Repeated Denials in the Easter Event
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In 1938, Hitler announced his plan to invade the German-speaking side of Czechoslovakia. The British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain made an urgent trip to visit Hitler to ascertain whether this invasion would be more than just that.
He returned to Britain announcing that he is confident that Adolf Hitler would not invade any more of Europe. He accepted Hitler’s denials that he would not invade further. We know, however, that Hitler lied about the truth of his intentions.
Denials and lies have always plagued us ever since mankind were created. We deny truth and lie about it for several reasons.
As we face Easter, I would like to remind the reader of one particular denial - a personal denial - that I would call a template denial that is constantly repeated ad infinitum by many people in the West.
Peter had spent 3 years with Jesus listening to all He said, watching all He did and participating in His work. After Jesus predicted that His followers would all desert Him, Peter protested, confidently, that he would never do such a thing even if all the others did.
But Jesus knew better and foretold that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed in the morning.
Of course, this turned out to be true. When Jesus was arrested, the hopes and dreams of these disciples folded like a house of cards. This Jesus who healed the sick, drove out demons, who fed thousands by multiplying food and raised people from the dead got arrested and sentenced to death.
Could not He who did all those things be able to rescue Himself from death? This is what was going on in Peter’s mind. Had he misread the situation? Could this Jesus be a phoney Messiah?
Much of what is happening to Peter is what many people experience - doubt! To doubt something is to be fickle concerning your trust in that person.
Then, there is fear - fear from those who are hostile toward the Person of Jesus. Could Peter feel that hostility now directed to him because he is a follower of this now arrested and condemned man?
In Matthew 26:60-75, we see that Peter’s three denials start with a response of ignorance - “I do not know what you are talking about”.
This is again repeated: “I do not know the man”.
Finally, to really incriminate himself, Peter swears a verbal oath which binds curses upon himself if he is making a false statement.
This is the extent to which Peter tried to distance himself from Jesus.
It was not until Peter witnessed the resurrection of Jesus that he would never deny Him again, even facing his own death!
Peter’s witness of Jesus’ resurrection becomes the basis for our belief in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
As we come to this Easter time, the thought I wish to bring is this one: how many of us are like Peter? Do we operate on the level of doubt to the degree that we are unwilling to stand with Jesus?
Is Easter time a time to go to church, as this is culturally acceptable, but going to church every week is not! Do we then deny Jesus in our words and actions because we doubt, or that we are afraid and ashamed before the unbeliever?
A change will only occur when we realise that Easter is not a life-event but a lifestyle on display for all to see.