Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.56LIKELY
Disgust
0.1UNLIKELY
Fear
0.66LIKELY
Joy
0.6LIKELY
Sadness
0.61LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.18UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.56LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.82LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.87LIKELY
Extraversion
0.19UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.96LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.68LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Open your Bibles to Mark 14:66-72.
•We’re continuing our study of the Gospel of Mark.
•This morning we come to Mark’s account of Peter’s denial of Christ.
Last week we saw our Lord Jesus on trial before the Sanhedrin.
•We saw how His trial was a great miscarriage of justice.
We saw how Jesus was mistreated.
And we saw how He suffered it all for our sake.
But now this week we turn to another trial that took place that night: The Trial of the Apostle Peter.
•Peter wasn’t tried before any formal court that night.
He did not stand before religious and civil rulers.
•No, he stood before a servant girl and some bystanders in the courtyard of the high priest’s home.
•And there he was put on trial, so to speak, for being a disciple of Jesus.
•The accusation against him was this: “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”
•He was accused of being a follower of Christ.
•And Peter fought this accusation tooth and nail.
He denied it.
On three occasions, he denied it.
Peter was tempted that night.
And he failed.
•He was tempted to distance himself from Christ before men.
He was tempted to value himself more highly than Jesus.
He was tempted to fear men more than God incarnate.
•And he fell into temptation.
He failed.
He failed miserably and was found unfaithful to the Lord.
Truly, this passage is a contrast between the Faithful and True Witness, Jesus Christ, and the faithless denial of His Apostle Peter.
•In the face of certain death, our Lord told the truth about Himself and refused to deny it.
•Peter, on the other hand, denied Christ instead of suffering for Him.
Brothers and sisters, our Lord gave us this record in Scripture for our benefit.
•He gave it to us so that we would see ourselves in Peter to some degree.
•He gave it to us as a warning that we too can fall.
•And He gave it to us as a reminder of the great love of Christ toward His straying sheep.
So, as I preach this text today, I hope be helpful.
•I hope to help you search your hearts a bit and think on how and why we deny Christ at times (or at least are tempted to).
•I hope to, by the truth of the Word of God, show you the shamefulness of denying Christ as a deterrent to future unfaithfulness.
•And I hope to teach you, from Peter’s failure, a couple of lessons about mercy.
Mercy both from Christ and toward one another.
•May God help us this morning to profit from the preaching of the Word of God.
If you would, and are able, please stand with me now for the reading of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God.
Mark 14:66-72
[66] And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came,
[67] and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”
[68] But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.”
And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed.
[69] And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.”
[70] But again he denied it.
And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”
[71] But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.”
[72] And immediately the rooster crowed a second time.
And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
And he broke down and wept.
(PRAY)
Our Heavenly Father,
We thank you for the privilege of sitting under the ministry of your Word.
Please, God, reveal yourself to us this morning through the preaching of your Word.
By your Spirit do great things in us: Reveal our sin, rebuke us, grant us repentance, exhort us, encourage us, and show us our Savior, your Son.
Let us leave here this morning saying, “Surely, God met with us today at His Word.
God has been in this place.”
Bless us, teach us, and sanctify us.
Glorify yourself in us by your Word and Spirit.
We ask these things in Jesus’ Name and for His sake.
Amen.
1.)
CONTEXT: On this very same night, our Lord had given a prophecy about His disciples.
•In 14:26-31 Jesus had told them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’”
•Peter denied that he would be unfaithful to Jesus.
He said, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.”
•And our Lord responded to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
•But Peter again denied that it would happen.
He said, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.”
Our Lord had foretold what Peter would do.
•Before the rooster crowed twice, Peter would deny Him on three separate occasions.
Before the morning came, Peter would publicly disown Jesus.
•But Peter was so self-assured, that he didn’t take Jesus seriously.
He believed he was strong in himself and would never deny Jesus.
We fast-forward to v54 and we read of how after Jesus was arrested, and all the disciples scattered, Peter followed the crowd to see what would become of Him.
•“And Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest.
And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire.”
•You’ve got to give Peter some credit.
He followed Jesus to His trial.
He did it at a distance, sure.
But still, this is evidence that he loved Jesus.
So here Peter sits near a fire, the fire casting light on his face as he is warming himself in the cold night in the high priest’s courtyard.
•He is among the guards.
Probably near some of the men who arrested Jesus.
But he has gone unnoticed so far.
•But that doesn’t last for long.
•V66 picks up right where v54 left off.
It seems that Mark wants us to see that Jesus’ trial and Peter’s denial were happening at the same time.
•While our Lord is inside, in an upper room, being tried before the Sanhedrin, Peter is below in the courtyard being tried by civilians.
Mark tells us that a servant girl of the high priest came up to Peter as he sat by the fire and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”
•She recognized Peter.
And she says, “You’re one of the men who was with Jesus.
You’re one of His disciples.”
•I doubt she was in the Garden of Gethsemane that evening.
It’s more likely that she had seen Jesus and His disciples in the Temple that week.
•And wherever Jesus was, Peter was there too.
•She recognized Peter.
And she called him out as a disciple.
But Peter denied it.
•V68 says, “But he denied it saying, ‘I neither know nor understand what you mean.’”
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9