You may find this odd, but I love to hear roosters crow. I might not enjoy them so much if the roosters across the street from us crowed at the break of day, but they don’t. On the rare occasion I get to sleep in, I don’t hear them crow at sunrise. No, these are special roosters. There are now 3 special roosters, and for a while they would crow around 10:30 am. Apparently, these roosters are not early risers, but they are competitive roosters. When one rooster crows, it starts a competition among the three of them. I chuckle when I hear them crowing one after another trying to outdo the last.
““..the rooster will not crow today until you deny three times that you know Me!”
- Jesus”
A rooster crow is very distinctive from any other bird. It’s easily identifiable, and the crow is quite loud. I’ve never heard a rooster whisper a crow. No, roosters want to be heard. They scream out their message.
So when Jesus tells Peter in Luke 22:34, “the rooster will not crow today until you deny three times that you know Me!” (HCSB) – I took note.
First of all, roosters couldn’t tell time nor could he understand when Peter had denied Christ, so God controlled the rooster’s crow. There isn’t anything no matter how small that God isn’t in control of. As a matter of fact, God knew that this day was coming and created the rooster who would crow and draw attention to Peter’s denial.
Second, the rooster’s crow is distinctive above the den of noise that would have been happening in the courtyard that morning, and Peter would not only hear the rooster that morning but for mornings to come.
Then after the morning of the denial, Peter might always associate the crow of the rooster to his denial. Do you have something that reminds you of a time when you were rebelling or sinning? Is there a word, a sound, a song, a place or a person that triggers a memory from your past you wish you didn’t have? Is there something Satan uses to rub your nose in your past or make you feel guilty? Peter did. A rooster’s crow.
Not only did Peter have the sound of the rooster crowing, he would always remember the look on Jesus’ face when they made eye contact as the rooster crowed. Luke 22:61, “Then the Lord turned and looked at Peter. So Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times’.” Did you know that Jesus made eye contact with Peter on the final denial? You know the look on Jesus’ face was not one of condemnation but of compassion, but that might have made it worse for Peter.
In the days to come, Peter had to have been haunted by the sound of the rooster and the look on Jesus’ face. Satan would be sifting Peter as described in Luke 22:31, but Jesus was a step ahead. He had already prayed for Peter. He had prepared and warned Peter. What Peter would need next is redemption and restoration, but that wouldn’t happen for several days. Those had to be some very long days to live through.
In John 21, we read Jesus appears to the disciples for the third time, but it’s the first time we see Peter named in the group. Simon Peter and some of the disciples had returned to their old way of life – fishing. They fished all night without catching anything, but then they were instructed by a man on the shore (Jesus) to cast the net on the other side of the boat. The nets were so full the men got out to help carry it to shore. Peter, on the other hand, swam to shore because he recognized Jesus.
There are some things about redemption and restoration of which to take note. First, it happened in the early morning. Dawn was breaking. When Peter denied Jesus, it was early morning, and the rooster was crowing.
The fish and bread (life-sustaining sustenance) were over a charcoal fire waiting for Peter and the fishermen. Peter was warming himself by a charcoal fire when he denied Christ.
Then there were the words. Simon Peter denied Jesus three times, and Jesus gave Peter three times to claim his devotion and love for Him.
When we wander away from Christ and Satan uses our own personal roosters to remind us of our failures, remember Jesus is ready to redeem our story and restore us.
When we return to an old way of life, remember Jesus will not allow us to stay there. He will call us out.
What once was something associated with death and a severed relationship, Jesus can use to bring life sustaining sustenance to your relationship with Him.
Words once said cannot be unsaid, but restoration can bring power over the words of the past. New words can give direction and purpose for the life Jesus wants you to live.
We all have roosters crowing somewhere in our past. The question is, have you allowed your Savior to redeem you and your story and restore you? If not, there’s no better time than today.