Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. As this disciple was known to the high priest, he entered the court of the high priest along with Jesus, while Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the maid who kept the door, and brought Peter in. The maid who kept the door said to Peter, "Are not you also one of this man's disciples?" He said, "I am not." John 18:15-17

The simple words, “..you aren’t one of them, too?” Spoken by the servant girl makes one wonder if John (the one known by the high priest) was known by those in the courtyard as a follower of Jesus. If this is true, the courtyard people did not mind having someone who followed Jesus in their midst as they allowed John to come and go freely. This makes Peter’s denial of being Jesus’ apostle more troubling. It was not just fear of persecution that led Peter to deny. Did it come from the human carnal nature of wanting to be accepted by the crowd, did it come from the human nature of wanting to be “his own boss”, did it come from being embarrassed about Jesus? It would definitely be more than just fear of persecution if this were true.

It seems like John was not afraid to be identified with Christ but Peter was. I wonder how much of this is true of us today. I hear some say they don’t share Jesus while at work because they are not allowed to proselytize. Well, what do they mean by “proselytize”? Do they mean guilting them into going back to a certain church? Do they mean badgering them into accepting a certain ethical position of the church? Or do they mean sharing your story of what Christ means in your life? In our western world, I have not found it to mean not sharing about my life in Christ. Our workplace, our secular centres still accept His story, just like the high priest court accepted John knowing he was a follower of Jesus.

Therefore, if I am not sharing Christ with others in the public square or at work, I am like Peter - a follower of Christ in name only. I am ashamed of Him. I am more fearful of what society could do to me than I am true to Christ. And if this be the case, the cock will crow for us some day just as it did for Peter.

O Lord, save us from ourselves, our human tendencies, our human fears, our fallen human nature. Make us winsome in our love for You and passionate in openly sharing an appropriate word of You. May they know I belong to Jesus, just like John was. May I not attempt to cover that fact, just like Peter did.