Lessons From Peter's Failure

Palm Sunday, started the week with a celebration… a “triumphal entry”… into Jerusalem for Jesus riding on a donkey. The crowds welcomed him by waving palm branches in the air and shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

Holy Monday, Jesus arrived at the Temple and found the courts full of corrupt money changers. He overturned their tables, clearing the Temple, saying, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

Holy Tuesday, Jesus spoke His seven “woes” against the Pharisees (Matthew 23) and delivered the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25)

Holy Wednesday, also referred to as Spy Wednesday, is when Jesus was anointed with the alabaster flask of ointment and is believed to be when Judas conspired with the local authorities to betray Jesus (Matthew 26)

Maundy Thursday, Jesus enjoys the Passover feast with his disciples, while also establishing the Lord’s supper (communion). He will also be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives, and taken into custody.

Good Friday is the most difficult day of the week, as it is the day of Jesus’ trial, crucifixion, death, and burial.

Saturday is both the Sabbath and a day of mourning, as Jesus lays in the tomb

Resurrection Sunday is the celebratory time of Jesus rising again to life

Peter’s Prevailing Pride

Read Luke 22:31-34

[verse 31]

Jesus reveals to Peter a glimpse of what the disciples cannot see, but what they will experience: spiritual warfare.

In addressing the disciples through Peter, Jesus sees Peter as the representative of them.

He informs them that Satan has demanded from God that he have power to put them to the test… to sift them like wheat.

In biblical times, wheat or other grain was sifted through a sieve or large strainer. As it was shaken violently, the dirt and other impurities that clung to the grain during the threshing process would separate from the good, usable grain.

In this context, Satan is asking to shake the disciples apart, or break them down through trials. Ultimately, he is seeking to destroy their faith.

A couple of observations concerning this:

The word “you” in verse 31 is plural in the original Greek, indicating that Jesus is referring to the group of disciples as a whole and not just Peter. The entire group was on Satan’s radar. We already saw him enter Judas Iscariot at the beginning of the chapter, to go and agree with the Jewish leaders to betray Jesus to them.

The fact that Satan has to ask permission to do anything shows that God is in control, and always has been. We see that is the case in the book of Job, chapters 1 and 2, when Satan reports to God and wants to put Job to the test. Ultimately, God would allow it with Job and we see, based on how things unfold, that He will allow it with the disciples.

[verse 32]

Jesus shifts the focus from the disciples as a whole (plural “you”, v. 31) to Peter, specifically (singular “you”, v. 32).

What a special piece of revelation, as Jesus reveals to Peter that He (the Creator and Sustainer God) has prayed that Peter’s faith will not fail.

This ought to encourage us, as well, as we are informed in Hebrews 7:25, “[Jesus] is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

Jesus prays for believers. And since it is the desire of Satan to destroy the faith of believers, we must be praying for perseverance.

The Apostle Paul, in Romans 8:26, makes it known that “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

Back to verse 32, Jesus also gives a peek at something that will come: Peter will return! Though he scatter like the rest of the disciples, he will return and be used by God to strengthen the others.

[verse 33]

Now, Peter is officially introduced into the dialogue, and it goes as one might expect.

Peter is quite assertive in his pride: “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.”

This is not about Peter trying to assure Jesus that “he’s got his back.” It is about Peter trying to tell Jesus that He has him all wrong.

This is nothing new. We see in Matthew 16 that Peter rebukes Jesus when He reveals to the disciples that he “must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Not to mention, looking at the other gospel accounts of this exchange between Jesus and Peter, we see that Peter is full of pride:

Matthew 26:33, 35 “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away… even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” [same in Mark 14]

John 13:37, “I will lay down my life for you.”

We will see as we read in a bit that Peter even tries to alter the flow of events in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he cuts off the right ear of Malchus with the sword.

[verse 34]

Jesus does not correct Peter or rebuke him for being contrary.

Rather, He simply tells him what is going to take place.

We can reach a point in our thinking where no amount of arguing or debate will change our minds. We are convinced that we know things, absolutely, and that any deviation from our stance is error.

Peter was at that point. There was no convincing him otherwise. He simply needed to see it take place.

The Gospel according to Luke (Forewarnings Following Passover (22:21–38))

Usefulness in the kingdom, even leadership in the church, does not depend on perfection but on a journey inward and a journey outward, on (re)turning to Jesus and on strengthening the faithful

Peter’s Devastating Denials

Luke 22:54-62

The time for Peter to prove Jesus wrong comes quickly after their dialogue.

But since it was an emotionally charged time, we can forgive Peter for not remembering what exactly he said to Jesus. After all, he is now watching the man that he has spent the past 3 years of his life with, be brought to the high priest for trial.

Read Luke 22:54-62

Each of the four gospels record this time of Peter’s life, and each gives a little different nuance than the others. In compiling the accounts, this is what we learn:

Denial #1 - A Servant Girl

Peter is following Jesus and those who arrested him, at a distance.

In his earlier dialogue (verse 33), Peter was bold and assertive as to his commitment to Jesus. Now, as things are getting real, he is apprehensive with second thoughts. (Is he really ready to go to prison or death for Jesus?)

One of the servants in the house of the high priest recognizes Peter as having been with Jesus. This could have been in the Garden or it could have been generally over the past three years. Either way, any association with Jesus at this point could mean his life.

Peter simply denies that he even knows Him.

Denial #2 - Another Servant Girl

Thinking he is in the clear, Peter gets identified by someone else (another servant girl, according to Matthew 26:71).

In order to get her, and anyone else, off his trail, he makes a firm denial that he knows Jesus. The account in Matthew tells us that he denied with an oath, as in making an official (legal) statement about something (similar to how we swear an oath when taking the witness stand).

Denial #3 - Bystander/Another Servant

Phew! Peter finally has people off his case. He can relax a little bit by the fire and wait for this whole thing to run its course.

Then, an hour later, Peter is recognized again by another individual. “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.”

Uh-oh, that is a pretty detailed accusation. What now?

Well, he denies the accusation in the strongest way yet. Matthew 26 tells us that he invokes a curse on himself and swears, while denying that he knows Jesus.

“On my mother’s grave, I do not know the man.” Throw in some sailor vernacular, and you pretty much have the point.

The Look

As Peter is finishing his sentence, he hears the rooster crow, which undoubtedly brings to his mind what he and Jesus talked about several hours earlier: his belief that Jesus was wrong and that he was unflappably committed to Him.

As Peter is being filled with feelings of guilt and shame, Jesus looks at him. And Peter knew that Jesus knew what happened. And he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Lessons We Can Learn

It is easy to read through a gospel narrative and not take time to learn from it.

This account between Jesus and Peter just seems like a side story in a greater account.

That cannot be any further from the truth.

We are told in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Everything in the Bible is meant to benefit us, one way or another.

So what do we gain from this account?

Lesson #1 - God Is In Control

For a large portion of His ministry, Jesus made it known to the disciples that He was intended to die and rise again.

His death would be a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, as would His resurrection.

In fact, when He comes on the scene, John the Baptist declares, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

From the very beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus is declared as the Lamb who takes away sin.

Prophecy is a large part of the Bible. It is estimated that about 25% of the Bible was prophetic, at the time it was written. And that is God’s nature. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows what is going to happen, and He declares it!

Read Isaiah 46:8-13.

When God declares something will happen, you can take it to the bank.

Lesson #2 - Our Passion Must Be Cemented In Truth

Peter was looking in the face of the One known as “the way, the truth, and the life,” and was trying to tell Him that He was wrong.

We cannot check our brains at the door, people.

When the Creator God of all the universe declares something about us from His Word, we need to be listening.

There is a truth that has been declared for thousands of years, that people do not want to hear. People have denied and twisted the truth for so many years, that they no longer have ears to hear.

For thousands of years, it has been declared that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Everybody, and their brother, are sinners.

What does it mean to be a sinner?

It means that we are naughty. We do wrong things that dishonor God. We act in ways that God never intended for us to act.

We have lied. We have stolen from others. We have used our mouths to curse at and hate others. We have sexually lusted after people in our minds.

Over and over, we have offended and dishonored the One in whose image we are made.

Lesson #3 - Jesus Loves You

Peter was ripping into Jesus, implying that He was lying, and asserting that he was unwaveringly committed to Him.

And what does Jesus do?

Tells him what he will end up doing, and brings conviction when Peter ends up doing it.

Peter went from proud to broken in the span of one look.

But what did Jesus say to Peter before that: “I have prayed for you.”

These broken promises and assertions are not the end for Peter. He will return. Jesus said he would.

The issue that must be evaluated in your life and mine is not whether we have broken our promises to Jesus or not.

What we must evaluate is whether or not we believe what Jesus has said to us.

John 15:9, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”

Lamentations 3:22-23, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Psalm 63:3, “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.”

John 3:16, ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

1 John 3:1, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”

1 John 4:9,“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”

Romans 5:8, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Read Romans 10:8-13.

Jesus is not caught off guard by our failure.

People are caught off guard by His forgiving love.

Prayer

Father,

Thank you for this time we have tonight to reflect on Good Friday, and to take some Lessons from Peter’s Failures.

I pray for everyone here tonight to feel the weight of their sin, as it was laid on Jesus at the cross, and that they will know your love and call on you for salvation.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Closing Prayer

Dear God,

We remember today, the pain and suffering of the cross, and all that Jesus was willing to endure, so we could be set free. He paid the price, such a great sacrifice, to offer us the gift of eternal life.

Help us never to take for granted this huge gift of love on our behalf. Help us to be reminded of the cost of it all. Forgive us for being too busy, or distracted by other things, for not fully recognizing what you have freely given, what you have done for us.

Thank you, Lord, that by your wounds we are healed. Thank you that because of your huge sacrifice we can live free. Thank you that sin and death have been conquered and that your Power is everlasting.

Thank you that we can say with great hope, “It is finished…” For we know what’s still to come. And death has lost its sting. We praise you for you are making all things new.