[Here is a link to a youtube video of me preaching this sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLFppHEJ0fY ]
From their very first encounter, we see a special connection between Jesus and Peter. We find this in the Gospel of John chapter 1 and verse 42 where they first meet. It says that Jesus “looked at him.” Now, this word “looked” is significant for us because we are going to encounter the same word used in our key text for today.
There are multiple words used in the Greek language that can be translated as “looked” … one means to simply see with the eye, another means to look upon with curiosity, but the word used here and in our key text for today brings with it the idea of a concentrated, intense gaze. It describes a look which doesn’t only see the superficial things … Looking beyond those things that lie on the surface, it’s a much deeper look … a look which reads a man’s heart.
The implication is that Jesus looked in to the depths of who Simon Peter was and could see who he would become. He saw him as “Simon” … his common name which means “Reed-like” or “Grass-like”, hinting perhaps at his human weakness and how easily he was swayed as a reed blown by the wind – shaky and unstable, reckless … but Jesus also saw who he would become: “you will be called Peter” … which means a pebble, stone or small rock … it’d be like calling him “concrete” today … Jesus would transform Simon Peter from reckless to rock solid. And, we’re finding out that Jesus can and will do the same thing for us as we surrender our lives to Him and follow His will and His way.
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With all of this in mind, let’s get into our focus for today. Turn in your bibles to Luke chapter 22. While you’re finding Luke 22, turn your attention to the screens …
[Show “Cute Kids Fail” Video] https://youtu.be/pmNIxu7y5jQ
Have you ever failed?
Have you ever felt like that little girl and her hula-hoop? Or the little boy jumping in the pool? … you know, you intend for something to go a certain way and in the midst of the process, something goes terribly wrong. You have every intention of things going “this” way and they end up going “that” way.
Have you ever failed? I have.
Growing up, my older brother and I loved to ride bikes. We’d ride our bikes all over the neighborhood. We’d ride our bikes along trails we’d make back in the woods … but one of the most exciting things we’d do on our bikes is jump homemade ramps. We’d build these ramps out of whatever we might find lying around.
On this particular occasion, we’d found a piece of plywood and several old bricks … so we fashioned us this nice ramp at the end of our driveway and were jumping our bikes off the end of the driveway into our backyard.
As is typical with boys … it turned into a competition to see who could jump the highest and the farthest. Now, my brother is two years older than me … he was bigger and stronger, but I was determined to show him was I was made of.
He went first … and he jumped high and far … I knew I had my work cut out for me, but I was ready. I was focused. I was determined. I was channeling my inner Evel Knievel.
Now, for those of you have may not know who Evel Knievel was, here’s an image of what I pictured … [first image of Knievel (looking cool by his motorcycle)] … What I hadn’t pictured was this … [second image of Knievel (CRASH!)]
I hit that ramp going as fast as a 9 year old boy possibly could and I flew off the end … I was at least 6-7 inches off the ground (it felt like 10 feet!). Then something happened that I had not anticipated … to this day, I’m still not sure how this took place, but … everything shifted into slow-motion and as I looked down at my front wheel, I noticed that it had disconnected from the rest of my bike. As it landed, it just kept rolling … as I landed … well, my bike stopped immediately, but I did not. The front forks stuck in the ground and I flew headlong over the handlebars into a front flip landing flat on my back. Not quite what I had intended. Had it been recorded, it would have been perfect for one of those “Epic-fail” videos.
What about you? Have you ever failed?
Sometimes epic fails are brought about by simple mistakes … and sometimes those mistakes are really not that big of a deal. They’re just funny stories about a front wheel coming off a bike or slipping on ice or tripping over you own feet
However, at other times, failures in life are a much, much bigger deal … and have much, much bigger consequences.
This is where we find Peter in our text for today. Things didn’t work out quite like he had intended. Let’s read it together in Luke 22:31-34 & 54-62.
[Read Luke 22:31-34 & 54-62]
I. Peter’s Personal Devotion
From the very beginning, Peter was all in … he was a faithful and devoted follower of Jesus. When Jesus called him by the Sea of Galilee to be a Fisher-of-men, we’re told that Peter along with the others “left everything and followed Him” [Lk 5:11; Matt 4:20; Mk 1:18].
He was willing to give up his vocation, his friendships, family connections … he left everything … to follow this Jesus. And, although he made some mistakes along the way, he had faithfully followed Jesus for the past three years as a faithful disciple.
No wonder we find Peter declaring …
• Luke 22:33 – “I am ready to go both to prison and to death”
• Matthew 26:33 – “I will never fall away”
• John 13:37 – “I will lay down my life for you”
• Mark 14:31 – [kept insisting] “Even if I have die with you, I will not deny you!”
It was a whole-hearted devotion … complete, unconditional, total surrender to Jesus. Peter understood the call of Christ to lay down his life in total abandonment to will of God for the purposes of God for the glory of God.
God’s call on our lives is no different … this call of complete, unconditional, total surrender to Jesus was not just for His followers in the First Century, but this is His call to every Christian. In Luke 9:23 & 24 Jesus says, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”
Never in scripture are we called to accept Jesus into our lives … as if Jesus is some addendum to our agenda. No! The invitation to follow Jesus is an invitation to die to ourselves and to live in wholehearted, total surrender to Him; to offer to Him all that we have, all that are and all that we will ever be. It is an invitation to follow Him wherever He would call us to go; to give up whatever He would call us to give up … to lay down our lives for His purpose and His glory.
And this is the mindset that Peter had as he declared that even though all others may fall away … he would never fall away … he would never deny Jesus … he was ready to go to prison or even die with Jesus! Don’t for a second doubt the sincerity of Peter’s devotion to his Lord.
In fact, in Mark 14 we’re told that this is what all the disciples were saying. They were all declaring their devotion to their Lord … yet, before the night was over they would all run in fear and abandon Him.
It’s important for us to give credit where credit is due and recognize Peter’s desire to stand firm in his convictions and his commitment to follow Christ. Peter demonstrated his commitment and his bravery. Remember the garden scene? It was Peter who stuck out in defense of Jesus (however reckless it may have been) and cut off the ear of the High Priest’s slave. It was Peter and another disciple (most likely John) who followed Jesus to his mockery of a trial. Everyone else had abandoned Jesus. In our text in verse 54 we see Peter following at a distance, but at least he’s following. He follows Jesus to the house of the high priest and there his devotion would be challenged.
II. Peter’s Predicted Failure
Luke 22:31 & 34 – Jesus warns Peter and the other disciples of the upcoming trial they would endure. Satan desired to sift them like wheat. The Greek text lets us know that it was not just Peter that Satan desired to sift. The “you” in this verse is plural and is in reference not just to Peter, but to all of the disciples.
This image of sifting like wheat, is painfully graphic. The picture is of grain in a sieve, where the head of grain is ripped apart (cf. Amos 9:9). It’s like saying that Satan desired to ‘tear them to pieces’ or ‘take them apart’. Satan would like to bring the disciples to ruin and leave them in pieces, exposing their lack of faith. Satan did not intend to merely play around for a while, to have some fun and then leave them alone. The devil’s single desire was to destroy them once and for all.
Listen to the way Peter describes it some 30 years later: “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.” [1 Peter 5:8-9]
Although they would all go through a great trial as Jesus was arrested, tried, and crucified … it was to Peter that Jesus revealed, in spite of his declaration of devotion, that he would deny Jesus three times before the morning would come.
In verses 54-62, we find the account of Peter’s denial. In light of Peter’s obvious devotion to Jesus, it’s important to consider why he would now deny that he even knew him. What may have led to Peter’s failure? While I believe there was a combination of things, let me share four possibilities of what may have led Peter down the path of denying Jesus:
Easy way out – Peter moves in a moment from declaring: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” [Matthew 16] to here denying that he even knew Jesus or would have anything to do with him. Could it be that what is at play here … at least in part … is that Peter was taking the easy way out. He went along with the prevailing mindset of those around him. All those in the courtyard were in total opposition to anyone who would dare to stand with Jesus. Peter’s downfall resulted from the fact that he succumbed to the pressure to conform. The questioning was accusatory … you’re not one of those people are you? Surely, you don’t believe that, do you? We’re a lot like this aren’t we? Whenever we’re confronted with the hard, difficult route … often we will in the moment take the easy path. Jesus said that the way is wide that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it … and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Fear/He panicked in the moment – Jesus is in the house of the high priest and Peter is in the courtyard close enough to see and more than likely hear what was going on. We know that they were accusing Jesus of an offense punishable by death. We know [from verse 63] … they were mocking him and beating him. Peter panicked in the moment and lied about his connection with Jesus.
Prayerlessness – remember the garden as Jesus implored Peter to watch and pray? It’s described for us in verses 39-46. Jesus says to them [vs. 40] that they should pray that they would not fall into temptation. Jesus withdraws from them about a stones through away and prays … when he returns; he finds Peter and the rest sleeping instead of praying and says to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” The account in both Matthew 26 and Mark 14 lets us know that Jesus spoke directly to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” [Mark 14:37-38]. Our ability to stand firm against the schemes of Satan is in direct proportion to the place of prayer in our lives.
Over-confidence/Pride – Note verses 24-27 – arguing about who was the greatest among them. This would lead Peter to proclaim “I would never” and “I will always” … these statements of absolutes demonstrate a sense of pride and over-confidence that ultimately would lead to his downfall. More times than not, when we think that there’s no way that we could fall in a particular area … it’s in that very area of our life that we come tumbling down. Proverbs 16:18 tells us that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. It’s when we think we’ve got it all together that we let our guard down. Satan is a deceiver and a master strategist. He will often attack where we think we are most sure of ourselves … for it is in this area that we are often least prepared. 1 Corinthians 10:12 tells us this: “Let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.” It was a lesson well learned by Peter as he wrote later in life in 1 Peter 5:5 – “… all of you clothe yourself with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
As Peter denies that even knows Jesus for the third time … verses 60-62 tell us that immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. He looked at him as when Jesus first met him by the Sea of Galilee and called him to be His disciple … with that look which goes beyond the surface and pierces deep into the heart. At that moment, Peter remembered what Jesus had said.
Then he went out and wept bitterly.
III. Peter’s Promised Return
Let’s turn our attention back to verses 31-32 of Luke 22. Jesus says to Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you [plural] like wheat; but I have prayed for you [singular … Peter specifically], that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Jesus tells Peter that he, along with the other disciples, will be put through a great trial and testing of their faith … but Jesus gives assurance to Peter that although he would go through this testing and would ultimately fall short … Jesus was praying for him that his faith would not fail and Jesus gives him the assurance that he would turn again and strengthen his brothers.
Jesus tells him that he would deny him and weep bitter tears, but out of this experience he would strengthen others. Often we are best equipped to help others once we have walked in their shoes … when we have experienced a similar suffering … when we have felt the shame of failure. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 tells us that God comforts us in all our affliction so that we can then provide comfort to others.
Jesus gives Peter … and us … hope! Hope that failure is not final. There is hope even in the midst of our struggle that our faith would not fail and that we, as Peter, can turn once again back to the Lord. God encourages our heart with the promise that even in the midst of Satan's sifting … our faith will not fail and we can take that encouragement and find joy in using it to strengthen our brothers and sisters.
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What about you? Have you ever failed? Have you ever fallen short of what you had intended in a particular area of life?
You know, you intend for something to go a certain way and in the midst of the process, something goes terribly wrong …
• You didn’t intend to have an affair, you were sure that it would never happen to you … but one thing led to another and you crossed some boundaries that never should have been crossed.
• You didn’t intend for your marriage to fall apart, when you said “’til death do us part” you meant it … but one thing led to another and now you’re struggling to pick up the pieces of a broken home.
• You didn’t intend to be struggling with addiction (to food, alcohol, drugs, pornography) … but one thing led to another and now you’re living with the shame of failure.
Maybe you’re in the midst of the struggle right now. Maybe right now Satan is sifting you like wheat. Jesus wants you to know that our failure is never final. There is hope in Jesus to turn again and be renewed in Him. Jesus wants you to know that He has made complete provision on the cross to redeem and restore every failure.
We have this assurance that "Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5) … that God will “bestow … a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” [Isaiah 61:3].
