The Betrayal of our Denial

Our passage today requires context, look at Peter’s earlier protest that he would never betray Jesus. in verses 33–35:

Peter’s Bold Confession

Matthew 26:30–35 ESV

30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 33 Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.

It’s dangerous telling people what you’ll never do. Parents frequently have this problem: people who say, “I’ll never let my kid play with that toy,” “Say things like that,” or “Spend that much time watching TV,” tend to eat their words later.

We rarely know how we will respond to specific scenarios, and in our pride, we can think we will respond with much greater wisdom and grace than we will.

Matthew 26:69–75 ESV

69 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.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” 71 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.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” 73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74 Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Jesus tells his disciples that they will deny him, and Peter says, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus then says words Peter never forgot: Peter would deny him three times before the rooster crows. Peter responds with even more enthusiasm: “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” We should all be wary of overestimating our faithfulness.

This passage strongly contrasts Peter’s response to mild difficulty and minor threat with Jesus’s response to severe suffering and risk. “At the very time, Jesus stands before Caiaphas and makes a bold confession, Peter caves in before a serving girl. Peter’s three denials under pressure are the reverse image of Jesus in Gethsemane.

Three times he petitions God to be spared the trials ahead; three times he stands fast in his faithfulness to God and God’s will regardless of the outcome”. While Jesus is holding fast before influential religious and political leaders, Peter denies Jesus when a servant girl (whose occupation and gender made her low on the social ladder) asks him a question. Each of Peter’s denials increases in significance.

Peter appears to be fulfilling his confessed promise of going to His death for Jesus. In the garden when Jesus was being placed under arrest Peter drew his sword and cut off one of the soldiers named Malchus ears.

This may seem like an incidental part of the nights events however, it sets up what will ensue as Peter under the cloak of darkness begins to follow Jesus to his trial before Caiaphas.

Progression of the Denial

1st Denial Courtyard: A servant girl came up and made the statement, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean. He denied it by saying I do not know what you are discussing. Notice that this he professed before them all. Here, Peter uses more evasive language.

When do we use a more evasive language in our denial instead of outright denying Jesus Christ in our lives. Perhaps we say, “Well I’m not all that religious,” or, “I believe all our beliefs are similar in nature.”

2nd Denial retreated to the entrance: another servant girl (Mark says it was the same girl, Matthew indicates it was another). She saw him and told the bystanders this man was with Jesus of Nazareth; again, he denied him but with a stronger statement of an oath: “i do not now the man.”

Apparently the first confrontation made Peter uncomfortable enough that he retreated from the warmth of the fire to the front gate. Certainly it was an area where people might be gathering and he could pick up some gossip on what has happened to Jesus.

Notice that this girl does speak to Peter directly but those who were standing nearby. Notice that there is still not crime he is being accused of other than associating with Jesus.

3rd Denial: The bystanders who heard the second girl Called him out for his accent, which betrayed and gave away that he was one of Jesus' followers. Now, Peter invokes a curse on himself if he lies about not knowing Jesus.

The crowd that came at Peter now was grasping for straws in the fact that they now are questioning his accent which had no bearing on whether he was one of Jesus followers or not.

We Have all denied Christ

The very nature of our sin results from humanity's denial of Christ and His sovereign rule, reign, and Lordship over our lives.

Remember that Peter is the leader of this rag-tag apostolic band and is the one whom Jesus proclaimed He would build His church upon.

Why would Peter Deny Jesus?

We have nothing to indicate that Peter was in any immediate danger. Even after cutting off the soldiers ear in the garden their appears to be no repercussion towards him.

But, with Jesus now securely in the hands of the ones who sought His execution for some reason Peter thought that this was no time for taking risks. He made sure that His safety was secure by denying any connection with Jesus.

It is remarkable that the denial is mentioned in all four gospels. When the gospels were written Peter was regarded as the leading apostle, and leader of the church. It would have been easy to pass over this moment of weakness in Peters life. However, it is mentioned in all four of the gospels in our Bibles.

The church undoubtedly knew too that he had been forgiven and restored by Jesus.

There are 2 things to take Note:

1). The fact that the New Testament writes about such failures in its heroes is a remarkable testimony to its reliability.

2). This story must have originated from Peter himself. It takes a big man to admit his failure and be willing to have it recorded for all of history to see. (Matthew is following Mark's account closely. Mark was Peter's interpreter, and there is much evidence to determine that much of Mark’s writing comes from Peter.)

1. Why is Confession Necessary for the Believer?

Anonymous Online Confessions Trend Up in Popularity A trend continues to take place in the online world of anonymity. Several websites offer the opportunity to air one's darkest confessions. Visitors put into words the very thing they have spent a lifetime wanting no one to know about themselves.

While visiting, they can also read the long-hidden confessions of others, and recognize a part of humanity that is often as obscured as their own secrets—namely, I am not the only one with a mask, a conflicted heart, a hidden skeleton. "Every single person has at least one secret that would break your heart," one site reads.

"If we could just remember this, I think there would be a lot more compassion and tolerance in the world." Elsewhere, one of these sites made news when one of its anonymous users posted a cryptic message seemingly confessing to murder, catching the attention of Chicago Police.

"The invitation to emerge from our darkest failings, lies, and secrets is not an invitation to dwell in our own impoverishment but rather a summons to light, reconciliation, community, and true humanity.

The unique message of Jesus is that there is no reason to hide. Before we devised plans to improve our images or learned to pretend with masks and swap for better identities, he saw who we were and was determined to approach us regardless.

Before we found a way to conceal our many failings or even weighed the possibilities of unlocking our darkest secrets, God came near and called us out of obscurity by name."

*We confess Him when we believe.

Paul reminds us in Romans 10:10 that it is with the heart that we believe and are justified and with our mouth that we confess and are saved.

There is not a single person in this room this morning that is saved apart from making a confession with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord.

This however, is not necessarily a public confession we make. This confession is made many times apart from the public arena.

*We confess Him when we profess Him before men.

It was not that Peter had not yet confessed Jesus before men; it was the moment of the darkest hour in human history when Jesus confessed that He was Christ, and Peter disavowed himself as one of Jesus' followers.

We have all faced a moment of weakness when called to confess to Christ boldly. We must look ourselves in the mirror before we are too hard on Peter. Have you ever confessed Jesus Christ as Lord at your workplace, in your social circles, at the gym, or in your places of leisure?

It is not uncommon for me to hear Christians say to the effect that “what really matters is that you live according to God’s word, and then none Christians will see by your actions that you love Jesus. You don’t really have to talk all that much about Jesus. Of course it is always that right thing to live our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit according to God’s word.

However, I have never seen someone run up to me and fall relentlessly in love with the person of Jesus Christ merely by observing how I live me life. There is nothing more terrifying to the Christian than to make a public confession of their faith among unbelievers.

Matthew 10:32–33 ESV

32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

How and why is it necessary for us to confess Him publically?

Romans 10:14–15 ESV

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

What are the results when we fail to confess Him before the unbelieving world?

The result with Peter was extreme shame and guilt over denying his Lord and Savior. However, we read further in the story of the early church in Acts, the continuing acts of the church and see how Peter rebounds in a huge way.

Peter was the first to publically stand after the resurrection and boldly proclaim the gospel of Jesus christ. We read in Acts 2 that following Peters red hot confession the people responded as they were cut to the heart, “What shall we do now,” Peter: “repent and be baptized everyone of you for the forgiveness of your sins.”

2. Why are so many people silent?

“When I return home next month, there is a good chance they will kill me before I can come back to America.”

He had only been a believer for a year.

“I could not help but tell my family and friends about the new life I found in Jesus. Several people disowned me outright. One said that if he sees me when I get back, he would kill me immediately. There is a good chance that someone will tell the government. When they do, I will not see you again in this life.”

Tears filled my eyes.

This new Muslim convert knew something that we Westerners tend to forget: Jesus is worth living for, even if it means proving that he is worth dying for.

*We prefer being an insider rather than an outsider.

THE INSIDER MOVEMENT

This Muslim convert had been convinced by the “insider movement” that said he could continue to call himself a Muslim, continue reading and affirming the Quran, and attend the mosque regularly.

He did not listen when told not to associate publicly with the Christian church, call Jesus the Son of God, or witness explicitly to his close family and friends. He must let his light shine before others (Matthew 5:16).

This Muslim convert returned to his homeland in Tunisia proclaimed his faith to his family and friends, and displayed that he would rather be an outsider with Christ than an insider without him.

The Insider Movement where we Live

“Greg Morse, desiring God.org”

Our insider movement does not fumble its Christian witness before guns or flames or the Taliban. We forsake the saltiness of our witness before the mob of popular opinion.

We have no problem sharing the gospel of our favorite football team of Netflix movie but when it comes to proclaiming the only name in all of creation by which man might be saved from the penalty of sin and death we go weak at the knees and become mute.

Does this mean that we talk about Jesus 24/7? No.

Does it mean throwing all discernment away about when and where to share? Of course not. Does it mean that we can never speak out about Christ for fear of man? Absolutely not.

We do not speak carelessly, but we do speak.

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS A SPEAKING LIFE.

Charles Spurgeon thunders what martyrs throughout the ages have spoken with their blood,

I think there is scarcely a Christian man or woman that has been able to go all the way to heaven and yet quietly hide himself and run from bush to bush, creeping into Glory. Christianity and cowardice? What a contradiction in terms!

*We attempt to hide Jesus in plain sight.

When we do speak of Jesus, do we make it vague or general enough that people would either not remember it or assume we are talking about one of many god’s?

Is our “faith” gospel-less, cross-less, and Jesus-less? It is too politically correct to offend, too genteel to mention wrath or sin.

It is spiritual without mentioning the Spirit, and creates a people of faith who never mention whom their faith is in. God is referenced as a distant deity that seems to have no distinguishable qualities or characteristics. The specifics of the gospel, it would seem, must remain a private matter.

This is when Christian celebrities or athletes thank the man upstairs for winning the world series of super-bowl. Quarterbacks point to the sky after throwing a touchdown pass. We hear christ nodded at, implied upon but never truly confessed as the Savior and Lord of the Universe.

We become like Peter, we sulk into the shadows and look for a safe place to hide.

3. Why is there no such thing as a Covert Christian?

“because..”

*We know that God uses bold speech to rescue people from hell.

Soul’s died every day and will face the wrath of God apart from the redemption of Jesus Christ. The smoke of their torment goes up forever, and ever, and ever, and when it does, sinners will not escape.

God has given us the mandate to rescue sinners. We are not ashamed of the gospel it is the very power of God for Salvation. Romans 1:16.

“because..”

*We know that time is short.

We have less time than we think to implore the lost to come to Christ. The problem is that many of us either do not know or have forgotten our main purpose here on earth.

2 Corinthians 5:20–21 ESV

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We know that our days and our lives are not our own.

Psalm 90:12 ESV

12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

This request means that we need God to reveal to us the brevity of life.

Jesus gave a parable that also explains what happens when we don’t “number our days.”

In Luke 12:19–21 He describes a rich man who wanted only to “eat, drink, and be merry” and had no time or thought for God. The rich man believed he had years yet to enjoy his pleasures, but God required his soul that very night.

If the rich man had learned to “number his days,” he would have pursued ventures that had eternal significance. We can learn from this parable that none of us know how many days we will be granted, so we must not waste them on silly, selfish pursuits that have no real value.

Those who never learn to number their days spend them as if this life is all there is. Psalm 90 warns them about the judgment they are destined to undergo (Hebrews 9:27). But when we learn to number our days, we see each day as a valuable gift and an opportunity to store up treasure in heaven.

“because..”

*We know that a life of denial forfeits heaven.

We remember the mandate in Matthew 10:32-33 that those who acknowledge God before man will be acknowledged before our Father in heaven but those who deny Him before men will be denied before our Father in heaven.

Those who refuse to acknowledge Jesus’s name in the face of persecution — by threat of machete or by fewer social media followers — will not enter the kingdom.

Those who persevere to the end will be saved.

“because”

*We know who is outside the camp.

We cannot stay inside the camp because Christ calls us out to himself.

He was crucified outside the city, slaughtered where the sacrificial remains were burned, in order to save us. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured (Hebrews 13:13).

We must remember that we are strangers and aliens here; this world is not our home.

Like that fateful night for Peter when he was inside the enemy's camp, the pressure was on him to acknowledge that he was one of the called-out ones or to deny his status as a child of the king.

We live outside of the world’s approval, bearing the same treatment he endured. He bore our wrath, and we go to him by identifying with him, praising God which is “the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Hebrews 13:15).

I do not think that it is by accident that immediately, at the very moment he finished the 3rd betrayal he heard the rooster crowing and went out to weep bitterly.

Perhaps at that very moment he remembered that he lived outside of the worlds approval, bearing the same treatment Jesus endured when He went to the cross. Perhaps he remembered what Jesus said in John 15:18

John 15:18 ESV

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

What cause Peter to weep so bitterly? When is the last time you mourned and wept bitterly over the times you betrayed Jesus by your words and actions? Peter knew that he had been called outside the camp to testify to the truth of the gospel.

Kevin Deyoung-

“It is sometimes said that Jesus was killed on account of his inclusion and tolerance, that the Jews hated him for hanging out with sinners and tax collectors. This is the sort of sentiment which has a bit of truth to it, but only a tiny bit. No doubt, Jesus upset many of the Jewish leaders because he extended fellowship and mercy beyond their constricted boundaries. But it is misleading to suggest that Jesus was hated for simply being too doggone loving, as if his inspiring tolerance were the cause of his enemies’ implacable intolerance.”

Marks gospel portrays Jesus as being apposed for eating with sinners once (2:16); once for upsetting stereo types about Him in His hometown (6:3); a few times for upsetting scruples about obeying the Jewish laws and customs, several times for blaspheming or claiming authority for Himself.

There is a lot that the Jewish leaders did not like about Jesus but the thing that angered them the most and eventually got Jesus killed was the claim that He was the Christ and the only way for their redemption and access to the kingdom of God. That is why they hated Him, that is why the crowds turned on Him, that is why they hate us and reject us today.

CONCLUSION

Where does our boldness come from?

Acts 4:13 ESV

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Your high intellectual prowess and scholarship will not convict the world. Boldness does not come from being the most skilled preacher or speaker.

Our courage comes from being with Jesus.

Those who have been with Jesus do not leave the same as they came. The boldness that turns the world upside down comes from those who follow Christ. You take common men and women who have spent time with Jesus of Nazareth. These people burn with a flame that the world can never extinguish.

In the next few weeks of our study, we will discover how Jesus's work is moving towards the Easter restoration project.

Peter recovered from His denial in a big way, to become an instrument used by God as He stood outside the camp of the world and boldly proclaimed Christ crucified for the sins of the world.

His execution was ordered by the Roman Emperor Nero, who blamed the city's Christians for a terrible fire that had ravaged Rome. Peter requested to be crucified upside down, as he felt unworthy to die in the same manner as Christ.

Where are you standing today?

Are attempting to live a covert Christian life inside the comfort zone of the camp of this world? Or have you chosen to step outside the camp where you will have to face the crowd and identify as a follower Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world?

Which door will you choose? (the matrix movie)

Behind door #1, you can live inside the camp of this world and never face the despise and rejection of the world. You can continue to live in the illusion of safety and comfort.

Behind door #2, you can leave the illusion of wonderland and leave the camp of this world. You will face the despise and rejection of the world. But you will finally see things as they truly are and experience the greatest life and joy than you could ever possibly imagine in your wildest expectations.