What Did Jesus Accomplish On The Cross? - He Is My Justification

It had to feel like a punch in the gut when heard the rooster crow! On three different occasions Peter was asked if he knew Jesus, and three times he denied it. The last time he even cussed Jesus out, as the people in the courtyard stared at him puzzled. Then the crow, and a gaze from the eyes of Jesus. What a colossal failure, what a ruined disciple. It may seem like there is one trial going on in Mark 14, but there are actually two. In one, the man is demonstrated to be innocent, but he ends up condemned. In the other, the man is guilty of that which he is accused, but he goes free. Yet, the story does not end here. The biggest failure becomes the leader of the early Christian movement. And rather than trying to hide the darkness in his life, it becomes the key event that defines him. Why? The answer is that the cross provided Peter with the hope for his failure. He is justified, but not by his works. Rather, Peter is made right and pardoned by something far greater. What did Jesus accomplish on the cross? For Peter, and for us he is our justification.