03/18 (Wed) – Mark 14:26–31, 66–72 – Denying Eyes

First Reading: Isaiah 59:1–3, 12–13

L Isaiah laments how Israel has been denying the Lord.

A reading from the 59th chapter of Isaiah.

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.

For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
and our sins testify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
transgressing, and denying the Lord,
and turning back from following our God,
speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8–13

L Paul reminds us that God and His Word can always be trusted.

A reading from the second chapter of Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy.

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself.

Third Reading: Mark 8:27–36

L Jesus commends Peter’s profession of faith but rebukes him for trying to deny what Jesus has just prophesied.

A reading from the eighth chapter of Mark.

And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

And he called to him the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?

Passion: Mark 14:26–31, 66–72

P This Lent, we are looking at the events of our Lord’s Passion through the eyes of some of the people who witnessed it. Today, we echo the brave words of Peter and the disciples (for “they all said the same”), as well as Peter’s denials. Do we also reflect Peter’s remorse, or have we hidden our faults even from ourselves?

The Passion of Our Lord according to St. Mark, the 14th chapter.

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them,

A You will all fall away, for it is written, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.

P Peter said to Him,

C Even though they all fall away, I will not.

A Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.

C (emphatically): If I must die with You, I will not deny You.

P And they all said the same. . . .

P And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it, saying,

C I neither know nor understand what you mean.

P And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear,

C I do not know this man of whom you speak.

P And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him,

A Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.

P And he broke down and wept.