The bright pink tractor was spinning around and around, and smoke and steam surrounded it. A crowing rooster came out of the smokestack! When the smoke and steam cleared away, M&M and Gummy Bear saw that they were still in Jerusalem and still in front of the same house. They knew it was the same house because there was a sign in front of the house that said, ‘This is the same house!’
Gummy Bear was excited! He said, “The bright pink tractor must be broken, we did not go anywhere, maybe the paint is confused, I had better fix it!”
Gummy Bear got busy trying to unconfuse the paint on the bright pink tractor, but M&M calmly said, “The bright pink tractor does not have confused paint! I think God wants us to go back into the house and learn something else!
This made sense, so M&M and Gummy Bear went back into the house. The rooster that had come out of the tractor’s smokestack decided to take a nap on the seat of the tractor.
In the upper room of the house, Jesus and His disciples were still sitting at the table. Jesus looked very sad, and the Bible tells us that He said to Simon Peter:
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”
Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you.”
But Jesus said, “Peter, let me tell you something. Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
Peter and the rest of the disciples did not want to believe that they would ever leave Jesus or say that they did not know Him. After talking for a little bit longer, Jesus and His disciples left the upper room of the house and went for a walk. M&M noticed that one of the disciples was missing, Judas Iscariot, was not there!
M&M and Gummy Bear decided to get on the bright pink tractor and follow Jesus and His disciples, but there was a problem! The rooster was still asleep on the seat of the tractor! M&M decided to try to drive the tractor standing up, and M&M was going to sit on the hood and hold onto the smokestack, but that was too hot, so he laid down on the hood and held on!
The disciples and & Jesus went to a public garden of the Mount of Olives. Jesus prayed to His Father in heaven, but the disciples fell asleep. Suddenly a crowd of people and soldiers showed up! They were led by Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ disciples! They arrested Jesus and took Him away for a trial, they wanted to kill Him! The disciples ran away, but then John and Peter quit running and followed the crowd that was taking Jesus away. They stayed far behind the crowd so that they would not get in trouble!
M&M and Gummy Bear drove the bright pink tractor behind John and Peter, they wanted to see what would happen. The rooster was still asleep on the tractor seat. John knew some people at the trial, and he went with them, but Peter stood by a fire to watch what was going on, the Bible tells us what happened:
A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began staring at him. Finally she said, “This man was one of Jesus’ followers!”
But Peter denied it. “Woman,” he said, “I don’t even know him!”
After a while someone else looked at him and said, “You must be one of them!”
“No, man, I’m not!” Peter retorted.
About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them because he is a Galilean, too.”
But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Just then, the rooster on the seat of the bright pink tractor woke up and crowed! The Bible tells us what happens next!
At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.
It was probably the worst moment in Peter’s life! He had just denied that he even knew Jesus. He felt like he had done the worst sin in the history of the world, and he felt like he could never be forgiven. If this story ended like this, it would be one of the saddest stories ever, but there is more to this story!
Instantly the bright pink tractor, M&M, Gummy Bear, and the rooster jumped ahead in time. No one had pushed the bright red button! Nothing like this had happened before. M&M and Gummy Bear knew they should pay close attention.
A short time after Jesus rose from the dead, he met some of His disciples by the Sea of Galilee one morning. Jesus fed them breakfast, and then the Bible tells us what happened after breakfast:
After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”
“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him. Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”
“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said. A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt that Jeus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.”
At that moment, the rooster happened to sit down on the bright red button on the bright pink tractor.
Instantly the bright pink tractor began spinning in circles, smoke and steam surrounded them, a cross came out of the smokestack…
What Gummy Bear, M&M and you can learn from this story:
This story about Peter denying he knew Jesus, and his forgiveness is found in the Bible in Luke 22:31-34 & Luke 22:54-62 & John 21:15-17
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Peter thought he was a strong follower of Jesus, but in a moment of weakness he got so scared that he said three times that he did not even know Jesus. We have all done something like this; in a moment of weakness, we sin and do something that we never would have believed we would ever do! That moment feels awful! We feel that we have messed up our friendship with Jesus forever and want to go away and hide from Jesus!
Peter felt the same way, but Jesus still loved Peter and wanted Peter to know that he could be forgiven! Jesus made a special breakfast that morning for Peter and the disciples who were with him, but the real purpose of that breakfast was to show Peter that he was still loved, and that Jesus wanted to forgive him.
Just like Peter said three times that he did not know Jesus, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Jesus, and gave Peter a job to do. Jesus wants all of us to understand that Jesus loves us and wants to forgive us, no matter what we have done! Jesus wants to restore His friendship with us and give us the freedom to love and serve Him!
In the Bible in I John 1:9 it says:
But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
If you have sinned and are running from Jesus or trying to hide from His love, pray and confess those sins and ask for His forgiveness. He loves you and wants to have a close friendship with you starting right now and going on forever!