Following the dinner in the upper room, Jesus and His disciples retreated to one of His favorite places, the Mt. of Olives, across the Kidron Valley, the hill just east of Jerusalem.  He warned the disciples of what was about to happen by quoting Zechariah 13:7. He saw Himself as the Shepherd who would be killed and the disciples as the scattered sheep. Pointedly He told them they would all abandon Him. But, not to worry, for He would be raised again from the dead and would precede them back to Galilee.

Well, this did not go over well with the disciples, especially Peter. He adamantly and categorically rejected the notion. Jesus may be right about the others, but not about Peter. He was the most loyal of all Jesus’ followers, so he thought. He was not one to cower before difficult challenges, his impetuous actions demonstrated that he was fearless.

Without being argumentative, Jesus rejoined that Peter would deny his Master not once, but three times. In other words, Peter’s actions would not be a momentary lapse, which one might easily overlook. Three times meant that he would have an interval after the first and even the second to come to his senses. But, no, Peter’s denial would take place with full awareness of his situation and of himself. It would be a complete event, with no recourse to a singular momentary failure. And it would happen soon, before the morning, when the rooster crowed—less than 12 hours away.

Peter  reiterated his insistence, he would never do that to Jesus. The other disciples joined in. After three years, and leaving all, they would never abandon Jesus, even to the point of death. How tragic was their blindness! It would be the fear of death that would lead them to deny their Master. The cascade of events was about to strike with lightning speed. Yet, the Lord lets them know of their failure ahead of time, so that they will learn of His grace after it all has happened.