he is betrayed
and denied, he is not alone.” —Artist Lauren Wright Pittman
Pray
May I resist the urge to deny you and have the courage to identify
with you always. Amen.