Peter: The Tragedy of Self-Trust

March 6, 2022 Preacher: Ace Davis Series: The Gospel According to Mark

Scripture: Mark 14:66-72

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47:13

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Peter, Jesus, deny, high priest, self-esteem, John, servant, disciple, trust, courtyard, verse, denial, Mark, Christ, Sanhedrin, wept, God, life, leads, Galilean

Table of Contents

Introduction.. - 1 -

Peter's name was changed. - 4 -

Peter loved to run his mouth.. - 4 -

Peter was weak in his flesh.. - 5 -

  1. The Weakness of Peter. - 5 -
  2. The Weeping of Peter. - 10 -

 

Introduction

We come to Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14, we're going to be in verses 66 through 72. One of the lies that is being propagated in our society, and our churches today is the idea that you and I need to have more self-esteem. We're being told that we need to care more for ourselves, that we need to love self more, that we need to trust more in ourselves. That we need to have greater confidence in ourselves. In fact, one popular health website says this, "Self-esteem is used to describe a person's overall subjective sense of personal worth or value. In other words, self-esteem may be defined as how much you appreciate, and like yourself, regardless of circumstances."  It goes on and says, "Self-esteem is an important component of overall health and well-being."

 

So according to them, if you want to have a healthier life, and better well-being, you need to have more self-esteem. Why should you have greater self-esteem and, and greater confidence? Well, because I'm great, and life is all about me. Society is pumping this into people's minds.

 

Oprah Winfrey has said this, only make decisions that support your self-image, self-esteem, or self-worth. And if you believe that lie, then the only decisions that you will make will be for the benefit of self. Which means when something doesn't go the way that you want it to go in life, then you think that you have the right to become angry, you have the right to vent your feelings, and you have the right to blame someone else because you have now become a victim. This is what self-esteem and self-love will lead to.

 

But this teaching is not only popular in the secular world, it's also rampant in the evangelical world as well. Joel Osteen, the "great Bible scholar" said this about Israel, and why they did not enter into the promised land. He said this, "their lack of faith and their lack of self-esteem, robbed them of the fruitful future God had in store for them. They never fulfilled their destiny, all because of the way they saw themselves."

 

The late Robert Schuller even redefined sin and the gospel all around a person's self-esteem. He said this, "Sin is any act or thought that robs myself or another human being of his or her self-esteem."  He also said this about being born again. He said, "To be born again means that we must be changed from a negative to a positive self-image, from inferiority to self-esteem, from fear to love, from doubt, to trust."  And what is that trust in? Who is that trust in? To him it would be trust in self, all about trusting in oneself.

 

The apostle Paul obviously didn't understand the gospel, and what it meant to be born again because he made statements like this: "Wretched man that I am." (Rom 7:24) Or when speaking of sinners, in 1 Timothy 1:15, Paul said, "I am the foremost of all." (1 Tim 1:15) Or speaking of him being chosen as an apostle, he says this, "For I am the least of the apostles and not fit to be called an apostle." (1 Cor 15:9)   Such low self-esteem Paul...where is your self-esteem? According to Osteen and Schuler, Paul would have been a terrible Christian in our day, because he had low self-esteem.

 

But why is this important for us to talk about? Because our world is filled with the lies of the devil that is telling people that they need to have greater self-esteem and that they need to trust in themselves more. That they need to have more confidence in themselves, that they have the power within themselves to do whatever it is that they want to do. But this is all a lie. It's a lie. It's not what God's Word teaches us.

 

In fact, God's Word tells us that we must deny ourselves, that we must die to self, that we must humble ourselves. Listen to what Jesus said in Luke 9:23. "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me."

 

Or Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." (Gal 2:20) Or in Matthew 23:12, "whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." (Matt 23:12)

 

You see, when whenever we begin to think too highly of ourselves, it always leads to trouble. Always. It will always lead us to trouble when we begin to think too highly of ourselves. We begin to have confidence in self, we begin to trust in self. And we then begin to think that we can do it on our own, all by ourselves.

 

And in our passage here this morning, we're going to see a man who did this very thing. We're going to see a man who had confidence in himself, who had high self-esteem, who had self-trust. And we're going to see a lesson about what happens when we begin to take our eyes off of Christ and begin to trust in ourselves.

 

So let me read our passage for us here. Mark, chapter 14, we will begin in verse 66. Follow along with me as I read our passage for us. “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 Jesus the Nazarene.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” And he went out onto the porch. 69 The servant-girl saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, “This is one of them!” 70 But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too.” 71 But he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this man you are talking about!” 72 Immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And he began to weep. (Mark 14: 66-72)

 

Now, what we have just read here in this passage, is the fulfillment of a prophecy. It's the fulfillment of a prophecy. If you remember from a few weeks ago, Christ predicted that Peter was going to deny Jesus. Not that Jesus was the cause for Peter's denial, or that He made Peter deny Him, but Jesus knew the weakness of Peter's flesh, and He knew that Peter was going to deny Him once the pressure was put upon him.

 

Now, let me help you understand what is going on here from a theological perspective. Peter's denial here did not mean that Peter was not saved. That's not what this means. You might think, well, what's the difference between Peter and Judas? Didn't both of them deny Jesus? They did. Both of them did deny Jesus. But Judas denied Jesus out of a heart that never trusted in Jesus, which is why he did not repent and run back to Jesus because he never trusted in Jesus in the first place. But instead, what did Judas do? He went out, and he hanged himself.

 

But Peter trusts in Jesus, his faith was in Jesus. But at this moment of time, when the pressure is put upon him, Peter fails, and he denies Jesus. And we all can relate to Peter here in some way, right? Every one of us in this room can relate to Peter here, in some way. You and I, as believers have all denied Jesus at some point in our lives, right? Every one of us has. Maybe we didn't shout out with curses and say, I don't know this man you're talking about. But all of us have, at some point, not spoken up about Christ when we should have, every one of us has. All of us have remained quiet in times when people begin to talk about religion, or about Jesus. And instead of proclaiming the gospel and pointing them to Christ, we have remained silent in that time. And by remaining silent we have denied Christ. We've been afraid to speak up for Jesus in those times. And we've all succumbed to the fear of man, and we have denied Jesus at some point in our lives as believers.

 

But listen, that doesn't mean that we lost our salvation. That doesn't mean that we're not saved. It should grieve us over that sin of denying Christ at that time, it should grieve us for not saying something when we should have. But it doesn't mean that we have lost our faith in Christ. This goes back to our study of the doctrines of grace. TULIP and the P there in TULIP, which stands for perseverance of the saints. That is that you and I cannot lose the salvation which is the free gift of God that has been given to us by Him. We cannot lose our salvation. Perseverance of the saints is the truth, that God by His own power, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, keeps or preserves the believer forever. He has granted us eternal life. Which means that life, that salvation that we have been given, is for eternity. We don't lose it. Even though we may have denied Christ at some point in our life, He will not deny us because He is the one who has saved us.

 

And the same is true here with Peter. Peter is not showing here that he is not saved. He is showing his sinful confidence in himself, and how when we put our confidence in self, we will fail. Always, we will fail.

 

Now in order to understand what's going on here, we need to be reminded of a few things about Peter.

 

Peter's name was changed.

 

First, we need to be reminded about his name. His name is Peter. That's obvious. But remember, that was not his original name. His original name was Simon, meaning God has heard. But Jesus changed his name to Peter, meaning rock, because the foundation of the church would be built upon the statement that Peter makes, in Matthew 16:16, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." That statement there is the foundation of the church. Peter is the one who proclaims that and declares that as the rock.

 

Now think about what that would do to you if Jesus changed your name to rock. Not some common name like Joe or Tom or Fred, but Rock. He changed his name to Rock. Would that give you some confidence? Of course, it would. And it must have given Peter some confidence, because he became very confident in himself. We also see that whenever Peter was acting like his old self, what would Jesus call him, then? He would call him Simon. So, Peter's name was changed to Peter, meaning rock.

 

Peter loved to run his mouth

 

Second, Peter was the disciple who loved to run his mouth. He loved to run his mouth. He was the spokesman for the 12. And he loved to answer Jesus questions. He was the one who answered Jesus when Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am." (Mark 8:29) in Mark chapter 8. Peter answered for the twelve and he said, "You are the Christ."  Peter was the one who answered that.

 

Then after Jesus told them that he was going to be rejected and killed and rise three days later, Peter has the audacity to pull Jesus aside and begin to rebuke Jesus. To which Jesus responded, "Get behind Me, Satan." (Mark 8:33)

 

Peter was there on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus, James and John, Moses and Elijah. And he was the one who told Jesus, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles. (Mark 9:5)  

 

And I love this. In Matthew 17, it says this, “While he (Peter) was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” (Matt 17:5) It's as if God cuts Peter off while Peter is still running his mouth and speaking, God cuts him off and He tells him, you listen to Jesus.

 

In Matthew 18, Peter came up to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? (Matt 18:21) And it is as if Peter is showing Jesus how generous he is here because the rabbi's taught that if you forgive someone up to three times, that is generous. That is what you are to do. That you must forgive someone up to three times. And so what Peter does is here he doubles that and he adds one trying to show off how generous he is in forgiving sinners. Up to seven times Jesus? Yeah, we know the rabbis teach three but up to seven times, Jesus? What did Jesus then respond to Peter? He says no Peter, 70 times seven. 490 times. Now Jesus doesn't mean they're on the 400 and 91st time that you don't have to forgive that person. Jesus is saying, always, you always forgive, not just seven times, but 70 times seven, always forgive.

 

Then, as we saw earlier in Mark 14, when Jesus told them that they would all fall away, it was Peter, who opened his big mouth and said, even though all may fall away, yet, I will not. Jesus then predicted that Peter would deny him three times. And what did Peter say again, "even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you." (Mark 14:29-31) Talk about self-confidence. This is a man who is full of self-confidence. This is a proud man. This is a man with great self-esteem, he viewed himself in too high esteem. But he would soon learn a lesson that he needed to think low of himself, he needed to think, low of himself.

 

Peter was weak in his flesh

 

So, Peter's name was Peter, meaning rock, Peter loved to run his mouth. And finally, Peter was also weak in his flesh. Peter was weak in his flesh. And he revealed that in the garden when Jesus told Peter, James and John to stay awake and to pray so that they would not be led into temptation. But what did they do? They all fell asleep, every one of them fell asleep. And remember, who did Jesus confront when he came and woke them up as they fall asleep there in the garden? Who did Jesus confront? He came up and confronted Peter, the leader of the twelve, the guy with the big mouth and the self confidence that he would never deny Jesus. Peter was the one whom Jesus confronted.

 

And He was revealing to Peter, the weakness of his flesh. Which is why He told Peter, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Mark 14:38) Your flesh is very weak Peter, and you need to understand that, and Peter needed to learn this lesson about the weakness of his flesh. Well, it's now time for him to learn this lesson. He's going to learn it the hard way.

 

1. The Weakness of Peter

 

So, let's look at our passage here. We're going to break it down into two points. Two points. Point number 1, we'll call the weakness of Peter, the weakness of Peter. Look at verse 66. “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 Jesus the Nazarene.” (Mark 14:66)

 

Now, if you remember what has happened with Jesus, Jesus was arrested in the garden. He was then taken over to Annas' house first. That was the first place He went to, was over to Annas’ house. Annas was not the acting high priest at this time. But he was the Supreme High Priest. He was the patriarch of the priestly family, and the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the acting High Priest during this time, Annas had ultimate authority. He has ultimate authority as the Supreme High Priest. But because these guys were of the same family, as the position of high priest had stayed in the family, they were very wealthy. This was a wealthy family. And they all lived in the same estate. The high priests would live there in the same estate.

 

And so, after going to see Annas first, it was not some far journey for them to take Jesus over to where Caiaphas was, and where the Sanhedrin were gathered. It wasn't a long journey for them. It was all happening there in the same estate. And this estate had a very large courtyard area. The courtyard would be surrounded by apartments, and there would be then a wall that would go all around this to guard and protect them.

 

Now, one might think, Well, how did Peter get in there? How does Peter end up in this courtyard of the estate? Well, we have to pull from some of the other gospels in order to understand this. The last time that we saw Peter if you remember, he cut off Malchus's ear in the garden, right? You remember that? He cut off Malchus’ ear. Jesus then healed Malchus's ear, and then they led Jesus away.

 

Luke tells us in Luke 22:54 that "Peter was following Jesus and the crowd at a distance." (Luke 22:54) And so as they arrest Jesus there in the garden, and they take Him away, and they lead Him back into Jerusalem into the city. Peter is following them at a distance. But John also tells us that there was another disciple (John 18:15) who was following along with Peter. So, you have Peter that's following Jesus in this crowd. And you also have another disciple who was following along with Peter. And who is that other disciple? This is most likely, John, because John never refers to himself in his gospel. So, when he says that there's another disciple who's following along, most likely, he's referring to himself here.

 

Once they arrive at the estate of Annas and Caiaphas, there would be a large gate that would be there around this estate. And so how did Peter get into the courtyard? How did he get into this estate? Listen to John 18:15, it says this, “Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, 16 but Peter was standing at the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter in.” (John 18:15-16) That's how Peter gets into the courtyard.

 

It's most likely John, who was there with Peter, and John has some connection to the high priest. There's some kind of relationship that John and his family have with the high priest. Some think that this was a family connection, possibly with John's father's business. John's father was a wealthy fisherman, and he had a large business. Possibly it was through his father's business that, that he had worked with the high priest and his family. But John had some kind of connection with the high priest. He was known to him. So, he was able then to get in there. And then John goes and tells the doorkeeper to let Peter in. And so that's how Peter gets into the gates into this courtyard, through the relationship of John, whose family had a relationship with the high priest.

 

Now notice that there's a doorkeeper. There's a doorkeeper there. Who is this doorkeeper, who let Peter in? John tells us in John 18:17, that it was "a slave girl of the high priest" (John 18:17) Her job was to watch the door, this slave girl, her job was to watch the door of the gate, she was the gatekeeper. And because of John's connection to the high priest, he got Peter into the courtyard so that he could watch, so that Peter could watch, from a distance and see what they were going to do with Jesus.

 

Remember, Peter is following at a distance this whole entire time, as Jesus is arrested, and then taken into this estate where the high priest is. Peter's following along. He's curious, he wants to know what is going to happen with Jesus. Notice what it says in verse 67, as Peter then gets into the courtyard, verse 67, "and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the Nazarene." (Mark 14:67)

 

This servant girl, who would have been a young girl sees Peter standing there warming himself by the fire. It's as if Peter was just trying to blend in with the crowd at this point. Wow, what great self-confidence that Peter has at this point. Hmm. Just trying to blend in with the crowd. He's just going to warm himself by the fire blend in with the crowd. John tells us that there were others that were gathered around the fire as well. John tells us that there were other slaves and officers who were standing around the fire. Most likely Roman guards, possibly even some of the Jewish temple police, who were there standing around this fire. They're all gathered around this fire with Peter as they are there warming themselves in the middle of the night.

 

Who are these people that are standing around this fire with Peter? These are a bunch of nobodies. They're a bunch of nobodies, they aren't the Sanhedrin, they aren't the high priests, or the Roman officials. These are just a bunch of nobody servants, the Roman guards and temple police, a bunch of servants. Servants of the high priest and the Roman guards. And this servant girl, this gatekeeper, saw Peter warming himself and then looked at Peter. And notice the two words that are there in verse 67. Notice this, it says, that "seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him."  Notice those two words Seeing and looked. Those two words there in the Greek imply that she glanced at him the first time, recognizing that he was a stranger who didn't belong there.

 

She glanced seeing Peter, she glanced over at him. And then she gives him a penetrating look, she looked at him. It's as if she recognizes him now. She realizes first that he's a stranger that he doesn't belong there. But now she recognizes...wait, I've seen this guy before. How would she have recognized Peter? Well, what has Peter been doing all week long? He's been hanging out with Jesus, right? This whole entire week, the Passion Week, he's been hanging out with Jesus, and where have they been? In Jerusalem, there on the temple grounds. And who was around watching Jesus and his disciples? The Sanhedrin.

 

And word obviously has spread around the whole Sanhedrin. And around to all of those who have worked for them to keep an eye on Jesus, watch this man. They're after Him. Remember, they don't want to lose sight of Jesus. Make sure you keep an eye on Him. This servant girl has obviously been one who has been keeping an eye on Jesus and been watching Him. And she notices that Peter is one of His disciples. He's one of the men who's been hanging out with Jesus this whole week. So she says, "You also were with Jesus, the Nazarene." (Mark 14:67)

 

Notice what she calls Jesus here. Jesus, the Nazarene. Why would she do this? She does this to show contempt for Jesus. It's as if she's looking down upon Jesus. Because Nazareth had a poor reputation among the Jewish leaders. Oh, you're with Him? Jesus, the Nazarene. Looking down upon Him for being from Nazareth. And people do this all the time. They look down upon others because they're from another city. Oh, you're from that city? Oh, you're one of them. That's what she's doing with Jesus. And so, she's essentially saying, You were with that man, Jesus, who is from Nazareth, weren't you?

 

John adds, "you are not also one of this man's disciples are you?" (John:18:17)

 

This must have shocked Peter, as he's standing there by this fire. Shocked him. Now, Jesus has told Peter that he is going to deny Him, right? He's already told him that this is going to happen. But you know that Peter did not think that his denial would come like this. With a servant girl confronting him around a bunch of nobodies, standing around a fire. This must have shocked this overly confident man. You can just see his face turn red at this point. What does he say? Look at what he says in verse 68. "But he denied it, saying I neither know nor understand what you're talking about. And he went out onto the porch." (Mark 14:68)

 

If you put his answer together from Luke, and John's accounts, it sounds like this, "woman, I am not. I do not know Him. I neither know nor understand what you're talking about."  Peter went from confidence to cowardice in an instant. Peter has become a coward. By one little accusation from a servant girl, his self-trust turns into self-protection. And he will do anything at this moment to save his skin. And isn't that what self-trust always leads to? Self-trust always leads to self-protection. Because you will always protect what you love the most.

 

We all do this; we will protect that which we love the most. And when you love yourself the most you then are going to protect yourself the most. And that is what Peter has done here. By denying Jesus. What does he do? He denies Jesus. And he doesn't just deny being a disciple of Jesus, but he denies even knowing Jesus. Think about this... after being poured into for three years of his life by Jesus, seeing all of the miracles and all of the provision and all the love and all the care of Jesus. Now he acts as if he doesn't even know Jesus.

 

Not even just denying that he was one of his disciples but denying that even knows Him. Then because he loved himself so much. He tries to save himself from the situation. What does he do? Look at the end of verse 68. And he went out onto the porch. (Mark 14:68)

 

This porch here would have been a covered archway that would have led out to the street. And it would have been away from the fire that they were standing around. And because this is in the middle of the night, this would have been a dark location. It's as if Peter tries to go and hide in the dark. Remember, this is all happening in the middle of the night between one and 3am. And what Peter does here is he tries to escape and get away into the dark where no one can see him.

 

Luke tells us that Peter hangs out there for a little while. He hangs out in the dark for a little while to escape the crowd to escape these nobodies who were standing around this fire, who were accusing him of being a disciple of Jesus. Luke tells us that Peter hangs us hangs out there for a little while, which means that this is not all happening at one moment. These aren't three denials back-to-back to back, this is happening over a period of two hours. As Peter goes and he hangs out in this porch area for a little while.

 

While Peter is hanging out there, over in this dark porch area, look at verse 69. "The servant girl saw him and began once more to say to the bystanders, this is one of them." (Mark 14:69) This servant girl now brings the crowd of bystanders along with her as they all begin to accuse Peter of being a disciple of Jesus. And if you were to look at all the Gospel accounts, you would see that the servant girl comes to bring another accusation against him. She comes and brings a second accusation.

 

Then there's another servant girl we see in Matthew 26, there's another servant girl among the crowd who accuses him. Then a man approaches him and claims that he was a disciple of Jesus, we see this in Luke 22. And then the whole group came up, and they pressed Peter accusing him of being a disciple of Jesus. In John 18 we see that. This is all happening in this second account, in the second denial here, all of them come. It's first the servant girl, then another servant girl, then a man comes up, then the whole group comes up and they press Peter, aren't you one of His disciples? Weren't you with Jesus?

 

And how did Peter respond to these accusations? Look at verse 70. "But again, he denied it." (Mark 14:70) He denied it. All of that is a part of his second denial. And you would think that after his first denial, Peter would man up and just declare to this crowd that he was with Jesus. I mean, don't you remember how confident Peter was when Jesus told him that he would deny Him three times? What did Peter say? "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You."  This is his time to put his words to action. To put his money where his mouth is.

 

What happened to that self-confidence that Peter had? That great self-esteem, that great self-trust that he had just hours before. Where is that, Peter? What happened to him? Well, his denial is not finished. Look again at verse 70. "Now, after a little while, while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too" (Mark 14:70)

 

Luke tells us that there's about an hour that is passed now, about an hour. Obviously, he was able to get, get the crowd away from him after the second denial and escape their accusations. But he's still lingering around there in that courtyard area, because he wants to see what's happening to Jesus. And the crowd then spots him again, as he's there lingering in that courtyard. And now they have him pinned, not only because they recognize that he had been hanging out with Jesus, but also because they recognize that Peter is a Galilean. He's not one of them. He's a Galilean. How would they know this? How would they know that Peter is a Galilean? Because Peter had a Galilean accent. And the Jews in Jerusalem shun the Galileans because they saw them as uneducated and unsophisticated people. And so, they would have heard Peter speaking. No, I don't know him. I don't know what you're talking about. As they heard him, they would recognize this accent and they would go wait. You're from Galilee. You're a Galilean.

 

Surely, self-confident Peter would stand up this time and come clean and just say, “Okay, yes, I am a disciple of Jesus, do whatever you want to me, I belong to Him. I'm one of His disciples.” But he doesn't say that. What does he say? Look at verse 71. "But he began to curse and swear, I do not know this man you are talking about." (Mark 14:71)

 

To curse and to swear does not mean that he's using foul language. That's not what he's doing here. He's not using foul language, cursing and swearing at them. To curse means to call on God as a witness and call down a curse of God upon himself if he were not telling the truth. And to swear means to take an oath, and make a promise that what you are saying is true. It's what a witness in a court of law would do when they put their hand on the Bible. It's to say, I'm telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. As the accusations continue to be brought against Peter, which are true, by the way, it's true that he is a disciple, and he does know Jesus. It's as if though each denial, as they continue to bring these accusations, each denial continues to escalate and get worse and get worse to the point of where he brings a curse upon himself.

 

And then he swears by saying he does not know, Jesus. This is the worst of them all. This third denial is the worst of all the denials. To call God as a witness is a very serious thing to do. What did Peter tell them as they were accusing him? Notice what he says there, "I do not know this man you are talking about." (Mark 14:71) He is saying this in in a frantic panic. He won't even identify himself with Jesus. And he acts as this as if he has never even heard of Jesus before. I do not know this man you're talking about! This is really bad. It's really bad for Peter. His Self-confidence is gone. And he's left standing there looking like a coward. As he denies Christ three times. He's completely denied his Savior. Before all of these nobody people.

 

It's not even as if they're holding a sword to his throat trying to get him to confess. I mean, one of these accusers is a servant girl, a servant girl who comes up to him, and he has such a fear of man that he denies Jesus three times. And then something happens.

 

2. The Weeping of Peter

 

Which leads to our second point this morning, which we will call the weeping of Peter, the weeping of Peter, look at verse 72. “Immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And he began to weep. (Mark 14:72)

 

It's about 3am now, and Jesus has just finished his trial before the Sanhedrin. He first went before Annas, then he went over to Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. And he has finished that trial. They have spit on Jesus, they have mocked Him, they have beat Him, they have slapped Him in the face, and the rooster crows a second time. And Peter now realizes what Jesus has told him.

 

But there's a detail that Mark doesn't give us that Luke does give us. Turn over to Luke chapter 22. I want you to see this because this is a key moment in Peter's life. Something that happens in Luke chapter 22. Beginning in verse 60, it says this. "But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you're talking about.” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.” (Verse 61) "The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly." (Luke 22:60-61)

 

The rooster crowed. And the Sanhedrin bring Jesus out of the trial, all bloodied and bruised on His face from the beatings and the slaps in the face. And as they drag Jesus out of that room, and into that courtyard and across the courtyard -- as they're dragging him across there -- He looks over at Peter. That word for look there, in the Greek, means "to look at something directly" and therefore, intently to gaze at. Christ gazed over at Peter, they locked eyes.

 

And Peter realizes and recognizes what he has just done. That he has denied his only Savior. What does Peter do? He went out of that courtyard, and he wept bitterly. Why? Those are tears of repentance, tears of repentance, tears of remorse over what he had just done. One translation says, "and he broke down and wept." He was weeping as if one weeps when they've just lost a loved one. If you have ever lost a loved one, and you have wept for that one, that's what is going on here with Peter. He breaks down and he weeps. This is a repentant Peter, not just a remorseful man, like Judas was, but repentant over his sin. He knows that he has denied the Savior he loves. He denied the Savior that he has faith in. He denies the Savior who gave His life for him. And the pain and the grief over this denial caused him to weep.

 

Peter learned a lesson that day. He learned a lesson. His spirit was willing, but his flesh was weak. He learned that he could not rely upon himself. Peter learned that he could not trust in himself. He learned that instead of relying upon Peter, he needed to deny himself to take up his cross daily and follow Jesus.

 

Well, Jesus wasn't there to tell Peter, I told you so. Jesus wouldn't respond to Peter that way, either. That's not how Jesus would respond. Jesus knew that Peter was going to deny Him, and he did. But what was Jesus’ response to Peter's denials?

 

Turn over to John chapter 21. John, chapter 21, verse 15, we see what Jesus does and how he responds to Peter's denials. In John chapter 21, and verse 15, it says this. “So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” 16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.” (John 21:15-17)

 

Three times, Peter, denied Jesus. Three times Jesus asked Peter, if he loved him. What was Jesus doing here? Jesus is restoring Peter. Jesus restored Peter. And Peter would go on to be a rock. He would be the first preacher in the church. He would go and preach the gospel, and be a pillar, and a foundation for the church. But Peter didn't do it trusting in himself or thinking highly of himself. But he did it as a humble servant, who said this in 1 Peter 5:6, a book that he actually wrote, he penned this. He says this, "Therefore, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." (1 Pet 5:6-7)

 

Peter did what he did, as a rock. As a man who would go on and preach the gospel and proclaim the truths of God's Word. He did all of that because he understood his own weakness. And he learned to trust not in himself, but in the mighty hand of God.

 

Let's pray. Father, we thank You for the lessons that we learned from Peter. Lord, forgive us for the times when we have trusted in ourselves, for the times where we have denied you by remaining silent, when we should have spoken up. Father, help us to be bold, and to proclaim the truth of Your Word unashamedly. Knowing that we will be rejected because of You. Knowing that we will be persecuted because of You...but Lord help us to never deny You. Father, help us to never trust in ourselves. May we think low of ourselves. May we walk as those who are not walking in the flesh and fulfilling the desires of the flesh. But may we be those who walk in the Spirit -- that we would produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, not on our own, but by Your power and by Your Spirit.  God may we never depend upon ourselves. But help us to always trust in You. And be those who would say, as Peter said, we would be those who humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God so that we can see Your mighty hand on display as we trust in You. May we do all of this for Your glory and Your glory alone we pray in Christ's name. Amen.

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