07.03.22 - John 18:15-27 - Peter and Jesus on Trial!

Main Point/Theme: Peter and Jesus on Trial!

Bible Text: John 18:15-27

What is the Theme:

Introduction

Over the past few month we have continually seen the life of Jesus through the book of John. Through all of this time And we see the sovereignty of Jesus throughout his life. Jesus is in ultimate control of everything that has been going on taking place and was about to happen. This morning we’re going to be continuing to talk about this trial taking place that is going against the law and is ultimately being done in a way to set Jesus up. Nothing Jesus has done is wrong and everything being asked of him and said towards him is in a way to provoke this false trial to ultimately lead to the crucifixion of Jesus.

But what I want to remind everyone of this morning is that all though this looks like Jesus has been led to something because of the actions of Judas or because of the actions of peters denial remember that Jesus orchestrated everything. Everything that has happened in life Jesus has positioned himself into to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah in Isaiah 53.

As we start to read this next passage I want to remind everybody of the fact that Jesus is under control of everything that is happening and he’s doing this and putting himself in place in the situation to fulfill what was told.

1 - Expository preaching through the passage:

So before this passage begins we remember that Jesus has been taken and is now being led to Annas whom is the father in law to the current high priest. Annas was the high priest and still holds significant influence, but was removed by the Romans from office before the trial took place. So Jesus is brought before him because those leading Jesus cant just go straight to the top because this is a completely false and made up trial in order to frame Jesus, so they need to put all their ducks in a row in order for this to work. So they went before Annas first and this is where we are at this morning.

John 18:15–18 (NIV)

15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, 16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.

17 “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.

He replied, “I am not.”

18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

This is the first of the three denials that Peter makes which was foretold by Jesus because as I stated before Jesus has his hand in everything and has supreme control over everything that is happening and has put himself into the situation in order to fulfill what is needed to be fulfilled to save us from our sins.

Let’s take a break right here just for a few minutes because I want to emphasize something that most of us honestly may not even think about. When we speak of peter denying Jesus, a lot of times it’s really looked at as this negative part of the life of peter and his walk in faith. Which yes, it is it if we look at it like this but understanding that Jesus places everything as it needs to be, to fulfill what needs to be fulfilled, we can’t blame Peter solely for these actions.

Peter is human just like you and me and fails all the time just like you and me, but the great thing is, is that Jesus uses these faults to fulfill his mission.

You can see if we go back to Luke 22:31 Jesus tells Peter,

Luke 22:31 (NIV)

31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.

What Jesus is talking about is the knowing and understanding that all those Peter is denying Christ in this moment through that denial peter is going to grow and flourish and strengthen the mission of Jesus Christ. This situation fuels the fire of Peter.

Because through this moment of doubt in the life of peter, Jesus is able to build him up into a force to be reckoned with. Because of what Peter went through.

It looks harsh because we don’t know beyond what we are doing, but God knows beyond what we are doing, seeing and living and is able to know what circumstances will best give the option to glorify God.

Application Point 1:

And this can happen for you and me. We are sinful nature we are human and we will make mistakes but Jesus can use those mistakes for his benefit and his glory so if you know that and realize that you can also use those mistakes to fuel your fire for Jesus in your life. Instead of beating yourself up and putting yourself down and saying there is no way I can do this… STOP. Because although this is true if you do it alone we instead have the power of Jesus in our lives to give us what is needed to fulfill his mission in the world.

So we have the chance every day to go out there and change the course of our actions and through our doubt we have the ability to Trust God. So do you trust Him enough in your life to not deny him to those around you?

Lets Continue this morning in verse John 18:19-23

John 18:19–23 (NIV)

19 Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.

20 “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 21 Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.”

22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.

23 “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?”

Now we have transitioned into looking into the trial part of this section this morning where Jesus is before Annus in this made-up trial. If we look back in John chapter 11 after the Resurrection of Lazarus, there was a plot to kill Jesus. The Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin and started speaking about what Jesus was doing and they said in

John 11:48 (NIV)

48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

So, from this point forward they want it to place Jesus in a situation that would convict him of wrongdoing. But Jesus isn’t allowing this, Jesus is aware of the law and when he is questioned by Anna’s he’s simply replies in verse 20,

John 18:20 (NIV)

20 “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret.

Jesus isn’t going to allow them to put words in his mouth to make him seem like he is self-incriminating himself by choosing to respond to these questions. This is how it works with our fifth amendment today. If you do not know the fifth amendment and just have seen it in movies it is the law that an individual cannot be compelled by the government to provide incriminating information about herself. The right to remain silent.

Application #2

How often do you think you self incriminate yourself in your life by the responses you give? Sometimes it pays to not feed into the situations around you. Yes we are all sinners and have things in our lives, but think about this as well. Not only did Jesus not incriminate himself, He didn't deny the truth either. He stuck to the truth and sometimes we shy away from that out of fear of what could happen in our lives.

So stand firm in your faith and against what others are saying to you because the truth of Jesus will always come out on top even if you don’t see it yet.

So Jesus is standing here not allowing himself to be self-incriminated by the questions he is being asked.

So what Jesus is saying to them is to call a witness to speak of what these leaders are trying to get Jesus to admit to. Then what we see is one of the officials slap Jesus in the face because who is standing up for what was right. Because Jesus didn’t just falsely incriminate himself and just agree to what they were saying he was beating them at their own game and this made them furious.

And then once again we see Jesus say if I did something wrong testify to it. If I have said something wrong tell me because he spoke true there was nothing they could say against him. So realizing they were getting nowhere in this

Lets continue:

John 18:24–27 (NIV)

24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

25 Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?”

He denied it, saying, “I am not.”

26 One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.

Here was a chance for Peter to redeem himself from previously denying Jesus, but once again he folds under pressure. But being caught in the heat of the moment Peter did not do himself any favors. Instead, Peter completed the denial of Jesus that was foretold by Jesus prior. Through this we continue to see the fact that Jesus has his hand in everything and although this was most likely very hard on Peter we can also how this relates to us in our own lives.

Don’t discount what peter has done or will do in the future from these events. Just because Peter denied Jesus three times in this one situation doesn’t mean that Peter is unfaithful and uncommitted. Remember Peter drew a sword and cut off a guard’s ear in John 18 to defend Jesus being arrested, then we will see in the future that Peter will come to convert about three thousand people in Acts chapter 2 after the resurrection of Jesus.

What I see here is not the failure of Peter, but instead the ability for God to use the failures to build Peter up into a powerhouse.

This is what God can do for you as well. Take the moments that you see as failures and and hopeless moments in your Christian walk and use them to build you up and guide you to become stronger.

“Through failure we learn to succeed and the only time we truly fail is when we choose to stop moving forward.”

Peter failed and for a time chose to stop because of that failure, but what matters is at some point Peter kept moving forward and this is what we should learn from this passage. Although we will have times in our lives we will think we failed, Jesus can use those instances to build us up to glorify Him if you choose to keep moving forward.

Closing:

So if you think you are a failure remember Jesus loves to restore those failures and you’re in the right place this morning because we are going to be taking the elements of communion this morning where you can cleanse your life from your sins and be covered through the love and sacrifice of Jesus has for you.

You may feel far from God, but he isn’t far from you. One step and you can come back to God in your life.

Don’t let the fear of failure control your life and make you feel insignificant, instead embrace the failure to allow you to grow and become stronger for the mission of Christ in your life.

Jesus knows we are going to fail and He uses those situations to fulfill his mission still. This is why Jesus came and died on the cross because we are imperfect and incapable of being free from sin. But Jesus is free from sin and his actions even through these trials continues to show his perfect life. And it is because of his perfect life and dearth on the cross is why we have the ability to fail and learn from these failures. We then have the choice to learn and continue growing through those situations in order become a better person for ourselves and for God in our life.

Lets Pray

Communion