© 1992 Ann Bendall
© 1992 ANZURA, Australia & New Zealand Urantia Association
by Ann Bendall, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane
Peter loved Jesus so much, how could he have done this? As a child reading the bible, I was so relieved that Jesus knew that Peter was going to deny him three times before the cock crowed on the morn of his crucifixion. I knew that Jesus was capable of foretelling the future and assumed it was because his Father told him. The motive of our Father in revealing Peter’s forthcoming denial, I deduced, was to lessen the disappointment of His beloved Son.
I had all of that sorted out in my mind and arrived at the conclusion that Peter was frightened and a bit of a coward. What a pleasure to be given insight into the functioning of Peter’s mind!
It required the crowing of the cock to bring Peter…
“to his better senses, he had only thought, as he walked up and down the porch to keep warm, how cleverly he had eluded the accusations of the servants, and how he had frustrated their purpose to identify him with Jesus. For the time being, he had only considered that these servants had no moral or legal right thus to question him, and he really congratulated himself over the manner in which he thought he had avoided being identified and possibly subjected to arrest and imprisonment. Not until the cock crowed did it occur to Peter that he had denied his Master. Not untilJesus looked upon him, did he realize that he had failed to live up to his privileges as an ambassador of the kingdom.” (UB 184:2.11)
How amazing is the human intellect which rationalizes thoughts and actions, irrespective of which occurs first, into a satisfactory story which aggrandizes the ego!
After describing the above, the midwayers add a “pearl”.
Religion
Religion
What can religion actually give the people? When a person is actually religious, he knows what he is doing, he knows the meaning of his life and his work, of suffering and of death. He knows what ethical standards and basic norms he needs to follow. And he also knows which community he is spiritually at home. These are the foundation of human life and religion can help provide them.
Hans Kung, Theologian
“Having taken the first step along the path of compromise and least resistance, there was nothing apparent to Peter but to go on with the course of conduct decided upon. It requires a great and noble character, having started out wrong, to turn about and go right. All too often one’s own mind tends to justify continuance in the path of error when once it is entered upon.” (UB 184:2.12)
In telling of Peter’s tragic denial, I ask if there is a parable for myself. How easy it is for us mortals to get onto the path of error. In our innate mental tendency to create order in our existence; to categorize and group situations and people; to seek causes for the effects of our actions and inactions, how many times am I a Peter of the early morning denials. Unlike Peter, I am not blessed with a mental cue by way of connection of the denial to the hearing of the cock crowing. Jesus gave Peter that tip, so as to quickly trigger his mind to the reality of the situation for which he was busily applauding his acumen.
I think maybe I should pray to Jesus to provide me with a cue. I get so sick and tired of spending most of my time on the wrong pathway of life. I truly want to be a great and noble character. I seem to have the innate ability to approach perfection by a process whereby I make every imaginable error and as a last resort, all thanks to the dedication of my Thought Adjuster, finally stumble onto the pathway of righteousness. And then I smile, as I remember that our beloved Creator Son has graced me with the answer to my prayer for a ‘cue’ — he has given me — The URANTIA Book.