Sermon Tone Analysis

Let’s look to the Lord in prayer before we begin our time in the Word this morning.

Pray

If you would, please turn with me in your bibles to Luke 22: 54-62.

As you are aware, today is Palm Sunday, also known as Passion Sunday, as today begins what is commonly known as the Passion week.

This Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, in which we remember the final week of Christ’s earthly ministry, culminating in His death, burial, and on Easter, His resurrection.

On Palm Sunday, we typically talk about the Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem in which Jesus entered the city, fulfilling prophecy by riding on a young donkey as the people proclaimed “Hosanna!

Glory to God in the highest!”

Just a few short days later another crowd of people would be crying out, “Crucify Him!” It was during this crucial week that Jesus had his “Last Supper” with His disciples in the upper room, proclaimed His impending betrayal, necessary death, and subsequent resurrection.

As we think of Holy Week, I want us to look ahead in that week to see something remarkable that happened on the night Jesus was betrayed.

I want us to see the grace of God in a particularly difficult moment, and then we will look at how this story affects us today.

So with that being said, look with me to Luke 22:54-62.

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For context, this story comes after Jesus was seized in the garden, in which during the commotion Peter lunged forward to protect Jesus and managed to cut off the ear of a guard.

Jesus healed the guard and Peter was not arrested.

Seemingly the disciples scattered after that and only Peter followed trying to keep an eye on what was happening to Jesus.

Earlier that night, Jesus warned that someone was going to betray Him.

He then told them that the disciples would fall away as the Shepherd must be struck and the flock would scatter.

T

his revelation prompted an outburst from Peter.

He boldly proclaimed that he would never fall away, even if all the others did.

Jesus told Peter that Satan had been asking for permission to sift him like wheat, but Jesus prayed that his faith would not fail, and then Jesus said to Peter, “And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Peter, again, boldly stated, “he was ready to go to prison and even to die with Christ.”

That is the moment in which Jesus shared that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed.

One quick thing, which we cannot unpack, but I want you to tuck away, is that Jesus shared that He had prayed for Peter, that His faith wouldn’t fail and that he would be restored.

He did not say that He prayed the same for Judas, however.

I think this is fascinating, and it shows Jesus’ omniscience in that He knew all that was about to happen, and He knew what was in the hearts of those around Him, as He knows what’s in our hearts today.

Though we may stumble, at times, I pray that for each and every one of us, that our faith holds strong, and that we return to the Lord, knowing that He is gracious and kind, willing to forgive.

Let’s look at Peter’s Denial of Jesus.

Afterward we will find application together.

Peter’s Denial of Jesus

We’re going to see, quickly, that Peter’s denial of Jesus was immediate, intentional, but inadequate.

1.

It was Immediate

It was a cold night, and some of the folks outside, near the High Priest’s home had started a fire.

Peter, not being from there, tried to blend in with the locals and keep an eye on what was happening to Jesus.

While he was sitting near the fire, a young servant girl said, she recognized him as one of Jesus’ followers, and he immediately denied it.

In fact, all three times, he denied following or knowing Christ.

This is the same man who earlier that night said he was ready to go to prison or to die with Christ.

Now a simple servant girl has frightened him.

Though he was brave enough to follow Christ at a distance, through the crowds on the way to the High Priest’s home, he was now too afraid to admit even knowing Jesus.

When push came to shove, he immediately denied knowing Christ.

His denial was immediate, and it was intentional.

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2. It was Intentional

Peter’s denial wasn’t just a simple misstatement, nor was it a knee-jerk reaction.

Peter emphatically denied three separate times in three different ways.

The first time, he said he didn’t know Jesus, the second time he denied being a disciple of Jesus, and the third time he pretended he had no idea what the people were even talking about.

One commentary shares this:

Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 (Once, Twice, Three Times a Sinner)

Afterwards, he would never be able to say that it had all been some sort of misunderstanding, that he hadn’t really denied Jesus.

No, Peter denied the Christ about as thoroughly as anyone could.

So he immediately and intentionally denied knowing or following Christ.

That much we’ve seen.

He did all of this inadequately, though.

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3. It was Inadequate

When the people saw him, they recognized his face, having seen him with Jesus.

As one of the closest disciples to Jesus, Peter had a bit of a reputation because he could always be found with Jesus.

On top of that, when he spoke, his accent gave him away.

The third person to accuse Peter said, Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.”

When Peter spoke, it was obvious he wasn’t from Jerusalem, but rather from Galilee where most of the disciples were from.

None of the people around him believed his story.

Peter immediately and intentionally, albeit inadequately denied knowing and following Jesus.

He did this out of fear.

The man who so proudly boasted that he would never fall away, within short order failed to proclaim the same Jesus he boasted that he was ready to die with.

Peter hadn’t fooled any of them, but before he could deal with what he had just done, as he was denying for the third time, Jesus looked at him.

He heard the rooster crow, and went away weeping bitterly.

Let’s look for application in this.

For our purposes this morning, I want to point out some valuable lessons we find in Peter’s denials.

The first is to be mindful of your witness to those around you, and not just the private promises you make to God.

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Be Mindful of Your Witness

Peter boldly, and pridefully, promised Jesus that he was ready and willing to die with Jesus, back in Luke 22:33.

In fact, Peter was the one who confessed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt.

16:16).

He was the one who said, “Lord, to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

Then on the night of betrayal, he promised to follow Jesus to the very death.

These were all private proclamations, though.

These were all things Peter said when he was either alone with Jesus, or surrounded by other disciples.

Once Peter had the opportunity to publicly proclaim his faith, in keeping with his private promises, he wasn’t exactly at a loss for words, he just used the wrong ones and failed to back up his earlier bold statements.

Many of us make bold promises to God in private moments, don’t we.

Without a show of hands, how many of us have promised that if God gets us out of a particularly difficult moment we will get back to church, or start praying more, or give more money from now on, so on and so forth?

How are we doing on those promises?

One preacher has said, “The real test of our discipleship is what we say and do when we are under pressure to take a stand for Christ.

What do we say then?”

Unless we are mindful of our witness and speak up when it matters, we run the risk of becoming deniers ourselves.

That same preacher went on to say:

I deny Christ when I talk with my friends about being involved at church, but not about what it means to know Jesus.

I deny Christ when there is so little that is distinctive about the way I live that people at work or school do not even know that I am a Christian.

I deny Christ when I am so afraid about what people think that I shrink back from telling people the biblical truth about controversial issues like abortion, or homosexuality, or the unique claims of Jesus Christ as the world’s only Savior.

I deny Christ when I say something a Christian shouldn’t say or do something a Christian shouldn’t do because I want to have fun or to be popular.

But if I cannot speak up and say something for Jesus, then what kind of disciple am I anyway?

Peter’s real test wasn’t in the garden or the upper room.

His test was out near the fire, as someone said, “Certainly this man was with Him.”

They were saying, in truth, this man also was with him.

Peter had a chance to share the truth, either he was with Jesus or he wasn’t, and Peter failed the test.

What about you and I? Rather than relying on bold statements made in private as the measure of our faith, let’s ask Jesus for the grace to be bold in our witness.

May we be mindful of our witness to the world.

The second lesson we see in the denial of Christ is that Jesus Knows Your Weakness.

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Jesus Knows Your Weakness