Mark 14:27 And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.  Jesus is headed to Calvary.  He will be scourged, beaten with a cat of 9 tails before he even gets there.  The crowd cries crucify him, there he hangs, a crown of thorns on His head, spittle running down his face, with beard plucked out.  His eyes are swollen from where they blindfolded Him and smote Him on the face, saying prophesy who hit thee.  Now there are nails in His hands and in His feet.  Soldiers are gambling for His robe at the foot of the cross.  One may ask, why did He suffer such agony?  The reason is because He knew the sheep would be scattered, but because of His great love they would later be gathered!  Greater love hath no man than this,  that a man would lay down His life!  Peter would 3 times deny Jesus.  But it’s not over!  God would raise up Peter to be his spokesman on the day of Pentecost.   Failure is not final!  Aren’t you glad?  We have all failed our blessed Savior!  If it were me, I would have chosen John, the one who leaned on Jesus’s bosom, and stood at the cross with Mary,  the mother of Jesus.   But the Lord chose Peter.   I believe he knew there were many that could identify with Peter’s failure and our Lord wanted us to know that we can still be used in the gathering of His sheep.  The night Peter denied the Lord,  it broke his heart.  Later, 3,000 would trust Jesus and Peter no doubt is thinking… what a Savior! What mercy! What grace!  Can you believe that our Lord can use someone like me?
Well, if God could pick Peter up, dust him off and use him, guess what?  He can do the same with us!  Have you failed the Lord?
You’re in good company!  It’s Easter time.  Get up, look up, and get involved in the gathering of the sheep.  The enemy this day is still trying to scatter the sheep.  The Savior suffered so that the sheep that were scattered,  could be gathered together with Him. Jesus said in Matthew 12:30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.  Which side are you on?  Amen. Pastor