God is Not Disappointed in You

Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
0 ratings
· 7 views
Notes
Transcript
Good morning! My name is Kerri and I’m one of the pastors here at One Life. I just want to thank you for being here today to celebrate Easter with us. TToday we remember—the stone is rolled away, the tomb is empty, Jesus is alive, and death doesn’t get the final word. Easter is filled with such good news and celebration! But if you’ll allow me—I’d like to press ‘rewind’ on the story for a moment. Because in the midst of the horror of the crucifixion and the utter joy of the resurrection—there’s a guy, a disciple of Jesus, who is having the worst moment of his life.
This guy has done something so out of character, something he promised to never do, something he’s not sure he can come back from. He has failed in the worst possible way. And not privately— no, this man is going to have the lowest point of his life recorded by every Gospel writer, and it will be known by billions of people over thousands of years.
I’m talking, of course, about Peter. And before we get to the empty tomb, I’d like us to pull up a spot by a fire, about 48 hours earlier.
Peter was one of Jesus’ closest friends and disciples. He has walked with Jesus for three years, learning from him and witnessing miracles he never imagined he would see. Peter was the first of the disciples to confess Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of God, and he recieved his nickname— “the rock” as a result of that confession. But now, everything Peter thought he knew seemed to be coming undone. Earlier in the night, his teacher and his Lord told Peter something that may have turned his stomach to knots and caused his heart to race.

31 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me,for it is written:

“ ‘I will strike the shepherd,

and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

33 Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

34 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

But now here he sat. Just him and John. Around a fire outside the house of Caiphas, the high priest. Jesus had just been taken inside to be interrogated after his arrest in the garden. And just like he predicted— every other disciple but those two had scattered and were presumably in hiding somewhere.
Peter may have thought back to Jesus’ arrest, and how utterly confusing it was. He had tried to fight, tried to protect Jesus. He even got a good swipe at one of the high priest’s servants. But Jesus stopped him and rebuked him:

“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”

And then Jesus did the most confusing thing of all— he healed the man who had come to arrest him, like he had healed so many others—but none of those others were part of a mob armed with swords and torches. And after that, he willingly went with them as they bound the Messiah of God and led him away, mocking him, striking him, and spitting on him as they went. But Peter stuck to his word- even though almost all of his friends ran away, Peter wouldn’t.

15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, 16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door.

John, he was the other disciple who followed, knew the high priest, and was welcomed in- but that invitation didn’t extend to Peter as the door slammed in his face.

The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.

John, always looking out for him, vouched for Peter and the servant girl opened the door.

17 “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.

He replied, “I am not.”

Why did he say that? Did he think that if he said that he was, it would’ve been too suspicious? Or maybe he was afraid the word had gotten out about what he did to that servant’s ear. If they knew who he was, they would never let him in. So he lied. Just the once. Just to get through that door.

18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

When Peter walked through that courtyard, he joined a group of people crowding around a fire to keep warm on that chilly spring night. He recognized some faces, most of them unfriendly. They seemed to recognize him too. And here is where things get tricky, because it seems like accusations are flying at Peter from all directions and the order in which everything happens becomes pretty chaotic and unclear.

So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?”

Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”

Over and over, people just kept pushing on him.
I don’t know what he expected when he joined that fire, but it wasn’t this.
Peter wasn’t just afraid now, he was disoriented. The story he thought he had been part of for so long—felt like it was turned on its head. And when that happens…it’s hard to know what to do next.
70 But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
That seemed to calm the tension in the crowd because no one says anything to him for about another hour, when it seems a new group of people join the growing crowd waiting outside the high priest’s house.

After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”

They knew he was a Galilean, just like Jesus, just like John and most of the other disciples. Peter must have started to feel the pressure building around him.
And then, someone who couldn’t deny knowing him spoke:

26 One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, l challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?”

This man had seen him. In the garden. He saw what Peter did.
He knew exactly who Peter was.
What if he calls the guards? What if they come to arrest him? He was just trying to protect Jesus and now he’s at risk of winding up on a cross right beside him! That pressure that had been building…. finally breaks.

74 Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”

The type of curses he used were words no one should ever speak. They weren’t only meant to distance, but disown. They didn’t imply denial, but damnation. These were the most vile words that had come out of Peter’s mouth- and they were about the man he had been the first to call his Savior.
And as Peter called down these horrible words, he didn’t notice the door to the high priest’s chambers open. He didn’t notice the guards pulling the bound and bloodied Jesus through that door.

Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.

The sound stopped him. He finally looks. And he realizes… Jesus heard every word.

61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.

Peter had promised Jesus that he would rather die than deny him…. but he had just denied him to preserve his own life. Peter let fear, misaligned expectations, and self-preservation win. And Jesus knew it was going to happen.
You can almost hear Peter’s thought…
He must be so disappointed in me.
There was no way to undo this. As Jesus is led away, Peter runs the other direction.

And he went outside and wept bitterly.

So let me ask you this… what does God do with someone in that moment?
Have you ever had a moment where you felt like you couldn’t come back from something you did?
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more
Earn an accredited degree from Redemption Seminary with Logos.
Copyright 2026 LogosFeatures|Pricing|Privacy|Terms of Use|Support