Unshaken by Desertion

Last week we looked at the cross of Christ and the man in the middle. Rightly so, seeing as we celebrated Easter. We talked about the man that is called Jesus that ultimately died for our sins. The Son of God who was wrongly accused our sins and died so that we could live. So that we could have eternal life. We evaluated the two men on either side. The one that mocked and ridiculed and the one that humbly accepted Christ. Basically summed up acceptance and rejection. But I think given the events of the cross, its important to focus on the failures of those around the Lord. Those that had followed him during this ministry on the earth. The ones that had ministered with him for the past 3 1/2 years. But when the time of the cross came, when the time for Jesus to die, all except one of his disciples left him. Tonight we are going to look at one of those disciples, probably one of the most famous disciples by the name of Peter.

Jesus is referring here to the fulfilment of His mission on earth which will take place the next day on the cross. Here is the fulfillment of His destiny, that which was promised by the prophets. The prophets looked forward with great delight--the ultimate day in the history of the world, the day when tear in the fabric of human history would be mended a day of great joy.

Tearing Down Peter’s Pride (John 13:5-9)

John 13:5–9 KJV 1900

After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

Peter’s Problem

Peter was among the others and he sounds as if he is the most sinful of all disciples.

His humility has a hint of pride

He is showing others how much he loves Jesus

Almost to the point that his devotion to Christ far exceeds theirs

The Gospel of Luke tell us that Jesus would later in this same situation that Satan desires to sift Peter like wheat.

But due to the prayer of Jesus, Peter’s faith will stay in fact

We know that his faith is extremely shaken but it is never broken.

Peter makes a very prideful statement

Again, the other disciples are sitting with him

He is ready to go to prison and experience death

Jesus already knew what would happen

He knew that Peter’s pride had to be broken

Jesus didn’t pray that Peter would be kept from Satan’s sifting but that through it he would be changed

Through his suffering Peter’s self-confidence would be stripped away

His proud spirit would be humbled

Satan is used as a tool by our Lord to accomplish God’s purpose in refining Peter

In Satan’s mind he would be rendering useless for God

But in the mind of Christ, Satan would make Peter into a true disciple

This is a valuable lesson for us

God knows everything

He knows what it takes to perfect us

He knows what to apply to our soul to cause us to be changed into His image.

We can trust God that whatever the Lord sends our way will ultimately be for our good and His glory.

Peter’s Denial (v.60-62)

It was after the third denial

We see that Peter’s pride was crushed

His self-reliance was torn away

He was only left with the memory failed boasts

You have to understand that this is the same disciple who was telling Jesus in front of the other disciples that he was going to die with Christ.

Not once, twice, but three times he denies Christ and each denial gets more intense

The first denial is a private one and is accomplished with just Peter and a handmaiden

She identifies Peter as a follower of Christ and he denies it

This is the denial that I think a majority of us find ourselves involved in

I think that we often think of denial as this big public event but that is only one form of denial

We find that denial takes many forms and often times it takes the form of omission of truth

This happens when people ask us what our plans are for the weekend and we list everything but church.

When we have things going on and don’t bother inviting our unsaved friends to the event.

The second denial is more of a public denial and is done with others in the courtyard

The third denial was the worst of them all

It was the most public and defaming one of all time

Scholars believe that a large crowd was gathered at this time

People begin to associate Peter with Christ based on the way that he talks

So he curses to fit in with the group

For some of you, this is how you choose to live your life

Some of you have this two life persona

You play the part you need to play in order to keep your parents off your back

To fool those around you

To give the impression that actually care about the things of God

All the while, when you are with the crowd you find yourself talking, acting, and behaving in a manner completely different than what you know is right.

Illustration: One denial leads to two; two lead to three. Our descent away from God always grows steeper and faster. Have you watched sledding competition during the Winter Olympics? Sledders exceed 65 mph at the end of the course! And it all started by purposely pushing away from level ground.

Building Up Peter’s Soul (John

John 21:15–17 KJV 1900

So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

Here we have Christ giving Peter the opportunity before all His disciples to confess his self-reliance and show his changed spirit. 

Peter has been humbled by Satan’s work. 

He is not rendered useless as Satan hoped but made powerful as Jesus knew.

First Round of Restoration

Jesus gently ask Peter, do you love me more than these?

There are at least three possible meanings here.

Do you love Me more than your fishing nets, boats etc?  Do you love Me more than your former way of life?  After all at the first sign of trouble Peter went fishing.

Do you love me more than you love these other disciples?

Do you love Me more than these other disciples love Me?

I believe Jesus had this last one in mind.  This was the essence of Peter’s sin of pride.  Previously he was convinced that his love for Christ exceeded anyone else’s.

Peter’s response

Peter’s reply shows his humility. 

He knew that his self-reliance is prone to fail. 

He also knows that his boasting of his love for Christ was what led to his fall. 

He answers, Lord You know that I love you affectionately.

Peter wasn’t going where he once went. 

His humble reply was exactly what Jesus was after.  Jesus now restores this fallen apostle to his rightful place. 

Peter’s mission was to take care of the young church that Jesus established.

When Jesus says to feed his lambs

This literally means to care for my young believers

Second round of restoration

Jesus reaffirms His fallen apostle

He tells him to shepherd the people and to discipline them

This idea here is not in the sense of negative discipline but more along the lines of making them stronger

Third round

This time Peter made the connection

Christ was giving Peter the opportunity to retract his former boasts and past his denial.

We can compare Peter’s grieving over his sin with his weeping bitterly after he denied Christ the third time

Jesus now changes His question to use the same word Peter was using

Do you have any affection for me?

Jesus was putting the final touches on Satan’s work of humbling Peter?

We should also see that one difference is that Christ is not saying now, do you love Me more than these but simply do YOU love Me.

In the first round Jesus challenges the superiority of Peter’s love

In the second question, Jesus challenged Peter to see if he had any love at for Christ

In the third question, Jesus challenged Peter to see if he had any affection for Christ

We are given the privlege to see the transforming effects of divine grace

Peter would not boast that his love was superior

He wouldn’t even say that he had any affection for Christ

Even though Peter failed Christ when He needed him the most

Even though Peter denied that He knew who Christ was

Even though someone watched they could see no love in the heart of Peter

He relies on the all knowing ability of Christ

In grace, Christ blots out Peter’s sin and restores him to a more effective apostle than ever

When we first meet Peter, the dude is thick-headed, he is stubborn, and truthfully prideful. He’s got a lot going on internally that needs to be addressed. The thing is it goes unchecked for a long time. He brings his natural personality and his natural state of mind into his relationship with Christ. This affects his service and devotion and ultimately leads to his desertion of Christ. I firmly believe that this prayer of Christ to preserve the faith of Peter is the only reason that we can read John 21 and see that Peter’s service is restored wholly.

Like Peter, we deal with a variety of issue and problems but for the most part it is our pride. Our pride is the very thing that leads to our destruction and ultimately our desertion of God. For many of us, the shame of being far way from God and denying him both privately and publicly. We should know that there is hope, restoration, and forgiveness from all of the things that have kept us from God.