04/09/20 Passion Week #3—Peter’s Threefold Denial of Christ: A ton of teenagers and I were on the beach at Daytona. A man was conducting his well-known, “Walk to the Cross,” with us. There were three “life-sized,” heavy wooden crosses. Each of us had to take a turn. The soft sand made footing treacherous; most of the young people stumbled and fell, including my own daughter and the daughter of one of our pastors. As I helped them to their feet and took the cross from them, the guy in charge grabbed me forcefully and yelled, “Leave them alone—everyone needs to own the experience!” I was so mad I could have…

Finally he took the three crosses and, with help of some of the other adult men, stood them up in the sand. He instructed our giant crowd how to behave to reenact the trial and crucifixion scene. He encouraged us to yell nasty things and mock “Jesus”; he said that’s exactly what each of us would have done if we had been there. I was  furious! I declared, under my breath, that I would NEVER have cursed Jesus and mocked Him. A soft voice in my head said, “You’re right, Ed; just like Peter, you would have chickened out and denied knowing Him at all!”

How do you think YOU would have reacted?