I Remember

Photo above is a statue in Israel representing Peter being questioned by the young servant girl in the courtyard of the high priest. "Non novi illum" means "I do not know him" (Luke 22:5).

These are the stairs leading up to the courtyard of the high priest.

Lord, I was there and I remember.

You took off your robe
Wrapped a towel around your waist
And knelt down to wash our feet.

I remember stating,
“Never shall you wash my feet!”
And hearing you respond,
“If I do not wash you,
you have no part with me.”

I remember saying later
I would lay my life down for you,
Wanting to follow where you were going.

Yet, you said before the cock crows,
I would deny you three times.
“Never,” I thought.
Never would I deny my Master,
My Teacher, My Friend.

Then in the darkness,
I remember hearing myself say,
“I do not know the man.”

As you turned and looked at me,
I recalled your words.
How my heart ached,
How I felt I had failed you.
Bitterly I wept.

Lord, I was there, and I remember.
The pain you suffered,
The mocking you saw,
The rejection, the abuse
Hurled at you in your defenseless state.

I thought life was over
When I looked upon your face
And saw tears in your eyes
As you proclaimed your forgiveness
And breathed your last breath.

Now as I stand in this tomb
Seeing linen wrappings lying there,
I remember the words you spoke
that we didn’t understand,
“They will put me to death and in three days, I will rise again.”

I remember, Lord, I remember.

by Katie Harding