Denial

Intro

I think everyone here has probably had someone lie to them before. Perhaps someone treated you unfairly. Has anyone ever intentionally led you to believe something that wasn’t true?

Let’s make it a little more serious. Has anyone here ever been betrayed by someone before. I don’t mean they hurt your feelings or lied to you, but they flat out betrayed you.

your trust

your confidentiality

When I was a student in 10th grade I can remember having to read Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. Maybe you have had to read it to, or at least know the main premise of the play.

Spoiler alert, it doesn’t end well for Caesar, in fact he is murdered by a gang of co-conspirators who want him removed from power.

But what makes the story all the more tragic is that among his assassins was someone he thought was a close friend and confidant named Brutus. And in the play there is this famous line when Caesar is attacked and he sees his best friend stab him, and with his dying breath Caesar cries out “Et tu Brute”.

It is a latin phrase that translates and you Brutus, or in other words, as Caesar is looking at the faces of his murderers he sees the face of the one person he thought he could trust and he says, you too, Brutus?

He was betrayed in the most savage of ways.

Now, hopefully if you have been betrayed it didn’t involve being stabbed by your best friend, but if you have been betrayed, you know the pain of knowing the person who is hurting you was one you never thought would.

In fact, betrayal by its very nature requires that the person who is hurting us must be close to us. They must be someone we trust or it wouldn’t be betrayal.

This morning we are starting a new series that will run from today through Easter Sunday. The title of this series is The Great Betrayal.

When we talk about the life of Jesus we can talk about his miracles, his teaching, and of course his death and resurrection. But one thing we must also talk about is that Jesus knew what it was like to be betrayed.

Whether it was his own home town that wanted to stone him or the famous betrayal of Judas, Jesus knew the pain of having someone let you down and throw you under the bus.

In this 4 part series we will be dealing with those who betrayed, denied, and abandoned Jesus leading up to his crucifixion.

We will also be looking at Jesus’ response to those who betrayed him.

Power in the Text

Matthew 26:31-35 NLT 31 On the way, Jesus told them, “Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say, ‘God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.” 33 Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.” 34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” 35 “No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same.

Peter was one of the most notable disciples. He was outspoken, loyal, and had a bit of a temper. He told Jesus that he would stay loyal until the end: “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you” (Matthew 26:33).

Even leading up to Jesus’s arrest he remained loyal, to the point of pulling out a sword and cutting off a man’s ear when they came to arrest Jesus. So, when Jesus told Peter that he would openly deny that he knew Jesus, Peter was astonished.

But let’s look at what happened. Jesus is arrested in the Garden where he had been praying through the night and where the disciples, including Peter had been sleeping because they could not stay awake long enough to pray.

He is then led by his captors to the home of the high priest. As he is being led the Bible says that Peter followed, but at a distance.

Luke 22:56-62 NLT 56 A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began staring at him. Finally she said, “This man was one of Jesus’ followers!” 57 But Peter denied it. “Woman,” he said, “I don’t even know him!” 58 After a while someone else looked at him and said, “You must be one of them!” “No, man, I’m not!” Peter retorted. 59 About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” 62 And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.

As we said before, Peter was a loyal guy to Jesus and was astonished that Jesus would predict that he would deny him. But Peter did deny Jesus three times. Why would Peter do this?

He had been with Jesus since the beginning. He had seen miracles and been empowered to do miracles himself. But we must put ourselves in Peter’s sandals.

He sees the Messiah being arrested and not fighting back. The Messiah was supposed to be a strong figure that wasn’t pushed around by the religious leaders and Romans.

Fear creeps into Peter’s heart and he flees … because he doesn’t want to be crucified too. A servant girl sees Peter and says he was associated with Jesus. “Woman, I don’t know him," Peter replies. Two other times people associated Peter with Jesus, and he denies it every time. The last time he screams, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”.

It is after this third denial that Jesus looks at Peter (Peter said this in front of Jesus), and Peter remembers what Jesus had said and he weeps, ashamed.

Fear is a powerful emotion that causes the most courageous and loyal to become cowardly and abandoning.

Big Idea

We must prepare our hearts to lead our fear or else fear will lead our hearts.

Why it Matters

The truth is, all of us have fears and insecurities. However, how we deal with those fears and insecurities will oftentimes determine the choices we make.

For example, if I am afraid of flying, chances are I won’t get on a plane which means I will be limited to the places I can travel. I will be limiting myself because my fear will lead my heart rather than my heart leading my fear.

People in colonial America were terrified of the possibility of witches being in their community, leading to a time of accusations, trials, and executions of supposed witches.

The Salem Witch trials of 1692 were a time when people betrayed one another. There are many accounts of people turning in friends and family in order to get the possible accusation of witchcraft off of them.

They were willing to betray those they were closest to because their own fears of being accused were leading their hearts to hurt those they never thought they would.

Peter’s fear of being crucified along with Jesus caused him to pretend he never knew him, something he vowed never to do.

We too will find that given the right conditions, if we aren’t prepared for them, we too will allow our fear to cause us to deny Jesus.

I think we deny Jesus more often than we realize, which when we get down to it, puts us in a bad place. Jesus himself warned us in...

Matthew 10:33 NLT 33 But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.

So how do we deny him?

Well, to deny something is to declare it untrue through our words, thoughts, and actions.

Perhaps we have allowed some of the world’s ideas of right and wrong to infiltrate our own understanding of what God has said on these matters.

Maybe we have remained silent when we should have spoken up.

Do we ignore God’s standards when it comes to sexuality, relationships, or money.

Or are we going to places and participating in things and speaking in ways that show the world that we are no different than they are?

What about in the way to set our priorities? If you ignore the importance of being part of God’s church of which Jesus is the head, you are in part, denying Jesus

Did God call you to something only for you to ignore that calling as if you didn’t receive it?

Application

So how do we ensure that our fears and insecurities don’t lead us to like Peter, deny Jesus?

First we need to recognize that one of the biggest enemies to the call of God in our lives is the fear of what others think of us or will do to us.

Proverbs 29:25 NLT 25 Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the LORD means safety.

When it comes to following Jesus there will be times when the enemy will try to fill your heart with fear.

Not being good enough

Not be as good as someone else

He will use comparison and competition to feed our hearts lies and those fears if we don’t process them in the right way will inevitably cause us to deny Jesus.

But David says in...

Psalm 34:1-4 NLT 1 I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. 2 I will boast only in the LORD; let all who are helpless take heart. 3 Come, let us tell of the LORD’s greatness; let us exalt his name together. 4 I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.

Did you catch it? Worship destroys fear. The only thing that can cast out fear is the perfect love of God. When we enter into that space, the space of worship and praise and the presence of God, fear has to submit. Not to us, but to him.

Worship is the place where love is perfected and peace of mind is restored. And where there is peace of mind, fear cannot exist.

Closing

We do not have to deny Jesus the way Peter did, but it will require that we learn to take control of our fear, because if we don’t it will control us.

Maybe you have made this mistake in the past. Perhaps you have denied Jesus in one way or another.

Peter’s story doesn’t end with him publicly denying Jesus. We see the resurrected Jesus restore Peter, telling him to feed Christ’s sheep and take care of the disciples.

Jesus didn’t condemn Peter for his moment of denial and struggle. He showed him love and reconciliation. For those of us who have let Jesus down, he still shows open arms to forgive us and restore us to a better hope.

Take the time to worship him, not just on Sundays, but everyday and enter into his presence. Allow his love to cast out your fears and insecurities so that you can stand firm in the calling he has placed in your lives and live confidently in his ability to keep every single one of his promises.