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Mark 14:66-72
And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, (67) and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” (68) But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. (69) And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” (70) But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” (71) But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” (72) And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
Seeing Hope In Peter’s Denial
We all need to be careful to not deny Jesus
Peter was warned by Jesus that before the rooster crowed three times, he’d deny knowing Jesus, but Peter emphatically argued to Jesus that he would NEVER do that…ever…that he’d die for Jesus before doing so; and all the disciples said the same. But Peter, a believer in Jesus, and proclaimed Rock on which Jesus would build His church, a leader of the other apostles and writer of epistles, would indeed deny Jesus, just as the Lord said he would…and wept when he realized what he had done. There is a bit of Peter in all of us!
- Satan wants to “…sift believers like wheat.” (Mk. 14:26-31; cf. Lk. 22:31)
What does it mean that Satan wanted to “sift Peter as wheat…?” To “Sift as wheat” is a metaphor, the implication is to “…shake someone apart” or “…break a person down.” Satan wanted to shake Peter’s faith so forcefully that he would fall, proving that God’s faithful servant was lacking. Is Satan trying to sift believers like wheat today? Satan did this work with Job, with Jesus, with Peter. Why wouldn’t he try to destroy the church by doing the same with us?
- 1 Peter 5:8 (The devil) “…prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”
Satan is indeed active today, fighting to destroy the church, and we need to acknowledge and guard against living in the flesh which makes us vulnerable to his attacks.
- Overconfidence invites Satan’s activity (v.54; 66-71)
Satan turns Peter’s strength in the flesh, his overconfidence, against him and uses Peter’s circumstances to strike fear and doubt in him. Peter was outspoken. Peter was bold. Peter was dogmatic. Peter was strong. But Peter is betrayed by these “strengths” — IN HIS OWN PRIDE. In his prideful boast, Peter took the first step in falling away.
So, how did Peter’s pride betray him to Satan’s cunning? Generally, FEAR caused Peter to keep his distance from Jesus, Peter wanted to seem like he was just one of the crowd, not a follower of Jesus and so he sat and associated himself with the same men who beat Jesus. Do we distance ourselves from Jesus? When we distance ourselves from Jesus, it is hard to make a proper stand for Him at the critical time.
With DENIAL #1 Peter chose expediency over truthfulness
(v.67-68) “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus. …I neither know nor understand what you mean…”
Careless responses can destroy our witness. While Jesus stood boldly before His accusers, Peter flippantly denies knowing Him to a servant girl. Perhaps Peter said more than he intended. We need to be careful with our words.
With DENIAL #2 Peter sticks to his lie and tries to play it cool
Its dark, and Peter slipped out, hoping to be unnoticed; are you trying to blend with our culture, go unnoticed? (v.69-70) And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it.
With DENIAL #3 Peter doubles-down to evade danger. (v.70-71) the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.”
For a Jew, making an oath was to call upon God as a witness, in other words, Peter said something like this: “I swear by God that I don’t know this man.” Peter doesn’t even mention Jesus’ name, but he called on God as a witness to his lie.
Emotional outbursts can be deadly, and these moments can fuel our denials of knowing Jesus. It has been said, “If you do not have control over your mouth, you will not have control over your future.” Peter’s emotionally charged self-reliance is obvious! We are deceived if we think that Jesus can be Lord over our lives without also being Lord over our tongues.
How can our strengths be turned against us?
Are you intellectual? Does learning come easy for you? Be careful that your knowledge does not puff you up.
Are you analytical? Be careful! Prideful analysis can lead to “fleshy dogmatism” and a “know it all” mentality. Analyze situations humbly in the Spirit and let God handle details.
Are you full of conviction? Be careful not to be so dogmatic as to throw out compassion.
Are you full of compassion? Be careful to not allow compassion to cloud or erase Biblical principle.
- God’s grace allows for repentance and restoration (v.72)
And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
This is where we begin to find rich blessings and hope in this ugly situation. There is no question that Peter failed the Lord in a huge way. His failure was his fault. Peter was way out of God’s will. Yes, Peter failed God, but he repented, and he was forgiven, and he was restored by the very God he denied.
Wandering/wayward/egregious sinning saint – there is HOPE! Maybe you have walked away from the Lord and denied Him by the words you spoke or, didn’t speak or by the life you have lived. The question is, have you come back to Him? When you do, there is forgiveness and restoration, and God, will you use you again for His glory.
This time in Peter’s life was a time of extreme embarrassment and spiritual pain. Did Peter take anything away from this time of failure; did he really learn any lasting spiritual lessons? Yes, he did.
Peter repented and he was restored and addressed some of the problems that led to his own failure:
- (1 Pet. 5:5-6) He wrote about pride
- (1 Pet. 1:2; 3:1; 4:17) He wrote about disobedience
- (1 Pet. 4:7) He wrote about prayer
- (1 Pet. 3:15; 2 Pet. 3:17) He wrote about compromise
Peter could see Jesus as they spit in His face, as they hit Him, mocked Him and abused Him. Peter was that close to Jesus, and he still failed and denied knowing Him, but if Peter was that close, what about you and me? We are not that close physically to Jesus today, what makes us think we could be immune to failure?
Mark 14:72 And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.