"The Great Pretender" - Matthew 26:69-75 - (March 5, 2023 - 2nd Sunday in Lent)

<p>When learning another language, one uses a dictionary to get the meaning of a word. Sometimes, words are synonymous between languages. For instance <em>nación</em> in Spanish means <em>nation</em> in English. Or, <em>crédito </em>in Spanish means <em>credit </em>in English. They’re similar enough. But there are words that sound the same and mean something totally different. For instance, the Spanish word, <em>embarazada</em> does NOT mean <em>embarrassed </em>in English. It means <em>pregnant</em>. Another word that is similar between English and Spanish is useful in our message today. The word is <em>pretend</em>. In English, of course it means to <em>be false, to be something you’re not. </em>We might think someone is pretending if they say one thing and we see them do another. We may be tempted to say that someone is pretending to be a Christian if they confess Christ, but their lives confess something different. This is something that we relate to during our lives. But <em>pretend </em>in Spanish means intention to do something, to have a goal and works towards it. Now although these words are different between two languages, we can easily use this one word to describe the Apostol Peter. Peter is the Great Pretender. He at once pretends to be faithful, then denies, while his deepest intensions and goal was to remain faithful. What happened to Peter?</p>