Dcn Leah Sandwell-Weiss

Dear friends,

In 2019, while in Jerusalem on pilgrimage, I visited the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu, which means cock crow. Located where the house of Annas is traditionally located and where they’ve discovered stairs that may have been walked by Jesus, the location and art resonated with me because we had heard the story of Peter’s reconciliation with Jesus by the Sea of Galilee after the resurrection our first Sunday in Israel.

Today’s Office Lectionary Gospel is the story of Peter’s Denial of Jesus according to John (John 18:15-18, 25-27). The story is in each of the gospels with a few slight variations. The story starts earlier when Peter vows he will never desert Jesus during the Last Supper. Jesus responds by telling Peter that he will deny Jesus three times before the cock crows.

After Jesus is arrested that evening, Peter goes to the house of Annas where Jesus is being interrogated. He’s questioned three times by servants about his affiliation with Jesus and denies him three times. The cock crows and in three of the gospels Peter hears the crowing, remembers what Jesus said, and weeps bitterly about what he did.

John’s version is different: while he mentions that the cock crowed after the third denial of Jesus, he says nothing about Peter’s reaction to hearing it. The impact of this denial is covered in the last chapter of John with the scene at the Sea of Galilee after the resurrection, where Jesus cooks breakfast on the beach for the disciples. Jesus takes Peter aside and asks Peter three times whether he loves him and whether he will “feed my lambs,” “tend my sheep,” and “feed my sheep.” Peter responds yes to the questioning and is reconciled to Jesus.

The above photos are ones I took pictures of paintings depicting the story of Peter’s denial and rehabilitation at the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu.

The first shows the courtyard with a bound Jesus and Peter and a rooster on a post in the background. The second shows Peter praying, while the third shows Peter and Jesus at the shore with baskets of fish and bread and a shepherd’s crook reflecting the reconciliation and rehabilitation of Peter and his new role as shepherd of Jesus’ disciples.

I took the photos to remind me of not just this church, but of the end of the sermon we heard a week before. We went around repeating Jesus and Peter’s words at the shore while looking in another pilgrim’s eyes. Asking someone three times whether they love you and listening carefully to their response can change your life.

—Dcn Leah