"Under the Word" Video Devotional

this week -- Psalm 8
(viewing time 6:12)

Lectionary Notebook John 20:19-31

Thoughts on the Gospel Reading (abbreviated)

2nd Sunday of Easter, Year A

(See TEXT below John 20:19-31)

May 1, 2011 

The Lectionary Gospel reading for this, the 2nd Sunday of Easter brings to us the upper room and the disciples in hiding, away from the world, living in fear and doubt. They had to be thinking, "OK, what is next?"

Suddenly, the risen Jesus stands among them and offers them peace and then tangible proof that he is alive. What are we to make of this Gospel account of Jesus with his disciples? What does it say to us? Or, said another way, we ask of the text the “who cares” question.

The Question of Fear and Doubt

We need not fear doubt and fear; these usually accompany the thinking person. Questions such as these --  Is this faith thing a true reality? Is it reasonable, lasting? -- are normal. The idea to remember here is that the opposite of faith is not doubt it is unbelief (Os Guinness). 

The Presentation of the Peace of the Christ

The presence of peace is found within the experience of the person of the risen Christ. In this world of woe we are never promised smooth sailing -- quite the opposite. But, what we are promised is the power of Christ’s person, indwelling within us as we navigate the storms and craggy rocks.

The Reception of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit, sometimes called the Spirit of the Christ, is GOD’s presence indwelling within the Christ-believer, and allowing that person to experience Christ’s presence as the wisdom of GOD, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. (1 Corinthians 1:27-31)

The Offer of Life in Jesus' Name

What is offered in the Christ, supremely, is a new life and a new way to live. The new-life offer means that we have been given a new starting place, where our biography is altered and never the same. The new-way-to-live offer presents us with a way to live beyond the self-life -- which is sin’s definition -- toward a life with great fullness, which means we daily invest in others.

John 20:19-31

19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." 24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin ), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." 26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Good Friday Homily, April 22, 2011, Luke 23:46

The Gospels tell us that Jesus uttered seven sayings from the cross of Calvary, with him at the end crying out in a loud voice in the final, seventh saying:

 "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." Having said this, he breathed his last. (Luke 23:46b NRSV)

In this saying we hear the end of the Son of Man; we hear the end of the cross of passion, and we also hear the final result of the Garden Prayer:

39 He came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. 40 When he reached the place, he said to them, "Pray that you may not come into the time of trial." 41 Then he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, knelt down, and prayed, 42 "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done." 43 [Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. 44 In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.] (Luke 22:39-44 NRSV)

He prayed, “Father, not my will but yours,” and at the crucial moment we see he meant his prayer, for on the cross, at the moment of truth, he abandoned himself to the Father’s will and to the fate of all humans -- the experience of death.

Last week during our Passion Sunday Homily we asked the question how  we could possibly come to this kind of spiritual resignation -- not my will but yours be done? I said then that the air is very thin when we enter this kind of discipleship.

And I said further, we only come to this kind of discipleship after the we learn through practice that this kind of investment in following GOD’s will is actually the best path life has to offer.

Jesus knew this and he offers himself in prayer, both in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross of Calvary because GOD’s will for him was sacrosanct -- to holy, to valuable, to important to be offered interference.

It must be the same for us. For, we who now attempt to follow in the Jesus-way, we who name the name of the Christ, we are called to follow him all the way -- denying self, carrying a cross and taking up the narrow, rocky path. 

But, this seems somehow too burdensome, too abstract, too troubling, and frankly just too much in today’s challenged world of family troubles, and lay-offs, and violence and war. We prefer an easier road, maybe even the easy road. But we must never forget, this is our moment; this is the time for our discipleship to truly mean something. To offer ourselves, now, when it is a struggle, when it is an effort, when much is at stake, when it cost us something, that is the key!

Wilfrid Stinissen, in his recent book  Into Your Hands, Father: Abandoning Ourselves to the God Who Loves Us, explains:

In the spiritual life, we need a central idea: something so basic and comprehensive that it encompasses everything else. Surrender to God, abandonment to the One who loves us completely, is that central reality. 

The life of Jesus shows us the centrality of abandonment, for it is truly the beginning and the end of his mission on earth. He goes on to distinguish three degrees or stages in abandonment. 

The first stage consists of accepting and assenting to God's will as it manifests itself in all circumstances of life. 

The second is actively doing God's will at every moment of one's life. 

And, in the third stage, abandonment to God is so complete that one has become a tool in God's hands. At this stage it is no longer I who do God's will, but God who accomplishes his will through me.

This is the message of the cross, this is the message for our discipleship, this is the message of Good Friday -- that even in life’s darkest hour, even when are journey brings us to death’s door, GOD’s will is to be sought;  GOD’s will is to be trusted; GOD’s will is to be embraced...

"Under the Word" Isaiah 61:1-4

Weekly Video Devotional -- Isaiah 61:1-4

Easter Homily 2011, JOHN 20:1-9

Today, that old Charles Wesley Easter hymn rings out in our hearts:

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia! 

Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia! 

Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! 

Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

Today, the shadowed-dirge of Lent expires, revealing the snap of hope and the rousing rejoicing of new life! Today, after the 40 day renunciation of the self-life, which always pounds away so prominently in our hearts, comes the embrace of the promise of a new way to live!

Notice the text. While it was still dark, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning and she discovers the stone has been removed and the body of Jesus is missing! Her first inclination -- tell the others the body was taken. ‚ “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”

Peter and John rush to the grave, Peter "went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place." Then, finally, John "also went in...and he saw and believed."

What if I were to tell you, as provincial as it sounds, that all human history turned on that moment? What if I were to tell you that the backs of death and greed and grief were broken on the cold stone floor of that empty tomb? What if I were to tell you that the violent rebellion of sin was quelled in those empty, blood-stained burial cloths?

St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:

"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (1 Corinthians 15:55-57 NLT) 

Victory! Savor it for a moment. Before raising the inevitable objections, hold tight to the hum of its power -- Death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory? Don't let go, now, not yet, not until the old body of death we are wont to carry is lifted, if only for a moment, giving us temporary relief from the stench. For, you see, there is no stink of death in this tomb; the body is gone!

OK. Go ahead. Now you can let go; now you can raise your hand.

 "I object, your honor! Ever since this Jesus' death there has been an ever growing chaos! Death does have a sting! The grave does seem to have the last word! Violence rules the day and suffering stalks the night."

True. All true, and then some. 

In fact, you haven't told half the story. Death and brutality are open sores, but I submit you haven't really heard the message. Somehow, you haven't picked up the cadence of the good news. Truly, violence rings out. To be sure, starvation and war blight the land, but that is not the only sound. Surely, you hear it? Surely you hear the pulse and rhythm underneath the dirge? Surely you hear the promise of life from the GOD of life?

No? Well, listen again to that passage from 1 Corinthians fifteen, a portion of which I shared a moment ago, only this time I'll extend the quote:

It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die. For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die. When this happens -- when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die -- then at last the Scriptures will come true: "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord! So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. (1 Corinthians 15:52-58 NLT)

Earlier in this same text, St. Paul describes Jesus as the first-fruits of those who have died. (vs.20) He means us to know that what started in the Christ's resurrection will be continued and completed in us. That his resurrection contained within it the promise of ours!

So here's the question; here's that toward which this all points: Will we believe in spite of what we see?  The ending of the Gospel reading says: John "also went in...and he saw and believed." 

John saw the empty bed clothes and the face-napkin off by itself and he understood and he believed.

In the end this is where we finally stand; we either believe because we have met the risen Christ, or we do not believe because we have not. We either believe because we have seen the transformational power of the living, risen Christ for ourselves, within ourselves, or we do not believe because we have experienced no such change.

So, let me now end by declaring to you the good news: Once you've meet the living Christ, by the power of his Spirit, you are offered a new place to stand within this raging sea of grief; you are provided a lifted place from which to get a clear look at the world. This place to stand, the place of the clear look above the raging sea of grief is named hope, the blessed hope of new life and a new way to live.

And this new place to stand, even as the storms of the human condition rage around you and engulf you, will not be the end of you, for they do not have the final word. That word is reserved for the Christ! (Philippians 2:6-11)

Let us end by quoting the old-time hymn, One Day? We'll let it tell the story:

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer,

One day the stone rolled away from the door;

Then He arose, over death He had conquered;

Now is ascended, my Lord evermore.

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming,

One day the skies with His glory will shine;

Wonderful day, my beloved ones bringing;

Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine!

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;

Buried, He carried my sins far away;

Rising, He justified freely forever:

One day He's coming, glorious day!

JOHN 20:1-9

On the first day of the week,

Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,

while it was still dark, 

and saw the stone removed from the tomb.

So she ran and went to Simon Peter 

and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, 

‚ÄúThey have taken the Lord from the tomb, 

and we don’t know where they put him.”

So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.

They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter 

and arrived at the tomb first; 

he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.

When Simon Peter arrived after him, 

he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, 

and the cloth that had covered his head, 

not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.

Then the other disciple also went in, 

the one who had arrived at the tomb first, 

and he saw and believed.

For they did not yet understand the Scripture 

that he had to rise from the dead.

"Under the Word" -- Psalm 105:1-6

Weekly Video Devotional
Psalm 105:1-6

The HighCalling

I am pleased to share that I am part of a blogging community called The High Calling.

The "about" section offers this:

Welcome to TheHighCalling.org, an online magazine and community founded on the belief that God cares about our daily work. On our site, you’ll discover a broad range of articles, interviews, devotionals, and inspirational stories—all specifically created to help you find God in your work, family, and the broader culture. Our writers and bloggers tell engaging stories crafted to encourage you in the high calling of your daily work.

This group writes well, and brings a sense of health and hope to the world from their writings that really encourages me. I have done some exploring, and have found one particular writer to be exceptional. 

Ann Voskamp's A Holy Experience

No doubt there are many more, but this one for sure fits the bill. As I discover other work I will share these as well. 

Please check out the site, and enjoy!  The High Calling

Gethsemane Struggle

Today, I am thinking about Gethsemane and the struggle of Jesus, driven face first into the ground, driven down by the weight of his burdens. 

These thoughts are coming to me because of my struggles with this Sunday’s text from Matthew 26, because it is the one year death anniversary of a six-year old girl from our church, and because of a recent post by Peter Rollins. 

As strange as it sounds this also led me to begin hearing in my head the 1997 Sarah McLachlan song, Angel, from her disc, Surfacing. 

You know the song, a sorrowful lament, which I am suggesting, perhaps, offers us a juxtaposition sound-track of sorts for Jesus’ garden suffering. 

The lyric presents the human condition -- a dark cold hotel room and the endlessness that you fear -- with its accompanying hunger for release and relief and escape...

it’s hard at the end of the day

I need some distraction

Oh beautiful release

Memory seeps from my veins

Let me be empty

And weightless and maybe

I’ll find some peace tonight

O, let memory seep from my veins, let me escape where...

You are pulled from the wreckage

Of your silent reverie

You’re in the arms of the angel

May you find some comfort here

In view here seems to be escape through drugs, but it could be anything, really, anything that promises a movement away from...

the straight line

And everywhere you turn

There’s vultures and thieves at your back

And the storm keeps on twisting

What the sacred texts tell us is that, so distressed was Jesus, he is driven into the ground even as he sweats blood and prays with tears for release from his calling and burden. We are told that indeed angels did minister to him, but only after he finally resigned himself to his own personal human condition -- his own personal dark hotel room -- the cross. So, instead of escaping from the hellish siren of suffering, he moves toward it. That is what was decided in the Garden. 

Rollins writes:

"We see suffering as something that comes to us from the outside and therefore as something that we can protect ourselves from through medication, surgery, prayer, entertainment, worship, relationships etc. But even when we are able to protect ourselves from the suffering that comes from without we cannot protect ourselves from the suffering that bubbles silently within. We may repress it, ignore it, shout at it, bargain with it, but we cannot banish it."

And he ends with:

"It is natural for us to feel this and it is natural for us to want our cup of suffering taken away, but in the Passion we glimpse the possibility that life might only be found when we grip it in both hands and gulp it down… "

I am amazed that Jesus agreed to the cross. I am amazed that he willingly drained the cup of suffering. If we somehow think that Jesus was not afraid, that he was not overcome with dread and anxiety, then I think we somehow miss the power of the Kenosis.

China Police Arrest Churchgoers

URL:  http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2011/April/Beijing-Pol...

Chinese authorities have arrested nearly 200 members of one of the largest unregistered churches in the country, saying they attended an unapproved prayer service.



As many as 169 congregants of Beijing's Shouwang Church were taken into custody Sunday, possibly the biggest crackdown on China's Christians in years.

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/byxcm

The Pastor In Weakness

The ongoing relationship between pastor and people often displays an interesting dynamic. One that is either sick or healthy. 

We expect our pastors to have somehow reached perfection -- they do preach from a holy book, after all, and they do stand before the altar! 

But the truth, of course, is that they have not reached perfection, and they will not. When this is discovered, as it inevitably will be, the congregation has a choice to make. They can either accept the pastor with weakness or they can reject the pastor and move on to find the next one. (I should add that the pastor will have the exact same decision to make as well.)

St. Paul found himself in conflict with the churches in Galatians, and he reminded them of how they had indeed accepted him in all his weakness:  "Surely you remember that I was sick when I first brought you the Good News of Christ.  But even though my sickness was revolting to you, you did not reject me and turn me away. No, you took me in and cared for me as though I were an angel from God or even Christ Jesus himself." (Galatians 4:13-14 NLT) 

Powerful stuff!

If the pastor and people can somehow overcome the initial shock of pastoral weakness, what often happens is the development of a unique friendship that over time pays rich benefits of a deepening relationship in the lives of both pastor and people. For, what can then evolve are realistic expectations and a depth of ministry based upon the flesh-and-blood of a real world brokenness. This is fertile ground for daily conversion.

Woody Allen Quote

"More than any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly." http://amplify.com/u/byv1b

Peter Rollins -- "I Deny The Resurrection"

I Deny the Resurrection from Peter Rollins on Vimeo.

Will Campbell Quote

Will Campbell quote:  "Today we are bombarded with a theology of certitude. I don’t find much biblical support for the stance of “God told me and I’m telling you, and if you don’t believe as I do, you’re doomed.” A sort of “My god can whip your “god” posture. From Abraham, going out by faith not knowing where he was being sent, to Jesus before the cross, beseeching the Father for a better way, there was always more inquiring faith than conceited certainty." http://amplify.com/u/bytvc

Lyvia Roach, RIP @ one year

On Sunday afternoon, April 11, one year ago today, little Lyvia Roach was hit by a car and killed. Lyvia was a loving, smiling girl, the daughter of Tad and Casey Roach, the brother to Carter Roach, and, like her family, she was a member of thirdspeople. (for more go here)

Today, we met at Lyvia's grave to remember and release balloons. We gathered around her mom and dad and brother, and her extended family, a community formed in grief. After others shared their memories of Lyvia, I was asked to share a few thoughts. I read a passage from Romans eight, and then I said:

“So, we gather today to remember, to sorrow, to release the rage in our hearts for the loss of our Lyvia. I’ve often thought, on the day Lyvia was snatched from us, how many other children were taken as well; how many other families lay shattered on the ground? I mean, look around you at all these graves!

So, today let us release the rage and sorrow we have for Lyvia’s passing, if only for a moment. But we should also do so for the many others who are but a “few of the butchered and betrayed and martyred children of the Earth.” (William Stryon)

St. Paul tells us, “Now we see through a glass darkly, but one day we will be able to see clearly.” And when finally we are able to see again; when finally the veil is lifted and we see with the mind of the Christ, we will know the truth.

But now, now we see only the first rays of daylight reflected in the murky skyline. Now, we see that all this was actually not judgment day, after all, only one more more morning, a new morning. A new “morning: excellent and fair.” (William Stryon)

Lectionary Notebook Matthew 26:31-46, 69-75

Thoughts on the Gospel Reading

Passion Sunday, Year A
(See TEXT below Matthew 26:31-46, 69-75)
April 17, 2011 

THE Gospel Lectionary reading for today, Passion Sunday, is an extended passage from St. Matthew's Gospel, only a small portion of which we will examine today. 

I have chosen these pericopes because they offer us a deep forage into a Christian discipleship based upon a solid rendering of the human condition. Said another way, these verses force us to cross over the line from an idealize psudeo-discipleship to what it means to attempt to follow Jesus in a flesh and blood world of failure and loss. Or, said still another way, these renderings from St. Matthew give us a solid snapshot of the dire humanness of the disciples and Jesus' response to his own humanity and to theirs.

To get underneath the skin of these texts I will examine three difficult questions which I would ask you to bravely answer within your own heart. All these questions are impertinent, for they exceed the bounds of sermon propriety, and so I apologize beforehand.

#1 -- HAS YOUR FAITH EVER BEEN SHAKEN?

The first question: Have you ever had your faith shaken? Have you ever had a time when what you thought you believed was so shattered that all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put the beliefs back together again?

The TEXT reads: "Then Jesus said to them, 'This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed; but after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee.'”

Put simply: The disciples' own faith was about to be shaken to the core because the one in whom they placed that faith was about to be killed by the State. And this, of course, is most generally how our faith is shaken, when the one whom we trust, the one in whom we believe for some reason falls or fails.

When life becomes unhinged, when things turn and cease going our way, when tragedy strikes our lives, when a trusted friend or mentor fails, suddenly the systems of certainty we trusted are pulled from us and we are seemingly left alone. Here, the questions are all boiled down to the very most pointed decision: Will I continue to have faith in GOD, or not?

It is important to remember two things about the experience of a shaken faith. First, a shaken faith is a time of testing that need not ultimately end in our own complete failure. That is, a crisis such as this can eventually lead to a strengthening of resolve within the center of our faith, if we so choose. 

Second, a shaken faith clearly offers new a perspective, allowing us to jettison what may now be seen as dodgy beliefs and understandings. That is, a crisis such as this can strip away innocuous mindsets that are bloated or wrong-headed, leaving only the base essentials. And this gift of a toughened clarity is the real basis for moving forward to a deeper discipleship.

#2 -- HAVE YOUR EVER PRAYED AND GOTTEN "NO" FOR YOUR TROUBLE?

The second question: Have you ever prayed and gotten "NO" for your trouble? Of course you have. How many times have you taken your burden to the LORD, asking for relief or deliverance, only to be told in your soul that what is there confronting you must be experienced, that you must walk through that particular death valley?

The text reads: He [Jesus] advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.”

It may be of some comfort that Jesus himself had this as a life experience, but only moderately so because when we ourselves are in the fire it matters very little what others have thought or said or done, for now it is our pain, our grief, our loss. 

Still, Jesus is here the modeled response to a "NO" answer: "yet, not as I will, but as you will." The question is how do we get to this kind of spiritual resignation? I must say, the air is very thin when we enter this kind of discipleship. 

For the Christian disciple this kind of resignation comes only after the continuing (life-long) investment and practice of GOD's will as found in the Jesus-way. For, what is discovered only after the practice of this kind of investment is that to follow the Christ is actually the best path life has to offer.

Said another way, to know GOD's will and to do GOD's will, this is true discipleship. But we would do well to remember that this kind of discipleship involves denying self, carrying a cross and following a narrow way. Which leads to the final question.

# 3 -- HAVE YOU EVER BETRAYED THE LORD?

The final question is the most difficult to hear: Have you ever betrayed the LORD? Have you ever turned your back on the promises you made? Have you ever denied him to others? Have you ever broken faith with him?

The text reads: Then Jesus said to them, “This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed; but after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him in reply, “Though all may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be.” Jesus said to him, “Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him,  “Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you.” And all the disciples spoke likewise.

Initially, this question reminds us that to follow Jesus as an informed disciple, as opposed to a mere onlooker, means we have actually counted what that discipleship would cost us. 

To this end there is a powerful passage from St. Luke's Gospel, chapter fourteen, that illustrates what I mean. Great crowds are following Jesus, which would eventually come to be the measure of success in the Western church, but for Jesus it was a cause for concern and confrontation:

"Great crowds were following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, "If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters -- yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple." (vss. 25-26)

It's like he is saying, "Now, listen all you people! You don't understand! So let me explain what you are seeing. To follow me it costs you everything! It costs your most precious possession -- your future! So, if you can't give that for the Kingdom, turn around now!"

Sadly, for some of us this was never explained upfront. We only learned afterward the cost of the Jesus-way. This fact alone can lead to a life-long struggle with faithfulness to the LORD and questions of loyalty and betrayal.

The thing to remember here concerning the question of betrayal is that Jesus predicts the disciples shaken faith and their future failure, especially Peter's. He offers this prediction as a warning, but a warning that includes a promise: "but after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee..." 

This is tremendous comfort. Jesus lets his men know where he will be after their failure! Far from writing them off, he accepts them in their failure and their shaken faith. He understands that, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak," and he recognizes that intention does not always produce follow-through. 

The LORD's goal for the betrayer, for the failure, is restoration and return to fellowship. We probably could not have this as our conclusion were it not for St. Peter, who betrayed the LORD to his face (Luke 22:61), but whom the LORD restored to himself in spite of the betrayal (John 21:15-17)

This story of Peter reminds us of the most important truth of all -- within the heart of the LORD is a love that is so much stronger than our failures or successes. The lesson of the betrayer is that GOD does not love us more when we succeed and GOD does not love us less when we fail. GOD loves us because GOD loves us, the reason for the wonder of his love lies deeply rooted within himself. Can there be any more important fact?

Matthew 26:31-46, 69-75

Then Jesus said to them,
“This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken,
for it is written:
I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed;
but after I have been raised up,
I shall go before you to Galilee.”
Peter said to him in reply,
“Though all may have their faith in you shaken,
mine will never be.”
Jesus said to him,
“Amen, I say to you,
this very night before the cock crows,
you will deny me three times.”
Peter said to him,
“Even though I should have to die with you,
I will not deny you.”
And all the disciples spoke likewise.

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane,
and he said to his disciples,
“Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,
and began to feel sorrow and distress.
Then he said to them,
“My soul is sorrowful even to death.
Remain here and keep watch with me.”
He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying,
“My Father, if it is possible,
let this cup pass from me;
yet, not as I will, but as you will.”
When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep.
He said to Peter,
“So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?
Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again,
“My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass
without my drinking it, your will be done!”
Then he returned once more and found them asleep,
for they could not keep their eyes open.
He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time,
saying the same thing again.
Then he returned to his disciples and said to them,
“Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?
Behold, the hour is at hand
when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.
Get up, let us go.
Look, my betrayer is at hand.”

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard.
One of the maids came over to him and said,
“You too were with Jesus the Galilean.”
But he denied it in front of everyone, saying,
“I do not know what you are talking about!”
As he went out to the gate, another girl saw him
and said to those who were there,
“This man was with Jesus the Nazorean.”
Again he denied it with an oath,
“I do not know the man!”
A little later the bystanders came over and said to Peter,
“Surely you too are one of them;
even your speech gives you away.”
At that he began to curse and to swear,
“I do not know the man.”
And immediately a cock crowed.
Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken:
“Before the cock crows you will deny me three times.”
He went out and began to weep bitterly.