When the Strong Become Weak

66 While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. “You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said. 68 But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway. 69 When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, “This fellow is one of them.” 70 Again he denied it. After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” 71 He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.” 72 Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

Introduction

We come this morning to a text of Scripture that is a vivid example of the frailty of man.

I’ve entitled my sermon this morning: “When the Strong become Weak”...

The example in Scripture that is before us is that of the Apostle Peter, who not a few hours before these events unfold, was swearing to Jesus that he would never ever deny Jesus, and that he would give his very life for Jesus, even when all others failed.

A few hours later and he’s gone directly against his sworn promise to Jesus.

One of the beautiful things that we find in the Scriptures is that the Bible doesn’t hide the failures of men.

Just about every person in the Scriptures that is presented to us, even the great “heroes” of Scripture, have their failures and shortcomings, and these are revealed to us in Scripture.

In the Scriptures, we see real people, living real messy lives, and yet God’s grace and mercy working despite their failures.

Examples...

Noah… a righteous man in God’s sight, obedient to build an ark by faith, but then after the flood has subsided, he lies naked and drunk in his tent

Abraham… the great father of the faith, lied about his wife, calling her his sister and giving her over to political leaders to become their wives - not once, but twice!!

David, a man after God’s own heart… committed adultery, and then murder

All of these are just some of the exapmles in Scripture of those who we would consider great people, and yet who were frail, and succumbed to the effects of sin.

Only one man in the Scriptures stands firm in every circumstance, and lives perfectly without fault - and that is Jesus.

And that is exactly the point!!

He is our only hope!

1. Fear Leads to Denial (vv.66-71)

And so in our text this morning, we find the three times that Peter denied Jesus Christ in front of a group of people.

As we consider these three denials this morning, I want us to not rush to stand in criticism of Peter, and to think that we would have done otherwise.

If any of the apostles were bold and valiant, fearless in many respects it was this man Peter.

It was Peter who asked Jesus if he could walk out on the water to Jesus, and actually proceeded to do so.

It was Peter who boldly confessed that Jesus was the Christ (Mark 8:29)

It was Peter who had drawn the sword when that massive mob had come to arrest Jesus, and had lopped off the right ear of Malcus, the Servant of the High Priest.

So let us remember that Peter was not timid in nature.

Context

As we come to this passage this morning, just to remind us, what has happened is that Jesus had been arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.

That arrest included members of the Jewish Temple Police, as well as a regiment of Roman Soldiers with a commanding officer.

They had arrested Jesus and taken him to the home of the High Priest, where he was being put on trial in front of the High Priest.

This was a mock trial that was taking place where they were trying to find grounds to have Jesus put to death.

And as Jesus had been led to the home of the High Priest, we read last week that Peter had followed from a distance, and had also gone into the courtyard outside, warming himself by the fire along with the guards.

1.1. Peter's First Denial (v.66-68)

This leads us to consider Peter’s First Denial of Jesus.

In verse 66 we read:

Mark 14:66 NIV84

66 While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by.

The Oriental Houses or the houses of those well-off in society would look down into their own interior.

The rooms of the house were often built around a central courtyard, and would sometimes be slightly elevated, and you’d be able to look down from the rooms into that courtyard area.

To get to this courtyard, there would be a gate, with an arched passage-way that led into the courtyard.

In that passageway, which was the entrance way, there would be a room for the guard of the gate to stay in.

So, Peter is now in this courtyard, next to the fire, surrounded by a host of guards, as they all warm themselves by the fire on a cold spring night - sometime in the early hours of the morning.

And as they do this, one of the servant girls of the high priest, as she walks past the fire, sees Peter, with the light from the fire lighting up his face.

Verse 67...

Mark 14:67 NIV84

67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. “You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said.

“The man who had been warming himself by the fire suddenly discovers that matters are becoming “too hot” for him.” [1]

This was not some event where Peter was all alone, and someone identifies him.

The tensions surrounding the arrest of Jesus were palpable.

There was a clear animosity towards Jesus and no doubt anyone who would choose to support Him and follow Him.

Recall the account of the disciple / follower of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane - fled naked when they tried to grab him...

As Peter stands by the fire, surrounded by the guards also warming themselves, it’s this bold servant girl that comes up and puts him right in the spotlight.

Her words are: “You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus.”

They convey the sense of contempt in the words that she says.

You recall when Philip called Nathanael to come and follow Jesus, he said that they had found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.

Nathanael’s response was: “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” (Jn 1:46)

With Nathanael, it was an honest question...

But for the servant girl, she was convinced that nothing good can come from Nazareth, and that in particular, this Nazarene was no good!

Well here is the servant girl, speaking of Jesus in the contemptuous way, not by name, but based on where He comes from.

Well, Peter is obviously now very concerned that one of these guards, or perhaps another group of rabble rousers will somehow attempt to arrest him also, and perhaps put him on trial.

And so he responds in the manner recorded in verse 68:

Mark 14:68 NIV84

68 But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway.

Here is Peter’s first denial of Jesus.

He denies knowing Jesus, and he denies having associated with Jesus.

If this servant girl could recognise him here, perhaps he may even be recognised by others…?

He might even be recognised as having been the one who cut off the ear of Malcus.

In a panicked state, he outright denies Jesus.

There wouldn’t have been much thought and thinking through what he was doing - this was a reflex reaction from Peter.

This was self-preservation!!

This is the natural response that we all have according to the flesh when we are accused of something that we don’t want others to know about!

I’ve seen such reactions over and over in interactions with people as I’ve conducted workplace disciplinary hearings.

A person is questioned, and the first response is an outright denial of any wrongdoing.

But over time, as the evidence begins to stack up against them, eventually they will begin to acknowledge their wrongdoing (sometimes!!)

And so this is almost a “natural” reaction by Peter, where he is genuinely concerned for his own safety, and he takes this step of denying Jesus in order to protect himself.

Furthermore, we read that he then goes away from the fire, and goes to the entryway.

1.2. Peter's Second Denial (v.69-70a)

But this moving away from the fire doesn’t put a stop to people’s suspecting him of being with Jesus.

In verse 69 we read:

Mark 14:69 NIV84

69 When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, “This fellow is one of them.”

In Mark’s account, he speaks as if this is the same servant girl that had identified him previously.

One commentator writes:

“Like a guilty conscience, the servant girl accuses Peter a second time.” [2]

As he moves away, she later sees him again, and again is convinced that he is a follower of Jesus.

But this time, she announces to the crowd that was standing there: “This fellow is one of them.”

Here is a direct accusation against Peter, made to the groups of people standing around.

Again, Peter is fearful, and answers in the negative.

In verse 70, we read that “Again he denied it.”

The tense of the verb “denied” here is imperfect, meaning that Peter “went off” on an extended denial.

This was not merely a word “I don’t know him” - rather he was defending himself with an extended denial.

1.3. Peter's Third Denial (v.70b-71)

The third denial of Peter begins in verse 70b:

“After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.””

With Peter having been identified, and him going off on this extended verbal denial of him being a follower of Jesus, he rouses the further suspicions of those around him due to the way in which he speaks.

He spoke with an accent that demonstrated to those around him that he was not a local of Jerusalem.

In Matthew’s account of this, he records:

Matthew 26:73 NIV84

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

When Mark records in his Gospel that they said to him that he was a Galilean, they made this observation because of his accent, or his dialect.

The Galilean dialect was somewhat different to that which was spoken in Jerusalem itself, and thus Peter now stands with a group of people around him who are convinced that he is a disciple of Jesus.

With a deep sense of fear for his safety, and given that he’s already stated that he doesn’t know Jesus, but these rowdy crowds are persisting in accusing him, he takes things up a notch as he denies Christ one last time.

Verse 71...

Mark 14:71 NIV84

71 He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.”

We must not miss the extent to which Peter goes as he attempts to rid himself of any association with Christ.

Two things he does, both of them serious in nature.

Firstly, he begins to call down curses on himself.

We must understand that in that day, calling down a curse upon yourself was not insignificant - it was serious.

To suffer under a curse for the Jews meant to be “cut off” - you were isolated from interaction with people in daily life.

The curse was a severe form of punishment, and was used as very effective deterrent to wrongful behaviour.

Essentially, the curse would have been made before God.

If the oath was broken, then there would be divine consequences.

This was the extent to which Peter was prepared to go in order to defend himself and protect his own life.

Secondly, Peter swore to them - meaning that he swore an oath to them, that he in no ways knew Jesus.

This again was an extreme action that was taken.

He was swearing an oath, before God, that he didn’t know Jesus.

Again, in that day, breaking oaths was virtually unthinkable.

Oaths were never made lightly or flippantly.

Even oaths that were taken rashly were binding...

Think of the oath of of Jephthah Judges 11:30-40 - swore that of God gave Ammon into his hands, would sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house as a burnt offering...

Think even of herod - when he beheaded John the Baptist - had made an oath, and wouldn’t go against it.

This was serious stuff!!

At a more fundamental level, breaking an oath was tantamount to breaking faith Yahweh. It is to take His name in vain. [3]

It would appear that at this moment, Peter’s mind was completely overcome by the fear of man, rather than the fear of God.

2. Conviction Leads to Remorse (v.72)

Peter has denied is Lord three times, without even giving much thought to it.

But having denied Jesus three times, we read in verse 72:

Mark 14:72 NIV84

72 Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

No sooner have the words of his third denial - him pronouncing curses on himself, and swearing an oath that he doesn’t know Jesus - left his mouth, than the rooster crows a second time.

Peter hears the rooster crowing, and suddenly he remembers the words that Jesus had spoken to him.

Luke adds these words: “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.” (Luke 22:61)

We can only imagine the sinking feeling that Peter would have felt, as he saw Jesus’ eyes looking down from one of the rooms above where he was on trial, Jesus knowing that Peter had now betrayed him three times.

The extent of the remorse in Peter is evident.

In the NIV, it says “And he broke down and wept.”

In Matthew 26:75 it says: “And he went outside and wept bitterly.”

At this moment, Peter comes face to face with his own frailty.

He had promised so much, and yet in the space of only a few hours later, he has entirely betrayed the one who he claimed allegiance to.

Application and Conclusion

As we come to some points of practical application, we must consider what we as God’s people can learn from Peter’s great fall.

From being a man who was strong and determined in his heart, resolute in his allegiance to the Saviour, to a person broken and weak as he recognised his utter failure.

A.1. Remorse Lead to Repentance

The first point of application that I’d like to note from this instance of Peter is that his remorse leads to repentance.

We find that after Peter is confronted with his own failures, with his own rejection of the one who he had previously professed to be the Messiah, that he is filled with grief.

That was not a grief, or a remorse that came about because he hoped that through it he could gain some personal benefit.

It was a grief that came about due to a deep sense of shame at having forsaken and denied the one that he claimed to love.

This was a grief that shook Peter to his core, where he recognised that even through he had a deep love for the Saviour, that he in this instance had utterly and deeply failed to do that which he knew he should do, and which he really had wished that he had done.

Here was a true follower of Jesus, who deep within his soul knew Jesus to be the Messiah, the son of the living God.

There was no doubt about Peter’s love for Jesus.

There was no doubt about Peter’s desire to follow Jesus.

And yet, in this moment of extreme trial, he failed, and was driven to a place of deep regret.

The beauty of this is the fact that God is a merciful God, and delights to forgive those who are repentant of their sin.

One of the great examples of this in the Bible is the account of Jonah, as he was sent by God to go and preach to the people of Ninevah.

They were a people who were hostile towards God and towards the people of God.

They were wicked in their ways, and lived in rebellion against this Holy God.

And yet, God tells Jonah to go to Ninevah in order to call them to repentance.

The reason that Jonah doesn’t want to go there is because he knows that they may repent, and that if they did, then God would forgive them.

And Jonah doesn’t want this - so rather than listen to God, he chooses to run away from God, and from the commands of God.

You know the story well - he ends up spending three days in the belly of a fish!!

But then he eventually goes and preaches to those in Ninevah, and we read of the response of the Ninevites in Jonah 3:6-9...

Jonah 3:6–9 NIV84

6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

Well we know that God did indeed relent, and he spared Ninevah, much to the disgust of the prophet Jonah.

But the fact is that God is the same today to those who would repent of their own sin.

Important…!!!

Repentance is an exceedingly difficult thing to do.

We are proud of heart.

We don’t want to acknowledge our shortcomings and our failures; we don’t want to acknowledge and confess our own sins.

But friends, so long as we harden our hearts, and refuse to repent of our sinful ways before God, we are in a precarious place indeed!

In Proverbs 5:11-14, we read of the consequences of failing to come to a place of humility and repentance due to our sin...

Proverbs 5:11–14 NIV84

11 At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. 12 You will say, “How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! 13 I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. 14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.”

In 2 Corinthians 7 we read of that godly sorrow that leads to repentance.

Paul, after having written some stinging rebukes to the Corinthians in his first letter to them, writes in his second letter, in 2 Corinthians 7:8-10...

2 Corinthians 7:8–10 NIV84

8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— 9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

Friends, we may dishonour the Lord by our words; by our actions; by our attitudes; by our hearts that are cold; by our failure to love Christ, and love our neighbour...

But the question is, does that dishonouring of the Lord lead us to a place of deep sorrow for our sin, and then repentance?

If we are not grieved by our own sin, then there is a problem.

If we are confronted by our own sinful actions, and all we can do is defend our position, without grieving over our sin, and coming to repentance, then we are not in a good place spiritually.

Are our hearts convicted, and do we have that godly sorrow - the humility that comes to all who recognise their failings before a holy God.

That is the place that we need to be in!

A.2. We do not stand in our own strength

Further to this, as a second point of application, we need to recognise that we don’t stand spiritually in our own strength as Christians.

We see in the life of Peter his own failure as he placed a confidence in his own ability to stand, and to remain true to Jesus.

Very often, I think we attempt to place a confidence in ourselves to overcome temptations, or to stand firm in the faith, whereas our trust really needs to be focused in and rooted in Christ, all the while recognizing our weakness.

I touched on this when we looked at the passage where Peter claimed that He would stand firm.

I would like to just elaborate on that somewhat further at this point.

We need to understand that our hope and our confidence must always and only rest in Christ alone.

When our confidence rests in Christ alone, we are much better prepared for the trials that will come our way, and we will be in a much better place in those times where we do stumble and fall, because we will know that we stand in the grace of God alone!

Now we need to recognise that endurance in the faith does not rest on our own strength.

I believe that the Scripture teaches very clearly that those who are in Christ will be kept by Him - they will endure by God’s grace as He keeps them.

Even so, the reality is that even after we’re regenerated / been born again, we still lapse into sin, even serious sin.

Even those who are professing Christians, and who seemingly walk faithfully with Christ, may have moments or even seasons of backsliding or moral failure.

And let me say this: that is serious.

We are never to sit back and say with any kind of contentment that what we are going through personally as a struggle in sin is acceptable, and that we don’t worry, because we know we’re Christians, and so we just continue in our sin.

Please, never, ever, ever do that!!

The reason I bring this point across is to emphasize the extent to which we must rely on Christ, and not ourselves.

I believe that we are all the more prone to falling and stumbling when we think ourselves to be standing strong, and think that we are beyond the ability to fall.

Wasn’t that what the Apostle Paul warned about - having a puffed-up view of our own spiritual strength...

1 Corinthians 10:12 NIV84

12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

We do fall into very serious activities.

The Apostle Peter is just a fitting example for us of this.

Even though he had been warned by Christ, he fell by disowning Jesus.

He committed treason against His Lord.

But even on this account, we must take encouragement as we consider that it was Jesus himself who ensured that Peter would not fall away forever.

In Luke 22:31, we read these words:

Luke 22:31–32 NIV84

31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Peter fell, but by the grace of God, he returned. He was restored. His fall was for a season.

Peter went on, not only to be restored, and to continue to love Christ, but to actually preach the Gospel powerfully such that there were great conversions through his preaching.

The only reason we can give why any of us continue on in the faith is because we have been preserved by the grace of our great God!

And so, again, our confidence should be in Christ and His ability to preserve me in my faith, rather than a confidence in myself to stand firm.

A.3. What if I deny Jesus?

But that does perhaps beg a question, and that question arises out of a particular teaching of Jesus himself.

In Matthew 10:33, we read these words of Jesus:

Matthew 10:33 NIV84

33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

The question that arises out of this verse goes something like this (this is an example of an actual question asked to a pastor):

I turned my life over to Christ a little over two years ago. I’ve learned a lot but I have a lot left to learn. I am trying to strengthen my faith, but in the meantime I asked myself, ‘What would I do [if someone pointed a gun at my head and told me to deny Christ]?’ My response was scary — I’m not sure I could say I’m a Christian, if a gun is pointed in my face, especially if my children are with me. I know that Jesus warned not to deny him on earth, but I can’t help but wonder if doing it to save our life, even though we don’t mean it, is it punishable? [4]

I will begin by saying that the pastor who answered the question answered in essence that the true believer would not deny Jesus.

Let me just say that it is a difficult question to be asked, under that context…

But a good place to begin is by considering the context of Matthew 10:33

If we look at that context, we’ll find that Jesus was talking there to his disciples as he sent them out to proclaim the news that the Kingdom of God was at hand… that they should repent and believe...

Matthew 10:5–7 NIV84

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’

We need to recognise that this was Gospel proclamation, primarily to the Jews.

In that context, the Jews were very hesitant to hear this message of the Gospel, and they were particularly hesitant to trust in Christ.

And Jesus is saying in that context, if they are not prepared to deny mother, father, bother, sister etc. for the sake of Christ, then they are not worthy to be called His disciples.

Now that in itself is a strong message, and a difficult one for us to accept.

It’s okay for us growing up where Christianity is accepted, even preferred as a faith by which to live.

It’s a bit of a different story for a Muslim who will be disowned by the family, and probably excommunicated.

But there is that sense that we are to confess Jesus, even when that is extremely difficult, and perhaps especially when that is extremely difficult.

But does denying Jesus due to extreme pressure automatically condemn you to hell? Would that prove that you were never truly a believer?

I’m not convinced that it does.

Peter denied Jesus, and Christ restored him.

I believe that Christ can restore others if they deny Christ under severe circumstances.

But having said that, I want to bring across another perspective on this.

Consider 1 Peter 1:5-7 (verses we began looking at on Tuesday in our Tuesday night Bible Study...

1 Peter 1:3–7 NIV84

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Note in verse 5 that we are shielded through faith by God’s power - this means we will be able to stand up under persecution, and not only that, but we will be able to withstand insults and threats to our own lives.

Consider also 1 Peter 4:14...

1 Peter 4:14 NIV84

14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

Now in that context, this would have been a great encouragement to the people that Peter wrote to.

Their concern really was - will we be able to stand?

Peter says: You are elect Exiles, chosen by God even for the sufferings that you endure!!!

Encouraging!!!

Elabourate!!

Consider the Voice of the Martyrs movie - tortured for Christ - Richard Wurmbrand. Stood firm under persecution and beatings. He stood firm knowing that Christ was Lord. His son was even brought in to where he was being tortured, and the father at that time was almost led to a place where he was going to give in. But the son in fact said to his father that he should not, and he should stand firm. This led to the tragic killing of Richard’s son in front of him.

I was braaing once - got a coal in between my toes - how painful!! My wife correctly reminded me of the “Tortured for Christ” movie, and to consider the pain that Wurmbrand would have experienced.

We must consider that God would in a special way be with us and support us in a time of deep trial, in such a way that even if we cannot fathom before the time standing up to such torture, we will be granted a special grace in that time such that we will be able to endure.

Bibliography

Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Gospel According to Mark (Vol. 10, p. 618). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

Edwards, J. R. (2002). The Gospel according to Mark (p. 450). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England:

Cerone, J. N. (2016). Oath. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.