The Progression of Denial

Palm Sunday

Thursday night, Friday morning of Passion week

Matthew 26:31-35 and 69-75

ETS: Peter denied knowing Jesus.

ESS: We should commit to remaining near to Jesus understanding the dangers of straying away.

OSS: [MO: Devotional] {SO: I want the hearers to commit to intentionally pursuing nearness to Jesus.}

PQ: What acts occur in the progression of the denial?

UW: acts

Intro.: [AGS]:The teenage boy who has a crush. He talks privately to “the guys” about his feelings towards the girl, but when he is asked publicly by the girl’s friends, he denies anything involving a crush in order to avoid public humiliation and the risk involved with admitting the crush (i.e., being made fun of, mushy side exposed, etc.). [RS]: Perhaps each of us have faced an experience similar to this. Maybe not involving a girl/boy and a crush, but in some way, we’ve been faced with the choice as to whether to admit something with great cost involved or to deny something and perhaps get off without paying the price. [TS]: This is exactly the situation recorded in the text for today. The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26, records that Peter and the disciples were with Jesus. This was during “holy week” or “passion week” and specifically, this was on Thursday. Jesus predicted that the disciples would fall away from following Him, and He specifically predicted that Peter would deny Him. Further in the text, we arrive at one of those encounters: Peter was faced with a choice: do I admit to having association with Him and potentially involve myself in the suffering and humiliation of Him or do I deny even knowing Him and perhaps get off without facing the suffering and humiliation? Peter chose the second option. He denied knowing His Lord. However, the progression of the event may not be exactly as you expect, though not surprising, either.

TS: Let us examine together the progression of the denial account.

The first act of the progression is the prediction. (vv. 31-35)

Jesus predicted that all of the disciples would fall away from following Him. Specifically, He predicted that Peter would deny Him.

Notice, though, Peter’s confidence. Perhaps, a better word: pride.

Peter declared that even if everyone else fell away, he would never fall away. Furthermore, Peter stated that even if he had to die with Jesus, he would never deny Him.

While Peter was with Jesus, he was perhaps overly confident and prideful.

APPLICATION: Perhaps for us, when we are the closest to Jesus is when we become prideful and the most vulnerable to attack. One person said instead of having the mentality of “it’ll never happen to me,” we should adopt the mentality of “it can happen to me.” We must not be too prideful or arrogant and let our guards down. We must rely on Him. We remember Proverbs 16:18 as a warning: “pride goes before destruction...”

The second act of the progression is the testing. (vv. 69-74a)

Two aspects of the progression are important to notice here: (1) the progression of the denial itself; (2) the progression of the physical proximity of Peter to Jesus.

(1) The denial became increasingly intense with each question. He first simply stated He didn’t know Jesus. Then, he strengthened the statement with an oath. Then, he began cursing and swearing. Stewart Webber highlighted the strength of an oath in Jewish culture involving God in the equation and directly inviting the judgement of God if falsely giving an oath. (Webber, HNTC, 448) Furthermore, the issue of cursing- could likely have been towards himself, but it could have also been cursing towards God. Church history supports that in a period later than this, for a person to show authenticity in recanting their faith, they had to curse God.

(2) The proximity: vv. 31-35 record Peter with Jesus; v. 58 records Peter following at a distance; v. 69 records Peter outside the courtyard (inside the structure, not in the same room); v. 71 records Jesus in the gateway or porch; v. 75 records Jesus outside. The progression is a gradual move away from Jesus in physical proximity.

APPLICATION: Perhaps when we choose something other than God, thus denying God in our actions, we grow increasingly intense in our response about God. (Testimony period 13-14 when asked about calling); Additionally, perhaps as we deny God with our actions, we move further away from Him as Peter did.

The third act of the progression is the sorrow. (vv. 74b-75)

Peter remembered the words spoken by Jesus, went outside, and wept bitterly.

Peter was broken when he realized what had taken place. Peter was filled with sorrow.

APPLICATION: When we realize our offenses against God, we should be broken. It should cause us great sorrow when we realize that we have offended our Lord, a holy God who is without sin. Ultimately, when we willingly choose sin in our life, we deny Him with our actions. We deny His blessing. We deny His power. We deny His influence. We deny Him. That should cause great sorrow for us.

CONCLUSION:

Each of us, at some time or another, perhaps daily, are encountered with the choice as to whether to live for Jesus acknowledging His power, influence, and presence at work in our lives no matter the risk involved or to deny Jesus dismissing His power, influence, and presence in our lives.

The key question is this: Have I acknowledged Jesus or denied Him in my own life?

The call to response is this: I want you to renew your commitment to the Lord today, acknowledging your need for Him and the danger of denying Him.