Until we are willing to accept the unpleasant truths of our existence, we rationalize or deny responsibility for our behavior. Thus, refusing to face and accept his cowardice and fear, Peter may, for example, have explained away cowardly acts by focusing on the circumstances. He could have followed the same strategy after his denial of Jesus. Perhaps that is what Jesus anticipated and sought to circumvent by his public prediction of Peter’s denial. But the choice of whether to accept reality and himself was Peter’s and his alone.
