We are all familiar with the passage in the gospels where Peter denies Christ despite his emphatic declaration of loyalty and fidelity to Jesus.
"Peter declared, 'Even if all fall away, I will not.' 'Truly I tell you,' Jesus answered, 'today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.' But Peter insisted emphatically, 'Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.' And all the others said the same." (Mar 14:30 -31).
Peter and the RoosterLet's compare and contrast the rooster with Peter, because in doing so we can learn a valuable spiritual lesson. In his article called
Why Do Roosters Crow on the website Chicken Scratch, Joseph Hudson writes:
“As with a vast majority of seemingly-strange animal behavior, one of the primary motivations for roosters to crow is to attract a mate. While our human ears struggle to detect any nuances between calls, scientists have analyzed the crows of distinct roosters and found that each rooster has a slightly different crow.
Thus, many researchers have concluded that the slight changes between each rooster are used as a method of impressing potential mates and out-gunning competing roosters.
The number of changes is extensive. Many roosters like to introduce a warbling effect into the calls as a sign of complexity and health. Further, the length of the song itself will vary between animals. While a rooster’s crow may seem arbitrary to many listeners, they are playing a distinct and repeatable song.
Depending on the rooster, this repetition may occur as often as every two minutes, or as infrequently as every ten. While the studies have not been wholly conclusive, it appears that hens tend to be more quickly attracted to roosters that exhibit longer and more complex songs.
Beyond the complexity of the call, there is also a much simpler variable: volume. One of the key differences in the crows of different roosters is how long they can become. While not always true, a larger rooster can typically produce a higher maximum volume compared to a smaller specimen. Thus, exhibiting a higher volume is a means by which roosters can brag about their size, strength, and health.
This effect is amplified when multiple roosters are within the hearing range of each other. When placed in the vicinity of another rooster, roosters tend to increase the volume of their crowing. This often results in a kind of competition between the males, resulting in a back-and-forth battle with increasing volume each round.
In extreme instances, agitated roosters have been known to damage their lungs or vocal cords in an attempt to out-shine another rooster. They are liable to become so engrossed in outperforming the other, and winning the affection of a mate, that they forget any self-preservation instincts and overwork themselves. While they typically recover from these episodes, the damage can sometimes be permanent.”
Hudson also states in his article:
“Unlike hens, which are primarily communal and docile animals, roosters are fiercely territorial. Thus, marking their territory is one of the primary reasons why a rooster may crow. In any given community, there will be much fewer roosters than hens. Hens often outnumber their male equivalents by over a hundred to one.
Therefore, roosters are allowed to rule a fairly large range of territory. A typical rooster will lay claim to an area of roughly an acre. It considers this range to be its property and will become disturbed if its land is intruded on by another male bird.
Crowing for territorial reasons takes on two forms. A rooster will often seek to remind other birds in the area that a certain portion of land is its territory. This is generally the function of the ‘alarm clock’ morning crowing that roosters are so well known for. When crowing for this reason, a rooster will attempt to find the highest perch possible.
Normally, this will be a tree or fence post. Then, the rooster will project out into its territory. This call normally resembles its mating song, but with even more embellishments added. In fact, territorial marking will often have the secondary effect of attracting a mate.”
Now consider Peter in the courtyard warming himself among the soldiers with servant girls around. Peter and the soldiers are likened to the roosters and the females are likened to the hens. His protests and denials of being associated with Christ are like the rooster’s crows to mark out its territory. It’s as if Peter is saying, “This is my territory. I do not know Him. I’m not from Galilee.” Just as there is “a kind of competition between the male (roosters), resulting in a back-and-forth battle with increasing volume each round,” likewise, each one of Peter’s denials seemed to increase in intensity like a crescendo.
Consider how “agitated roosters have been known to damage their lungs or vocal cords in an attempt to out-shine another rooster. They are liable to become so engrossed in outperforming the other, and winning the affection of a mate, that they forget any self-preservation instincts and overwork themselves. While they typically recover from these episodes, the damage can sometimes be permanent.” And consider how Peter became so agitated that he hurt himself spiritually in his attempts to prove he was not Christ’s disciple.
In Mark's gospel it states:
"While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him.
'You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,' she said.
But he denied it. 'I don't know or understand what you're talking about,' he said, and went out into the entryway.
When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around,
'This fellow is one of them.' Again he denied it. After a little while, those standing near said to Peter,
'Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.'
He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, 'I don't know this man you're talking about.'
Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: 'Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.' And he broke down and wept."(Mar 14:66-72)
You can clearly see the crescendo of denial that reaches its climax when Peter even called down curses on himself and swore to them that he didn't know the Lord. Like a rooster, who becomes engrossed in outperforming the others, Peter was so caught up in not wanting to be seen before them as a follower of Christ, that he forgot any self-preservation instincts and overworked himself to the point of doing permanent damage to his spirit that could only be healed by the Lord.
Consider how the rooster that night had only crowed once by the time Peter had already denied the Lord three times. Roosters typically crow once every two minutes or as infrequently as every ten minutes. Therefore, the time between the rooster’s two crows that night would have been between two and ten minutes. During that short space of time, Peter had already denied the Lord three times, just as the Lord said he would do. As if Peter was in some sort of competition, he outgunned the crow and got out three vehement denials of Christ in that short space of time before the rooster even had a chance to get out a second crow.
In Matthew, Luke, and John’s gospels, they record the Lord saying, “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown Me three times.” That would have a different meaning than if He had said, "Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times." Roosters start to crow two hours before the onset of light. This is called anticipatory predawn crowing. Therefore if the Lord had said that Peter would disown him three times before the rooster crows today, that would indicate the imminence of Peter's denial of the Lord, which would even occur a couple of hours before dawn; whereas the statement that he would deny the Lord three times before the rooster crowed twice connotes the quickness with which he would deny the Lord three times in such a very short time span.
But whether the Lord said the rooster would crow today or the rooster would crow twice, the analogy between Peter’s denials and the rooster’s crow is still valid. And besides, since Peter likely influenced the writing of Mark’s gospel, it is likely that Mark’s record of what Jesus said about the rooster crowing twice is more accurate than the others, since this was spoken directly by Jesus to Peter. He would probably have a better recollection of it than anyone else, since it involved him personally and had such a big impact on his life.
Either way you look at it, essentially the rooster’s crow is coming from its animal nature and not from anything spiritual. In the same way, Peter’s denials came from the baser instincts of his sinful human nature. It shows that no matter how emphatically Peter boasted about his loyalty and faithfulness to Christ, he was still capable of committing such a damnable sin as disowning the Lord whom he loved. If Peter, who loved the Lord so much and was such a passionate follower of Christ, could do this, how much more the rest of us who follow Jesus!
This was no small thing to disown the Lord. For Jesus had warned, “But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” (Mat 10:33). This indicates that one who disowns Christ after having known the Lord cannot be saved unless he repents and asks forgiveness before he dies. Peter certainly repented and was reinstated by Jesus after his resurrection from the dead.
Watch and Pray!
The one thing that could have kept Peter from denying Christ in the first place was prayer. The Lord had told him to watch and pray in the Garden of Gethsemane lest he fall into temptation. He said, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Mat 26:41). Peter’s spirit was willing to follow the Lord to prison and even to death, but his flesh was weak. Since he didn’t take the time to pray, his spirit remained weak, and when presented with a strong temptation, he fell into it.
The same goes for all of us who follow the Lord as His disciples. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Because of the sinful nature, we are capable of committing damnable sins that can keep us from heaven. That’s why we must be careful to watch and pray so that we do not fall into temptation.
On the other hand, Jesus is our perfect example. He always took the time to pray every day, often very early while it was still dark, and even late at night, or throughout the night. And He did so especially on that fateful night, as the disciples slept, yet He prayed intensely all the way through to victory in the garden, surrendering His will to the will of the Father. And when He was confronted with all the temptations that night brought to Him, including His arrest and mock trial before the high priest, He didn't falter a bit. He remained faithful to the Heavenly Father all throughout that ordeal, even as Peter in contrast to Him was outside disowning Him. He was tempted in every way just as we are, yet was without sin (Heb 4:15). May we all follow in His steps (1 Pet 2:21) by imitating Him and obeying His command to watch and pray so that we do not fall into temptation.
Attribution: All Scripture taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Excerpts from Why Do Roosters Crow by Joseph Hudson taken from Chicken Scratch website, used for educational and commentary purposes only per the Fair Use Act. Image of Peter Denies Christ also used per the Fair Use Act.
Do You Want to Know Him?If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "
Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of
Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission.
www.dmiworld.org. 
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