Peter's Denial
Notes
Transcript
--- Title Slide
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Intro:
Scenes from Passion Week...
Week leading up to the crucifixion.
Passion - from the Latin for for “suffering”
Last week, we looked at Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper.
In Mark, this is what follow right after Jesus gives the bread and wine.
Scripture Reading (“Please stand…”)
And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.
… skip to v. 53
And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire.
… skip to v. 66
And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”
But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed.
Mark 14:69–70 (ESV)
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.
Mark 14:70–71 (ESV)
And after a little while 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.”
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.
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Pray...
--- Title Slide
Intro:
Intro:
For the witness in a court case -
“Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you give today is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”
I do.
For the bride during her wedding -
“Do you take this man to be your husband,
and do you pledge your entire self to him,
in all love and honor,
in all duty and in service,
in all faithfulness and tenderness,
to live with him and cherish him
according to the ordinance of God
in the holy bond of marriage?”
I do.
Or less formal promises -
“I’ll pay you back....
“That's as good as money. Those are I.O.U.'s.” (Dumb and Dumber)
Or for the good friend...
“I’ve got your back.”
We make promises all the time.
We give people our word.
Then, quite often, we don’t follow through.
Or we break our word.
We make a declaration to God...
3) Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live a life becoming of the followers of Christ?
4) Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?
5) Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the Church and promise to study its purity and peace?
You just took vows that you cannot keep...
You will battle against honoring those vows.
You will not go after them wholeheartedly.
When Our Promises End in Failure
When Our Promises End in Failure
Jesus predicts that Peter and the rest of the disciples will deny him.
Peter is not having it...
(v. 29) “I will not”
(v. 31) “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” (emphatically)
Peter even sections himself away from the other disciples.
“Even though they all fall away.... I will not.”
Jesus, I’m not like these other jokers.
I can see them falling away, but not me.
I would never do that.
App. The second you think, “I would never do that.”
You may want to hit your knees and beg God for his mercy.
In the garden of Gethsemene,
Jesus is arrested...
And they all left him and fled.
When there are details that don’t make any sense or don’t advance the narrative in anyway,
you know this an eyewitness account (Peter’s remembering that night)
And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.
Peter follows, but “at a distance”
And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire.
“Even though they all fall away.... I will not.”
1st Denial
And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”
But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed.
2nd Denial
Mark 14:69–70 (ESV)
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.
3rd Denial
Mark 14:70–71 (ESV)
And after a little while 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.”
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App. We are called to holiness and righteousness.
We promise to live our lives in order to honor our Lord.
Yet, we will often end up failing.
We often go against the very things we promise to do.
Don’t be surprised when you fail...
even after you promised you wouldn’t fail.
So often, we think if we declare even more boldly our future obedience...
that will help.
“I will never deny you.”
“I will honor you with my whole heart.”
Spiritual overconfidence.
“Jesus, I long to serve you. Yet, I know my own heart.”
“Help me.”
App. We all face the trial of being asked about Jesus...
In the world
In our work
In our neighborhood
With our family
Will you be a faithful witness?
We talked about this passage a week ago at small group...
one person made the comment that...
it’s easy to declare faithfulness to Jesus in the group of likeminded people...
but it’s very different when you get into the world.
So someone here is thinking....
“Well, I just won’t make any promises.”
“I won’t give my word at all.”
“Then, I won’t let anyone down.”
But the problem is...
w/o commitments… you can’t have relationships.
With another person
Or with God.
When Our Failures Meet the Promise Keeper
When Our Failures Meet the Promise Keeper
While Peter and the rest of the disciples promise to never deny him,
Jesus promises that they would deny him.
They promise to remain faithful.
He knows they won’t be.
And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
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.
Jesus keeps his word.
Peter and the other disciples don’t.
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What do WE need to hear?
Jesus keeps his word...
Often, we don’t.
A promise breaker who repents...
God makes into a promise keeper.
Now, you have the Gospel of grace on full display.
What saves us?
Is it our promise to God? NO
Is it our keeping of God’s law? NO
Is it how well we hang on to God? NO
Salvation and, subsequently, God’s continued work in our lives...
is based on his faithfulness to us,
NOT our faithfulness to him.
Tim Keller - “The gospel is [that] you depend on his commitment to you,
not your commitment to him.”
While Peter is warming himself by the fire,
Jesus is being spit on and tortured.
While Peter is lying,
Jesus is being lied about.
While Peter is saving is own life,
Jesus is willingly giving his life in order to save those who deny him.
While Peter goes free...
Jesus is condemned.
“Peter goes free because Jesus is condemned.” (Tim Keller)
Jesus takes the place of his people...
so that he can bring us salvation.
He is our substitute.
And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’
“You will all fall away...”
Quote from Zech 13:7.
An Old Testament prophecy about Jesus.
An Old Testament prophecy of the Gospel.
The sheep will scatter when the shepherd is struck down...
Yet, our salvation is rooted in the Shepherd’s grace to welcome those who deny him.
(v. 72) When Peter remembered what Jesus said,
“he broke down and wept.”
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App. Our failures are not the end of the story.
We have a Savior who does not fail.
We have a Savior who overcomes where we fail.
We have a Savior who does not cast us off when we fall away.
In order to live this out,
you pray daily about the propensity to wander and struggle.
“God, I want to honor you, but I seem to continue to dishonor you.”
And we think this disqualifies us...
on the contrary, this qualifies us...
b/c it puts us seeking his power, not resting in our own.
When the Promise Keeper Restores the Promise Breaker
When the Promise Keeper Restores the Promise Breaker
Embedded in Jesus’ words of predicting that Peter and disciples would deny him...
is the most amazing promise.
But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
“But after I am raised up”
I will die, but I will not stay dead.
The resurrection overcomes the grave.
The resurrection overcomes our sinfulness.
“I will go before you to Galilee”
I am not going to cast you off for your denial.
I am going to restore you.
“See you in Galilee.”
One author (Alan Carr)
“His words here promise them restoration and forgiveness on the other side of failure.”
After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.
Sea of Tiberias… another name for the Sea of Galilee.
60 miles north of Jerusalem.
They all go fishing, catch nothing, Jesus tells them to cast the nets again...
Catch a boatload (literally) of fish.
They bring the fish onto ground ground,
and they see a “charcoal fire” (v. 9).
John uses the same phrase to describe the fire
that Peter was warming himself with when he denied Jesus.
Peter denied Jesus 3 times...
Jesus asked Peter 3 times if he loved him.
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”
(This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”
“Truly, truly...” (amen - this is the truth)
John 13:38 (ESV)
Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
John 21:18 (ESV)
Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”
“truly, truly...”
You, Peter, the one who denied me our of fear for your life...
will be the one who will be put to death for me and my name.
Our failure is NOT the end of the story.
The restoring grace of God gets the final word.
“Follow me.”
App. This is the Gospel for ones who fail.
The colossal failure (Peter)...
becomes the leader of the Gospel movement in the early part of Acts.
That is God’s redeeming grace.
He uses the broken (restored by his grace)...
to take his message to the world.
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Close in Prayer
Close in Prayer
Closing Song:
Closing Song:
Benediction:
Benediction:
Extra Stuff:
Extra Stuff: