Three is a very unique number. In the same way that every word has a meaning, so too does every number. Through the last fifteen years I have been intrigued by my ever-expanding understanding of the Power of the Wisdom of Three. This power touches each of our lives and many of us don’t take the time to notice the impact this small yet significant number has on our life.
Dating back over six thousand years ago, the number three was given to stand for unity, but not just unity, unified perfection. People understood that when three people were brought together in thought, word and deeds unity was always present. Still today, when two people have opposing beliefs it is a third who is solicited to break the tie. With the same level of accuracy, the number three was thought to signify solutions. Lessons that held three simple concepts were the ones easy to teach, remember and apply: successfully bringing a solution to the problem. That is why, these early learned people, used this unique number to pass down traditions we use today, touching our personal, professional, and spiritual personas.
To illustrate these truths, we need only read the stories of the early Christians written over two thousand years ago; giving meaning to our Holy Week celebrations and the memorials of our Savior.
If you consider only the accounts of the week that made up Jesus’ passion; you will find many uses of the number three. Each application provides us, as well as the people of that time, with either an understanding of unity and / or a solution to problems presented.
One interesting example is the way Jesus accurately predicted that Peter would deny him three times. Peter was a trusted and loyal disciple; so why would he, of all people, deny knowing his honorable friend whom he loved so much; not once, not twice but three times?
This incident greatly exemplifies that we are, at our very core, a self-preserving race. Peter and all the apostles were fearful of their lives after seeing their teacher arrested and abused. He knew that Jesus was the most innocent man he knew and yet he watches him being tormented in ways no one would dare openly submit to. It was Peter’s humanity that was tested three times, not to break him but to unify him with the mission. It was through these three denials that Peter was unified to Christ. In addition, these failures would act to strengthen three entities; Peter, those who would follow him, and the future Church. It was on that Holy Thursday night that Peter came face to face with depth of his Lord’s first commandment. To love our God, our community and finally our self. It is the goal established by our Savior; even when we face the threat of persecution, physical suffering, or mental anguish. Without a doubt, it can be the hardest thing one could ever do.
Unlike Judas, who also denied Jesus three times that week, Peter found the solution in God’s forgiving love. Judas had much more time to reverse his actions, but he chose not to; yet Peter had minutes between his indiscretions. Though Judas did finally repent by giving back the money and confessing that he did a terrible thing; he still was unable to accept the grace of God’s mercy. Instead, he gave up on Jesus; taking his own life in an attempt to ease his own self-inflicted suffering. Peter on the other hand, learned from his three mistakes and became a champion for the world.
For three years Peter experienced the essence of Jesus. After Jesus’ resurrection, Peter was likely one of the first to feel the essence of God and would soon be introduced to the essence of the Holy Spirit. God’s divine Essence magnified through the unified perfection the three individual persons of the Trinity. Just as every person has three humanities; mental, physical and spiritual we have one singular essence. Our mind cannot think one way and have the body and soul act imposingly. What we think becomes our words and then our deeds. Our deeds are the result of the strength of our essence.
When we overcome great struggles like Peter did, our nature becomes a new and powerful essence; felt by all who experience us. We are never the same again. Our essence is magnified in our trinity; our mind, body and soul. God’s and our essence are not distinct from our three personas; instead we become distinguished by the unity of the three.
If this is my last post, I want all to know there was only one purpose for all that I have written; to have made a positive difference in the lives of others.
Anthony “Tony” Boquet, the author of “The Bloodline of Wisdom, The Awakening of a Modern Solutionary”, your source for additional information about the Power of the Wisdom of Three.