Before the Rooster Crows

Luke  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Introduction

On September 20, 1991, six men making up the crew of the Andrea Gail, a commercial fishing boat, set sail from Gloucester Harbor about 25 miles northeast of Boston. Its destination was originally Newfoundland, but since it did not get the catch the crew had hoped for, the ship changed course and headed further east in hopes finding a better score. After 36 days at sea, Captain Billy Tyne decided to head home, despite having heard reports of bad weather. No one knew exactly how bad it would be.
You see, a cold front had come down from the eastern US which started what is known as an extratropical low-pressure storm. This might have been okay had there not been a ridge coming off of the Appalachian Mountains that blocked the storm and pushed it back out to sea, southeastward and then west again. Meanwhile, there was a weakening hurricane named Grace that was on its way up the east coast and was absorbed into this extratropical low pressure storm. The cold air from the Northeast and the warm waters of Hurricane Grace made this storm particularly dangerous. It was a storm that emerges once every 50-100 years. The storm produced waves anywhere from 30-60 feet high. One buoy off the coast of Nova Scotia recorded a record breaking 100 foot wave.
Captain Billy’s last contact was with a fellow fishing vessel in which he reported the 30 foot waves and high winds. He was overheard on the radio saying his last known words: “She’s comin’ on, boys, and she’s comin’ on strong!” The crew would never been seen again; the bodies never found. It was truly called The Perfect Storm.
The origin of the saying, “a perfect storm” is clearly meteorological in nature. But it has come to mean any situation in which a bunch of unexpected circumstances have occurred leading to a detrimental or calamitous situation. And I believe that is what we have here in this passage of Luke. When Peter denies Jesus, he is in the midst of a perfect storm and “she’s comin’ on strong.” There are three earthly factors—three human factors—that led to this denial. There is of course, God’s sovereign will over all of it that must be accounted for just as it must be for The Perfect Storm of 1991.
But the first human factor is that Peter was emotionally aching. The second was that Peter was entirely alone. The final factor that led to Peter’s denial was that he was effectively attacked.
Peter was Emotionally Aching
Peter was Entirely Alone
Peter was Effectively Attacked
Luke 22:54–62 ESV
Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Peter was Emotionally Aching

The first factor that, humanly speaking, led to Peter’s denial was that Peter was emotionally aching. It’s the first factor leading up to the perfect storm of denial.
Luke 22:54 ESV
Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance.
Put yourself in Peter’s place for a moment. Peter had pledged his loyalty to Jesus. “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” He had proven his loyalty to Jesus. “And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.” John tells that one was Peter. But his loyalty was rebuffed by Jesus. “No more of this.” Not only did Jesus reprove Peter and the rest; he healed the ear of his enemy—one who came out to arrest him!
No longer is Peter all gung-ho ready to fight. No more taking the lead. Where is Peter? He’s following at a distance. Matthew and Mark tell us that all the disciples fled. It could have been that they were afraid and so they fled. Maybe some did for that reason. But the word also means to escape from danger. One need not be afraid to realize he or she is in danger. John tells us that he and Peter actually followed Jesus. John is the one who was able to get Peter into the courtyard though he disappears from the story at that point. So it could be that some were not so much afraid, but confused, perplexed by what all had just happened. So they just escaped the danger—initially fleeing and then following. They didn’t know what to do with everything that just happened. And here is Peter following at a distance—emotionally aching. He’s hurting. He’s reeling.
Again, Peter had promised he would go with him wherever he went and so he is, but he is at a distance because Jesus reproved him for his active loyalty. He wasn’t all talk. He was action as well. And that got him into trouble with his Master, his Rabbi. Imagine taking it upon yourself to help your boss out at work. There’s a problem that you know how to fix and so you go about fixing it only to have your boss say to stop. You’re doing it wrongly! You were doing this for him! You were trying to be a good employee! You were taking care of that which needed to be taken care! And he has the audacity to reprove you for it, and not just reprove you, but reprove you in front of everyone. And not just that, but then undoes everything that you did…for him!
Is there not a pit in your stomach? Are you not hurting emotionally? Confused; maybe fearful—not so much of the problem but of displeasing the man you looked up to for all these years. So there is Peter, following Jesus, but from a distance.
Beloved, it’s hard to stay close to Jesus when we don’t understand his ways or his words. Often times, those ways or words wound us emotionally. We had plans! We knew exactly how to handle the situation; we knew exactly what we would do and where we would be and how we could be used. And those plans get rebuffed and we get left hanging out to dry. And we are emotionally aching. We still believe; we still follow. But now it’s from a distance. We not as close as we once were. There’s a gap between us and Jesus. We know it; he knows it. But we can’t seem to get the gumption to close it. Maybe it’s because we haven’t dealt with the ache yet. We haven’t been honest about it—with him or with ourselves…or with anyone else.

Peter was Entirely Alone

And this leads us to the second factor that played a role in the perfect storm of denial. The first was that Peter was emotionally aching. The second now is that he was entirely alone. And, of course, when I say he was alone, I mean that no other Christ-follower was with him.
Luke 22:55 ESV
And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them.
John had followed Jesus as well and, according to his gospel account, he had gone to the servant girl and vouched for Peter. Since that moment, John was gone. He was probably somewhere spying on the proceedings, leaving Peter without the aid of a brother.
Until this moment, we usually see Peter’s name with another two names to follow. It’s always been Peter, James, and John. Jesus would go somewhere and Peter, James, and John were right there with him. But now, John is somewhere doing his own thing leaving Peter to grieve and fend for himself. And where is James? What happened to elder son of thunder? Where was the guy who wanted to call fire down on the Samaritans?
Peter was the oldest of the disciples. He was the one that had to care for them while Jesus was away. He was the one Jesus tasked with leadership. Peter was the rock. But where were those he needed to steady him when the rock became shaky and it felt like it would crumble? He was entirely alone. No support. No one to steady him. No one was around to assure him.
Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 ESV
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Church family, how does one keep warm alone? Anyway he can, even if that means sitting by a fire kindled by hostiles, surrounded by antagonists. But we’ll get there in a moment. For now, we need to be honest with ourselves. As Christians, we don’t do well at sticking close to one another, do we? There has been such a push back against pursuing emotions that we’ve forgotten to probe emotions, whether our own or others. We feel something painful and we pretend it doesn’t exist lest we end up allowing them to lead. We see them in others and we ignore them or tell them that they need to cheer up and put on a happy face, when what they need—what we need—is for someone to sit next to them and keep them warm so that they can eventually stand and eventually prevail.
We know that Satan is a prowling lion seeking someone to devour. And we know how lions work. They look for the weakest prey, the prey that lags behind the herd—the one that follows from a distance.
I saw a video the other day of a lion hunting some zebras. And as always, the slowest zebra gets caught by the lion. The video pans out and the rest of the zebras are watching as the one lone zebra fights for its life against this lion. Not one zebra goes to help, let alone the herd. The zebra actually prevailed though it was bloody and exhausted. Nine times out of ten it dies.
On the same video are a pack of lions hunting water buffalo. And the herd of buffalo initially run away as a herd, but then the one who lags a bit behind is surrounded by lions. Unlike the zebras who stood afar and watched their fellow-zebra struggle for his life, the herd of buffalo charged the lions and defended the lonely water buffalo and freed him from the pack. It’s sad to say that many churches act more like zebras than water buffalo. May we have a buffalo mentality.

Peter was Effectively Attacked

Which leads us to the third and final human factor that led Peter to deny Jesus. The first was that Peter was emotionally aching. The second factor was that he was entirely alone. Finally, we see Peter was effectively attacked.
Luke 22:56–60 ESV
Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
There is Peter sitting among a hostile group. This is just outside the High Priest’s residence. Those who are sitting around this fire are at best indifferent to what is going on inside. At worst, they are complicit. John is somewhere spying, and Peter is here sitting in pain and confusion, all alone without a brother to hold him up. The perfect storm is converging. The waters are getting choppy. “She’s comin’ on, boys, and she’s comin’ on strong.” Within an hour, Peter has found himself in a hostile environment being attacked from all sides. The more he denies Jesus, the worse it gets. He goes from I don’t know him to I don’t want to be associated with those who follow him to I have no clue who these people are.
This is what it takes to bring someone down. The downfall started before the accusations, before the attacks. I’ve said it before; I’ll say it again. I have never met an atheist that was an atheist due to pure reason. Certainly, each one will use reason to excuse their denial of God’s existence. But unless they were raised to be an atheist, every denier of the faith I’ve known or heard about has a story that begins with an emotional ache, and usually there was no one around to sit, listen, and lift them from such pain and confusion. That’s all that is needed sometimes: suffering and seclusion.
At that point, Satan’s attacks can begin to have their fullest effect. And those attacks are have truths. “I don’t know him.” That’s kind of true, isn’t it? Peter has pledge his loyalty. He proved his loyalty. Jesus responded by reproving him. Maybe he didn’t know Jesus as well as he thought he did. And he was alone, wasn’t it? Those who all stood behind him when he said he’d die before he’d deny and agreed with him that they too would die before deny. Where were they? He was the only one around. He wasn’t really with them and they certainly were not with him. And, let’s be honest, did he even know what was happening? Did he really know what all this was about? His entire world had been turned upside down. He didn’t know what to think!
Beloved, when we are hurting and we are alone—suffering and secluded—we are vulnerable to the attacks of Satan that often come at us from a hostile world, preying on the insecurities we feel at the moment. How things might have been different if Peter had had intentionally intrusive, Christ-centered, grace-driven, redemptive relationships from his brothers! That’s not my phraseology; that’s Paul Tripp’s.
And we may be tempted to say, “Chris, Peter put himself into this situation.” That’s true. So what? Do we not leave the 99 to go after the one? Do we not snatch the one out of the fire? All of us have put ourselves into situations we ought not be in. That doesn’t mean we should be left alone to get out without help. That sounds much more like the religious leaders who mocked Christ on the cross: he saved others; let him save himself. You who would destroy the temple, save yourself. That’s the sign of a hardened, self-righteous heart. Of which, I confess, I often have myself.
James 5:19–20 ESV
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Conclusion

As we finish this passage, we’ve seen how Peter was emotionally aching as he had gone from leading a defense to being rebuked by his master. He was entirely alone. The others were gone leaving him to fend for himself. And it was at this time he was effectively attacked by those who were hostile to Jesus and his movement. He ended up denying Jesus three times, just as predicted. And when the rooster crowd, he came to; he remembered Jesus’s words, and looked toward the direction Jesus was and they locked eyes. Can you imagine the horror, the shame, the overwhelming emotional ache he experienced in that moment?
Luke 22:62 ESV
And he went out and wept bitterly.
Of course, that is not the end of the story. Jesus suffered from such a denial, but that suffering was planned, accepted, and embraced, along with the beatings, the cross, the imputing of sin and the forsaking of God. His resurrection came in power, as did his restoration of Peter. There one day, after Jesus had been resurrected, Peter and some others were back out fishing. Jesus showed up, and when Peter realized who he was, he dove off ship and swam to shore. He would no longer stand for distance to be between he and his Lord. But by the time he got to shore, Jesus had built a fire.
And we read in John that Peter was no longer alone. He was once again surrounded by his brothers. Maybe that’s you now. You’re here surrounded by some of the very people who seemed to abandon you in your hour of need or remind you of those who did. Maybe they were afraid and fled. Maybe they were too busy to care. Maybe they just didn’t know. Perhaps they didn’t want to know. Can I ask you to do me a favor? Can you pray for them? And perhaps pray for yourself that you could forgive them. But could you pray that God would give them a spirit of courage and eyes that can see the next time their brother or sister is in need.—that they would learn from your heartache and never experience the loneliness you did?
There is Peter surrounded by brothers who had deserted him and by the Savior he had denied. But more than that there was still an emotional ache deep inside that needed to be addressed. So Jesus addressed it.
John 21:15–17 ESV
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.
Not only did Peter’s heart heal; but he found that he was not displaced or destitute. He was not useless or pointless. Jesus still had plans for him. Beloved, that same restoration, that same redemptive plan is offered to you. You’re not too far gone. You’re not unwanted or useless or ostracized. You are his and he is yours.
Our heavenly Father,
Would that you would heal the ache and restore our hearts to your glory. Strengthen our steps that we may not lag behind our Savior, but remain close to him. And not only close to Jesus, but close to our brothers and sisters. Let us keep one another warm, let us lift each other up; may we cause one another to prevail over the enemy when we are attacked. May we have the mindset of the water buffalo to protect those within our heard from the evil one. And may we be there to love and encourage as you restore the one who is brokenhearted, the one who is stuck. Hold us fast, Lord. Never let us go.
In Jesus’s name. Amen.
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