Have you ever heard the expression, “Bad things come in threes”? Sometimes it seems that way. Something breaks, maybe one of the appliances in your home, then something else goes wrong; the lawn mower won’t work, the roof starts to leak, or the car breaks down. Someone says, “Bad things come in threes.”
Bad things happen because of life, circumstances, failures, and “just because.” There isn’t always an explanation for why things happen the way they do.
There are many examples of threes in the Bible. Some are good and some are bad. In each case, we can learn a lesson from the circumstance, the outcome, or both.
The first one that comes to my mind is the temptation of Jesus. Three recorded temptations occur in Matthew 4. Here the devil tempted Jesus by asking Him to turn stones into bread, jump off the temple, and bow down and worship him.
Three times Jesus refused the devil, and quoted scripture to prove that what he was asking was against God’s law. Why did it take three times? It took three times so the writer of the Hebrew letter could say, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15 ESV).
Our second example is recorded in the Gospels in the account of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We find Peter sitting by the fire outside the court where Jesus was being tried (John 18).
Peter was accused of being with Jesus, and Peter denied it three times. The last time the scripture tells us that he cursed and swore (i.e., invoked oaths) to say he did not know Jesus.
Just a short time later, Jesus met the disciples after a fishing trip. There He prepared their breakfast and confronted Peter about his denials. Three times He asked Peter if he loved Him. Three times Peter said he did. Why did Jesus ask him the same question three times? I think Jesus was showing Peter that he would again be tested and that He had a job for him to do.
Our third example is found in the book of Acts. A soldier from Caesarea, named Cornelius, saw a vision. In the vision he was told to send men to Joppa and ask for a man named Peter. In Joppa, Peter had his own vision. He saw a sheet descending filled with all kinds of unclean animals, animals that according to the Law of Moses he could not eat.
Three times this sheet came down, and a voice from heaven told him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat” (Acts 10:13). Each time Peter refused, and the sheet left him.
At the end of his vision, the men from Cornelius arrived with the request that Peter accompany them. Peter had them spend the night and then went with them to meet Cornelius, where he taught him the gospel, and Cornelius was baptized.
So why did Peter have to see the vision three times? God needed to impress something on him. Cornelius was a Gentile, and Gentiles had not heard the gospel.
God was about to fulfill a promise He made to Abraham hundreds of years before. “And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you” (Genesis 17:6).
Jesus’ last instructions to the disciples were, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
The apostle, Paul, would also say, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).
So what do we learn from all of this? These are the things I think we can conclude.
- Repeating something tends to confirm it.
- One temptation is hard to resist, but they tend to get easier.
- Repeated affirmations can overcome repeated denials
What if we only got three chances to get it right? We would all fail! But thankfully we have a loving Savior that allows us to fail but restores us when we ask Him in true repentance.
Peter later said, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he care for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (I Peter 5:7-10).
Sandra Oliver