Simon, Simon: Peter as a Picture of the Gospel (Pt. 2)
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We’re going to finish off our little character study of the Apostle Peter today.
Today, we will find Peter at his lowest. Peter was an amazing man. We’ve already seen his boldness and confidence, many times which was used for good and for the glory of God. But we’ve also already seen that the very same gifts that God gave him for good could be used in the flesh for self-serving reasons.
There is a little lesson even in that, and I think it ties into Fathers.
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Father’s, much like Peter, have a gift of influence. The statistics show that the amount of involvement and stability in a child’s life that a Father provides is vital for the child’s success. Fatherlessness is tied undeniably to crime, imprisonment, and a continued pattern of missing or disinterested fatherhood.
If you are a father today, or a grandfather for that matter, God has given you an incredible gift and an incredible role to play. That gift of influence can be used in the flesh to exasperate and push buttons, or it can be used in the Spirit to instruct and bring children and grandchildren up.
Remember, as Jesus told Peter and John, the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
And that brings us back to Peter. That is where we saw Him last week. We saw him in the flesh, we saw him with his sword. We saw him take matters into his own hands. But Peter will sink even a bit lower. Yet, there is incredible hope.
How bold are we in our failures, and how deep does the redemption of Jesus go? Simon Peter’s story preaches a beautiful sermon on these questions.
How bold are we in our failures, and how deep does the redemption of Jesus go? Simon Peter’s story preaches a beautiful sermon on these questions.
Boldness, Weakness, Zealousness
4. Peter’s Sureness - Matt. 26:69-74
4. Peter’s Sureness - Matt. 26:69-74
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed.
Peter’s same boldness and confidence that was displayed in his confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, is displayed here in a different way.
He is very sure, at least in the way he presents himself, but in his sureness, he is in one of his lowest moments in the weakness of his flesh that we ever see him in.
Remember, Just a few hours before this, Jesus had predicted this very event.
Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.
The scene plays out.
Jesus had been taken now before Caiaphas, the high priest, and the council who were set to determine a way to have Jesus put to death.
The amazing thing about this parallel story, because these accounts happen simultaneously, is what Jesus is doing while Peter is outside denying Him
But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Jesus is speaking truth that will prove him guilty of “blasphemy” in the eyes of his accusers. Truth that will confirm them in their search for a guilty verdict. Jesus is confirming his whole ministry and identity. Jesus is going boldly to the end that he came for, obeying His father, fulfilling His will, fulfilling prophecy, speaking truth the whole time.
But Peter, just outside in the courtyard, is in a moment of fleshly weakness, of sinful self, yet he too is fulfilling prophecy, the prophecy that the Lord made of him just hours before.
The servant girls had been watching carefully.
Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed.
The rooster crowed. \
Doing something wrong, hearing the voice of your father.
Peter heard the voice of God the Father on the mount, “Listen to Him.”
The sounding of the rooster’s crow was suddenly as loud as the voice of God Himself. Really, it was the messenger of God Himself, because it confirmed what God had said.
5. Peter’s Sadness - Matt. 26:75
5. Peter’s Sadness - Matt. 26:75
We see Peter, then, no longer being able to stand against what Jesus had told Him. We see Peter’s fleshly confidence and sureness suddenly sink away.
We see the truth of Jesus’ words now tearing down what fortitude Peter had in himself. Because Peter remembered.
Peter remembered, and he weeps. Bitterly.
A weeping because the Lord was right.
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
At this moment, of course, we simply see Peter weeping. But the rest of Peter’s story will tell us that this was a weeping of godly sorrow. It was a weeping of godly realization.
There is a sorrow that continues down the march to death. A sorrow that is sorry for self, sorry for consequences, sorry for fear, or sorry for embarrassment.
But there are tears of godly grief. I believe those were the tears Peter cried in this moment.
I believe in this moment, that Peter was brought back from the strength and resolve of his flesh, and cast back upon the mercy of God. For he realized, the Lord was right, there was no denying it. He was at the end of himself.
Sometimes, the most godly thing we can do is weep. Not that our tears can atone for what was done wrong, they cannot. We do not weep to prove penitence, we do not weep to display an outward sorrow as if that display was in itself redemptive.
Weeping for sorrow doesn’t remove our sin, but weeping does show something. Weeping shows release, a giving in, a realization. Weeping shows loss, relenting.
Yes, sometimes the most godly thing we can do is weep, because we have been brought to the end of ourselves, realizing that the Lord was right, and we fall back on his mercy.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Sometimes weeping is for sadness of loss, loss of a loved one or a friend. Sometimes it is for sadness over the state of affairs in this world. Sadness over sinfulness and brokenness. But sometimes weeping, and mourning, is over our own sin and failures.
And when this weeping is godly sorrow, then this promise of Jesus is true. You shall be comforted.
Because remember, while Peter was denying Jesus, Jesus was marching onward to fulfill his mission. Jesus was speaking into the future, that the Son of Man, who he was and claimed to be, was the one who would return in power and glory.
Yes, there is comfort for Peter, because Peter is not Peter’s redeemer. Jesus is Peter’s redeemer.
6. Peter’s Process - Luke 22:31-32
6. Peter’s Process - Luke 22:31-32
I want to step out of Matthew now for the remainder of our time, because there is more to Peter’s story. Of course, more than we even know and is written, but there is more that we are told.
In Luke’s record of what Jesus said to Peter, foretelling that he would deny him before the rooster crowed, we get another little snippet that gives us insight both into Peter’s process of growth, of transformation, of learning, but it also gives us insight into Peter’s redeemer and Savior.
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
I said this gives insight into Peter’s process of growth and change, and also Peter’s Redeemer. But this also gives a little insight into the Spiritual war that is waging in the world, and in us.
What a remarkable statement. Satan, the enemy, demanded to have Peter. (actually, all of them because it is plural.)
Satan demanded to “sift” Peter and the other disciples like wheat.
The sifting of wheat was a violent shaking and tossing of harvested wheat into the air, and the wind would blow the lighter chaff, the undesirable parts, away from the harvest.
Satan, then, demanded that he might violently shake the disciples, including peter. Of course, Satan’s goal was that they would be chaff, and blow away, and prove to be unfaithful.
What is remarkable here also, is that Jesus does not say, “Satan demanded to have you and sift you, but I said no!”
No, Jesus doesn’t say, “I said no.” He says, “I have prayed for you.”
If this sounds strange, be reminded that this is the same thing that happened to Job.
Satan came to the Lord, and said of Job, “he only serves you and fears you because his life is so good! Because you have blessed him so!” And the Lord allows satan to “sift” Job by taking his wealth, his children, and his own health.
So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
There is a lot going on behind the scenes.
Satan is the enemy, but he is still under the sovereignty of God.
He needs permission to test Job and to sift Peter.
His thorns are used to prove faith in disciples. His sifting is used to strengthen.
The Lord allows this sifting, these thorns, but does not abandon us to Satan’s power and will.
No, what does he do? He prays for us.
but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Yes, Jesus was praying for Peter. Peter was praying for all his disciples. We are even given a glimpse of that prayer.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
Beloved, Peter’s process of sifting, is like Paul’s process of a thorn, which is like Job’s process of trial. The Lord allows these thorns and trials and this sifting, but it is intended to prove faith and strengthen faith. And we are not abandoned to these trials, but the Lord Himself prays for us.
Are you a follower of Christ? Jesus prays for you in your trials. And lest we think that was only something he did for his disciples while he was on the earth, Hebrews tells us otherwise.
Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
What a promise.
He is always making intercession for those who draw near to God through Him, and he is able to save them completely.
And that is why he could say to Peter, “I have prayed for you, and when you are turned again, I have work for you!”
Peter, as confident and bold as he was, would have his fleshly confidence and boldness shaken to the core. He would be sifted.
But more than Peter’s confidence is the Lord’s confidence. I have prayed for you Peter, and when you are turned again, after the sifting, you’re going to come through this, and you are going to strengthen your brothers. I have work for you, because I am faithful, I am steadfast, I will keep you, and I will use you.
7. Peter’s Forgiveness - John 21:15-19
7. Peter’s Forgiveness - John 21:15-19
I want to look at one more scene of Peter in the Gospels, and that is at the end of John’s gospel.
Jesus now has died, been buried, and has been raised again. He has now shown himself alive to his disciples three times.
He appears to them this time after Peter and two other disciples had decided to go fishing, and fished all night, catching nothing. Jesus came, and in a miraculous reminder of his power and confirmation of who he was, simply tells them to cast their net on the other side of the boat.
We know the story.
Later, on the shore, Jesus focuses in on Peter for a moment.
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.
This is Jesus’ prayer proving true.
You see, Jesus prayed for Peter before Satan’s sifting. And Jesus knew that Peter, though sifted and weak in the flesh, would be brought through that sifting.
Jesus also knew Peter’s heart, and he asks him three times here that most important question.
Peter, do you love me?
Peter, do you love me?
Peter, do you love me?
Peter’s final answer tells the whole story. And Jesus doesn’t rebuke him, he doesn’t say “no you don’t!” Jesus says, feed my sheep.
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;
Don’t you think, when Peter wrote that, he must have thought back to this night on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, when Jesus showed Peter a measure of forgiveness and restoration that was unimaginably large?
What a redeemer is this, who can see and even predict our failures, yet who redeems us and sets on his mission for his glory.
8. Peter’s Eyewitness - Mark 13:9-11
8. Peter’s Eyewitness - Mark 13:9-11
“But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
Peter was a witness of the resurrection, but Peter was also a witness of that repentance and forgiveness, because he had seen it for himself, his own sin and failure, and his own restoration.
This has to encourage us, because Peter’s lowest moment in the flesh is as low as a follower of Jesus can be. He denied his very Lord three times.
But for every time he denied him, Jesus asked him on that shore. Peter, do you love me?
Dear one, do you love your lord? The question is not, do you follow perfectly. The question is not, can you follow without stumbling. The question is not, are you the greatest of all those around you.
Do you love your Lord?
If you do, then you too know his forgiveness, his restoration, and you are a witness of these things.
But perhaps you don’t yet love this Lord. Perhaps you are at a place where you’re not sure you could love him, and you’re not sure he could love you.
Do you know that every person who loves Jesus has been first loved by him? And do you know that every person who comes to love Jesus is a person who has received unimaginable forgiveness from Him, because they have failed utterly?
Be encouraged by Peter’s story. Peter was as strong as a person can be, but was proven weak in the flesh. And peter went as low as low can be, but at the bottom he found the mercy of Christ, the faithfulness of Christ, and Peter was redeemed.
At the bottom, Christ is there. He pulls us up.
At the top, Christ is there showing us it was him all along.
In the normal, Christ is there praying for us, holding us up, that our faith might not fail.