Matthew 26:31-35 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.
In the above verses Peter believes he will face down any future temptation rather than abandon Jesus. He thinks he is in complete control of his life and will battle any foe of Jesus to his death. He is very brave: in the Garden he is the one who cut off the high priest’s servant’s ear. He showed he was willing to die for Jesus. However, shortly he found himself in the courtyard of the high priest, denying Jesus three times. The number three in the Bible represents being complete, final. In other words, he completely disowns, abandons, Jesus from his own life. Peter realizes by doing that he completely went back on his boast of dying for Jesus. He goes away weeping bitter tears of defeat. Just a few short hours before this remorse, Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” (Luke 22:33) In the courtyard, we see Peter’s words are empty in regard to having Jesus’ back. His strong allegiance fades after a few threats towards him for being part of Jesus’ retinue. What could Peter really do, for Jesus told him to put up his sword? How could he fight Jesus’ enemies without a weapon? Protesting Jesus’ arrest would lead to his own death. Therefore, he denies Jesus completely. Peter followed at a distance. And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.” But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said. A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” “Man, I am not!” Peter replied. About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. (Luke 22:54-62) Peter exemplifies mankind at its best and its worst. At its best, Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will. He was promising even his life such as we do at our weddings. In the name of God, I, __ , take you, __ , to be my wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until parted by death. This wedding promise could be considered a high point as we dedicate ourselves to another. This is what Peter did. Nothing much better than such allegiance and dedication to another. However, Peter also experienced the worst of man’s nature: betrayal. I don’t know him. He had little strength to continue to fight for Jesus. From the time of his boasting before Jesus to his denial, his life had changed dramatically. He gave in to the circumstances. We are all Peter at times. Affirmations and denials are a part of everyone’s life. We might say or convince ourselves that we will never do that false act again, but then we fail. We betray our own words, rules or laws. Sometimes, we recruit others to help us to keep our word to never sin again or betray our words of allegiance to someone. Jesus confounds the issue by saying that God knows our hearts regardless of our good intentions. Peter, a strong man, an action man, decisive in faith, one who would attempt to walk on water, found himself denying his Lord, even though he knew Jesus’ teaching about disowning him before men. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:28-33)
This story about Peter’s failure to live up to his words is one of the most precious love stories in the Bible. What great hope is in this story, for it tells the works of God and not the works of man. Men will always fail God at vital points in their lives. The Bible explicitly states many times that man has a rebellious heart to the authority of God, his purity and goodness. Now, we see Peter who saw the transfiguration when God from a bright cloud said, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him! (Matthew 17:5) Peter saw the healings; he experienced the storm on the Sea of Galilee calm down under Jesus’ command. He saw Jesus walk on water. He was in the room when Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from death. He knew Jesus as the miracle worker, but he also knew Jesus as a man who he loved greatly and devoted his life to—he left his former lifestyle to follow Jesus. Even though strongly devoted to Jesus, his flesh and the temptations of the flesh were still a part of him. When Jesus was praying in the olive grove, Gethsemane, experiencing great pain in his soul, Peter, the one most dedicated to Jesus, could not keep awake. In this scene, once again we see the failure of mankind to do the will of God. Jesus wanted the three to stay awake and bolster him with prayer and to keep away from their own temptations that they would experience in the next few hours. But they could not, for their spirits were willing but their flesh was weak, excessively sleepy, succumbing to the will of the body. As with the denial of Peter, they fell asleep three times, revealing the flesh was completely unable to fulfill the will of the Father. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” (Matthew 26:45-46) Again in this scene, we see the flesh betraying Jesus’ will with the men falling asleep. Even though all three had a strong dedication to do what Jesus’ desired, they could not fulfill their duty to him by staying awake. Even when Jesus is under strong duress, they cannot be faithful to him by staying awake and praying, but Jesus is faithful to them. Even when their flesh betrays Jesus because of their weakness, falling asleep, Jesus will be faithful to them until the end. He will go to the cross for them and pay for their sins by shedding his redeeming blood. As John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God."
God’s love story for humans is so clearly revealed in Peter’s denial. Jesus goes to the cross. He has heard Peter’s statement of not knowing him. He knew Peter’s heart was broken. Peter would now have to live with knowing that Jesus heard his last statements of betrayal. Why would God consider this man Peter worthy of redemption? He had seen it all, experienced the goodness of God, heard the voice from heaven revealing Jesus was most favored by God but yet he disowned Jesus, placing him outside of his life by his own words. Otherwise, crucifying Jesus in his own life. As with Hebrews 6:6, crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. The people in that courtyard knew he was lying. By his own words, he was putting Jesus to public disgrace. They must have smirked, reveling in the fact that now even one of Jesus’ closest followers would disown him. For them and the devil, what a victory for the dark side to have Peter stand in the midst of them and call God’s curse upon him if he knew Jesus. Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” (Matthew 26:74) But this is not the end to this story, for it is an enduring love story. We see this scene at the resurrection. But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and PETER, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” (Mark 16:4-7) Jesus wanted the angel to tell Peter. The focus was on Peter. Tell the one I love, my dedicated one, that I have risen. Tell him so that his heart might be healed. What love! Jesus loved the one who had betrayed him when Jesus needed him the most as He was enduring the full cup of God’s wrath. In his need, Peter abandoned him. But at his resurrection, He has the angel say, “Tell Peter.” This story has a bigger, more expansive story of love than just tell Peter I love him and I want him to be with me. We see in Ephesians 5 Paul elaborating on this theme of love in his comparison with marriage. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5:25-27) Christ is the husband who remains faithful to the church. Peter could not to that. He was unfaithful under pressure. But Christ is not unfaithful to us. Therefore, He goes to us to bind himself to us, to make us without stain, wrinkle or blemish. He makes us as himself, pleasing to the Father God. We are presented because of his faithfulness, his works, not ours. Jesus heals Peter. He makes him ready to meet God. What is our duty then to a God of enduring love, a God who made a plan for our redemption from the very beginning? We were made free as He is, we rebelled as He knew we would, but his plan from the beginning was to draw us into his kingdom. This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:32) “Go tell Peter that I am alive and that you too IN ME will be alive forevermore. What is our duty to God then, just as the wife’s duty to a loving husband: respect her husband. We are to respect the plan of the Father, the plan of redemption, accept this loving path to his heart by faith. Respect is an element of love: just as Christ loves us, we love one another. Rejoice in that overcoming love today!
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