Luke 22:54-62 - Peter's Denial

INTRODUCTION

They say that you’re not ready to preach until you can sum up the sermon in one sentence. Some call it the Central Idea of the Test. Others call it the Big Idea. No matter what you call it, here’s the main point of everything I want to say to you this morning: You are not the Savior, but Jesus is!

That is the point that I will return to over and over again this morning.

That is the lesson that Peter began to learn as he denied Jesus.

[READING - Luke 22:54-62]

Luke 22:54–62 NASB95

54 Having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance. 55 After they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them. 56 And a servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him, said, “This man was with Him too.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” 58 A little later, another saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59 After about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, for he is a Galilean too.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.

[PRAYER]

[TS] Let’s think about this passage in three PARTS…

MAJOR IDEAS

Part #1: Distance and Warmth (54-55)

Luke 22:54–55 NASB95

54 Having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance. 55 After they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them.

[EXP] Jesus had been betrayed and arrested and v. 54 begins His sham trial. He stood before one high priest and then another, before Pilate, before Herod, before Pilate again, and then He would be crucified (?). He would stand before many men before He gave His life for us on the cross, but here in these verses—as if we don’t know the end of the story—we are to ask, “Will Peter stand for Jesus?” Certainly Peter asked himself in this moment, “Will I stand for Him?”

Peter had been close to Jesus. Jesus had healed Peter’s mother-in-law, but Peter didn’t hold that against Him! That’s a joke of course, but Jesus did heal Peter’s mother-in-law, which means that Jesus knew Peter’s family.

Peter left everything to follow Jesus. He left career and at least to some extent family.

Peter was not only a disciple but also an Apostle. And unlike Judas who was always listed last, Peter was always listed first in the roll-call of Apostles (?), which likely means that Peter was a leader or perhaps the leader in the group.

We often read of Peter speaking for the group. It was Peter who confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. After many walked away from Jesus, it was Peter who said to Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Peter was the only one who trusted Jesus enough to get out of the boat and walk on water. Sure, he sank and had to be rescued but that was after he took a couple steps. He was out there with Jesus. He convinced himself that he would always be out there with Jesus.

But now this one who had been close to Jesus arrived in this courtyard by following at a distance.

And as he sat by the fire, the question he now faced was, “Was he brave enough to be in there with Jesus?”

[ILLUS] One of the more famous stories in the Old Testament comes from the book of Daniel. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down and worship the idolatrous statue of King Nebuchadnezzar (?). The penalty for such refusal was death by fiery furnace. The flames were so hot that the guards who threw them in were consumed by the heat (?). But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were delivered from the flames by one like a Son of Man, an Old Testament description of Jesus.

They were with Jesus in there, and He delivered them.

They didn’t know that they would be delivered. They believed that God could deliver them, but even if He didn’t, they would still only worship God alone.

Peter was by a warm fire but experiencing his own type of fiery furnace.

He was in there with Jesus.

But would He trust Jesus to deliver Him?

Would Peter remain faithful to Jesus even if Peter wasn’t delivered?

He had once said, “Even if I have to die with you, I won’t deny you.”

Would Peter be true to his word in there with Jesus?

[APP] I pray we never face a fiery furnace like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And I pray that we never face a moment like Peter did when we have to decide whether we are brave enough or faithful enough to stand with Him.

But should we face such a moment, we should remember that Jesus can deliver us if He chooses.

But even if He doesn’t, He’s still the only one worthy of our worship.

[TS] …

Part #2: Accusation and Denial (56-60)

Luke 22:56–60 NASB95

56 And a servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him, said, “This man was with Him too.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” 58 A little later, another saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59 After about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, for he is a Galilean too.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.

[EXP] The firelight was not the clear light of day. It flickered, dancing shadow and light across the faces of those warming themselves in the courtyard. She looked intently at him. The servant-girl had seen his face before. She stared closely and then spoke the truth, “This man was with Him too.” But Peter denied it with a lie, “Woman, I do not know Him.”

Peter knew Jesus well. Peter knew Jesus as Messiah.

But Peter denied knowing Jesus to save himself.

In any event, the first accusation passed and Peter no doubt began to breath a bit easier, but another accusation came. A little while later a man saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” He too spoke the truth, but Peter rebuffed the accusation with another lie, “Man, I am not!”

In the first denial, he denied knowing Jesus.

In this second denial, he denied being a disciple of Jesus—“Man, I am not one of His disciples!”

Then an hour passed and now Peter surely thought there would be no more accusations, but a man began insisting and kept on insisting that Peter was one who had been with Jesus for Peter was a Galilean too. All Jesus’s disciples were Galileans except for Judas, and Peter’s accent had given him away (Matt. 26:73). Even so, Peter lied again, no feigning total ignorance, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.”

In the first denial, Peter denied knowing Jesus.

In the second denial, he denied being a follower of Jesus.

In this third denial, he denied anything and everything concerning Jesus—“Man, I do not know what you are talking about.”I

You know, Jesus once said, “But whoever denies Me before me, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven,” (Matt. 10:33).

What do you think this means for Peter who denied Jesus not just once, not just twice, but three times?

“Immediately, while he was still speaking (lying and denying), a rooster crowed,” (Luke 22:60).

Of course the rooster crowed. Jesus said the rooster would crow.

But when does the rooster crow?

At sunrise.

And when did Jesus tell Peter that he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed?

Just a few hours before.

In the span of just a few short hours Peter had gone from determination to denial.

He went from “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death,” to “I don’t know Him! I am not one of His disciples! I don’t even understand what this is all about!”

All Peter’s determination leaked out.

He denied Christ.

And the rooster crowed.

[ILLUS] I don’t know if you’ve spent much time outdoors lately, but when it’s not raining, it’s hot.

Perhaps at some point you’ve done some yard work outside during this time of year and you’ve noticed that your energy is soon zapped by the humid heat.

Maybe you were determined to cut the grass, pull some weeds, do a couple other little projects, but your determination withered in the Southern Sauna, which we just call ‘outside’.

[APP] Likewise, our determination to stand with Jesus or to obey Jesus quickly withers under the heat of a fiery trial or temptation. Like Peter, we make big promises but then deny Him.

But when the fiery trial or temptation comes upon us, let’s remember that it is not our determination but Jesus’s determination that will save and deliver us.

Jesus doesn’t walk away from the cross because Peter denied Him. No, Jesus continued to the cross to die for Peter’s denial of Him.

Jesus knew that Peter would deny Him but prayed that he would repent of that denial and strengthen his brothers once again (Luke 22:32).

Satan had asked to sift Peter like wheat and God permitted it so that Peter would learn that his determination was nothing.

His strength was nothing.

That Jesus was everything!

That Peter wasn’t the hero, but that Jesus was the Savior!

With every sin we deny Jesus. Not in the same way Peter did of course, but we deny Him nonetheless.

We deny that the work of Christ has set us free from the power of sin.

We deny that the Spirit of Christ has empowered us to say no to sin.

We deny that we are in fact dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

We remember our sins—our denials of Him—and marvel at how quickly our determination to obey, follow, or stand for Him evaporated under the heat of temptation or trial.

But we can repent, and we can be encouraged. Though our determination to serve Him fails, His determination to save us cannot fail.

Though we deny Him, He has prayed for us.

Though we deny Him, He has died for us.

[TS] …

Part #3: Remembering and Weeping (61-62)

Luke 22:61–62 NASB95

61 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.

[EXP] You’ve heard the expression, “If looks could kill...” but that wasn’t the kind of look that Jesus gave to Peter. Jesus didn’t give Peter an angry look or disgusted look or even a disappointed look. Jesus’s look was a reminder— “The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered...”

What did Peter remember?

He remembered that Jesus said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times,” (61).

He no doubt remembered how he had boasted, “Even if everyone falls away because of you, I will never fall away… Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you,” (Matt. 26:33, 35).

What did Peter now understand?

He now understood that Jesus was right. He had denied Jesus just as Jesus said he would.

But he also now understood who he was. Jesus wasn’t just right about what Peter would do but about who he was.

Peter thought of himself as the faithful one, the hero, the one who would be next to Jesus to the bitter end. “Even if everyone falls away because of you, I will never fall away… Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you.”

You can hear the self-reliance in his words, “I will never fall away… Even if I have to die with you, I will never fall away.”

But in this moment as Jesus looked him in the eye after his denial, Peter knew that he was not faithful and that he was no hero. He was a denier.

Why did Peter weep?

He wept because he denied Jesus.

He wept because he didn’t remain faithful to Jesus unto death.

He wept because Peter learned that Peter wasn’t all that.

He wasn’t faithful enough or strong enough or spiritual enough or tough enough.

He wept because he had fallen short.

He wept because he learned that he wasn’t the faithful hero in the story.

He wept because he learned that he was the big-talking friend who turned coward when things got rough.

[ILLUS] My friends and I were once having a conversation about prisoners of war being tortured for information. We were talking about types of torture that we thought we could handle and other types that we were certain that we couldn’t.

Of course, some guys are like, “I’d never break. I’d never give up any information. They’d just have to kill me. I’d never talk no matter how they tortured me.”

I know myself so I told my friends, “Look, if I’m ever taken prisoner, you need to move the headquarters. One good punch in the stomach and I’m talking!”

[APP] You see, we all like to think of ourselves as tough, as faithful, as able to endure to the bitter end, but the truth is we aren’t that tough. One good punch, one good hardship or persecution and we will find that we are not as faithful as we would have liked to believe. We will find that all our boasting and bragging (even if it was just internal boasting and bragging in our own hearts)—all of it amounts to nothing.

So what should we do?

We should pray. That’s what Jesus instructed Peter to do. “Pray, Peter, because Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. Pray that you do not fall into temptation.”

We should also depend on Jesus as the faithful hero, the tough one who did indeed endure to the bitter end. You see, Peter thought of himself as the tough hero, but Jesus was the tough hero. We must understand that faith in Jesus doesn’t turn us into heroes, but makes us dependent upon the one who is!

We must look to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith!

We must call on that name which is the only name under heaven given among men by which they must be saved!

We must call on Jesus who said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me…(and) I lay my life down for the sheep; I lay it down and I take it up again.”

Let’s let our boasting not be boasting in ourselves but boasting in Jesus!

I’m not tough. He is!

I’m not faithful! He is!

I’m a sinner saved by His perfect sacrifice!

I’m a rebel reconciled by His grace!

Have you been depending on your own strength? Have you been boasting in yourself? If so, stop the foolishness before you find yourself remembering and weeping like Peter.

Remembering that Jesus warned you of your unfaithfulness.

Weeping because your unfaithfulness has proved Him right.

Stop your foolish dependence upon self.

Depend on Jesus alone.

[TS] …

CONCLUSION

[PRAYER]