John 13:36-38
February 27, 2026
John 13:36-38
CONFESS
Our Father in Heaven, we have professed to serve you while replacing you with other things. We have loved physical things more than your gift of grace. We have prized the acceptance of people more than your glory. We have sought satisfaction in the creation while forgetting you, our Creator. We have desired comfort, pleasure, and control more than we have desired relationship with you. Forgive us for the sake of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.
READ & REFLECT
John 13:36-38
36Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” 37Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
Jesus’ clarion call to love is quickly followed by words of foreboding. Peter, ever eager to impress Jesus with his earnestness, insists that he is willing to follow Jesus wherever he goes. He claims that he is willing even to lay down his life for Jesus if necessary.
Have you ever made bold claims regarding your faith? Maybe you have never suggested that you would die for Jesus’ sake, but perhaps you have made lesser promises. How has your commitment to Jesus been tested in the crucible of experience?
Though we, like Peter, may overestimate our own strength, Jesus knows each of our hearts better than we do. Jesus soberly informs Peter that he will deny Jesus three times before the rooster crows. Likewise, none of our failures come as a surprise to Jesus either. As for Peter, so for us, Jesus’ intimate knowledge of our weaknesses provides us with an unexpected comfort. If Jesus knows when and how we will fail, he can prepare the way for our restoration.
In what ways have you let Jesus down, despite your best intentions?
PRAY
Weekly Collect
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations, and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.