Peter Mark 14:66-72?
God profiles ordinary people, some with huge character flaws, in order to show that He can use the weakest of us to accomplish His purposes and gain glory for Himself.
1. Like Peter, we make incredibly poor choices. ?
2. Like Peter, our poor choices don’t have to be the final chapter of our lives.
? Restoration begins with genuine brokenness and repentance.
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If you’ve been to Israel, or you go with me in May 2019, you’ll go to what most historians believe was the house of Caiaphas, the High Priest. It was to Caiaphas’ house that Jesus was taken after his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. While there, he was mocked and beaten and interrogated by Caiaphas and the other Jewish leaders. On the top of the house is a weather vane with a curious figure on top (PIC). Can you make it out in the picture? That’s right, a rooster. Why a rooster? Turn to Mark 14:66-72 and we’ll find out.
We begin a new series today called “Failing Forward.” We’re going to study six individuals who at one point were scoundrels: a liar, a cheat, a murderer, a brawler, a skeptic, and a prostitute. ? This is one of the most fantastic attributes of the Bible: it does not gloss over the huge character flaws of the people on its pages. I’m thinking if I was God—I would only include great people with great faith who had no glaring weaknesses to be in my Bible. But no Yahweh. From the get go, God profiles ordinary people, some with huge character flaws, in order to show that He can use the weakest of us to accomplish His purposes and gain glory for Himself.
This is one of the great proofs of the veracity of Scripture: there is no whitewashing of the characters; no glossing over their flaws. It all reinforces the depravity of humanity and the grace and glory of God to work in and through our junk for our good and His glory.
And the very 1st scoundrel we’re going to study is Simon Peter. He’s one of my favorite characters in the Bible because I identify with Peter in so many ways. Peter was wildly enthusiastic; I can be that way. He was impulsive; I’m impulsive. He was brash; I can be brash. He was impatient; I’m known to be impatient occasionally. He said and did stupid stuff—I say and do stupid stuff.
We know quite a bit about this character. He was from Bethsaida and lived in Capernaum. Both of these were fishing villages on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee.
He was partners in a fishing business with the sons of thunder: James and John. His brother Andrew had heard Jesus teach and told Peter all about him. When Jesus met Peter the first time, He gave him the name Cephas, which means small rock. Some time later Jesus was walking by Peter who was cleaning his nets and invited him to follow and become a fisher of men. Immediately, impulsively, Peter left the nets and followed Jesus for the entire 3 years of His public ministry. ? Apparently Peter became the spokesperson for the ragtag group of disciples. He was a part of an inner circle that Jesus shared some of His most intimate thoughts with; James and John, sons of thunder, being the other two. It was while these 3 were on the Mt. Of Transfiguration that Peter was the first to respond to Jesus’ question: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter said, “You are the Messiah; the Son of the Living God.”? It was Peter in all his impetuosity that jumped out of the boat and began walking to Jesus on the water. It was Peter who actually, get this, actually rebuked Jesus for talking about His impending death during Passover. It was Peter who took his Bowie knife and chopped off the ear of the High Priests servant. And it was Peter who boasted that He would never forsake the Lord; never abandon Him, even if everyone else did.
And that leads us to our text for the morning. We find Peter in the courtyard of Caiaphas’ house. After Jesus’ arrest, Peter followed the some 200 soldiers and their prisoner at a distance across town to the house of the High Priest. So let’s read the Scripture. Mark 14:66-72 (on screen)
v.67. ‘looked at him’; the Greek word there means “To gaze intently.” Get this: this lowly little servant girl was staring down Peter! You ever play ‘stare down’? Two people just star at each other to see who blinks first? My gdaughter Berkley (PIC) can stare down anyone: “Berkley, give me a kiss…”. Just stares a hole in the back of my head…amazing. This servant girl was staring at Peter and I’m sure it made him very, very uncomfortable.? She identifies Peter as one of Jesus’ disciples. Not sure how. Could be that she recognized his northern accent or his odd clothes; or maybe she had been in the crowds as Jesus taught and noticed Peter as one of Jesus’ disciples. All we know is she stared him down and called him out.
v.68 ‘went out to the entryway’: so now Peter is on the run. He is trying to avoid this person and heads outside as he denies knowing Jesus. Denial #1.? As he does, it’s close to sunrise and a rooster crows.
v.70. ‘also a Galilean’; now his accent has given him away to a larger group and Peter denies knowing Jesus—Denial #2
v.71. ‘curse and swear’; now the old Peter comes out; the rough and tumble fisherman is front and center. Denial #3
But Peter’s story doesn’t end there, does it? Peter was one of the first to see Jesus on that first Easter morning. 50 days later on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came and the crowd grew to see what was going on, it was Peter who was anointed by God to stand up and preach with boldness; so powerful was his sermon that 3000 Jews got saved that day! It was Peter who became the defacto leader of the first century church. And it was Peter who told the story of Jesus to a young and disgraced missionary by the name of Mark, who wrote the very first gospel based on the eyewitness testimony of this man Peter.
Do you see yourself in Peter? Most of us do. What insights do we gain from him?
1. Like Peter, we make incredibly poor choices. ? Think about the poor choices Peter made: he was arrogant which lead him to put too much faith in himself and not enough in God; he was impulsive and found himself in tight spots as a result; he was defiant at times, even scolding Jesus instead of conforming immediately to His will; he obviously had a weak prayer life—when they were in the garden of Gethsemane, he couldn’t even pray for an hour without falling asleep; and his commitment to Jesus so spotty that he followed Jesus at a distance after the arrest and even denied him 3 times. Far from perfect this Peter.? What poor choices have you made that you are wrestling with this morning? I’ve talked to people who didn’t wait for God and didn’t marry a growing Christian and their marriage has been awful. I’ve talked to people who have been promiscuous and caught in a carousel of dead-end relationships. I’ve talked to people who have gotten caught in a pattern of outspending their income and are deluged with debt. I’ve talked to folks who have gotten caught up in an addiction to drugs, alcohol, food, tobacco, pornography—you name it. ? This is the human condition. We make incredibly poor choices that almost always lead to emptiness and pain. ? Story
2. Like Peter, our poor choices don’t have to be the final chapter of our lives.
Simon Peter was a guy who didn’t settle for little mistakes; his bigger than life personality put him in huge positions to fail. But when he did fail, we see a huge capacity for brokenness and repentance. Remember in the Upper Room at the Last Supper when Jesus donned a towel and began to wash the feet of the disciples? What did Peter say when Jesus came to him: “Not gonna wash my feet, dude.” Jesus said, “Peter, you’ll understand some day why I’m doing this.” Peter was still defiant, “You’re not washing my feet.” And then Jesus said, “If you don’t let me wash your feet, you’ll have no part of me.” What did Peter say then, “Then don’t just wash my feet, but my head and my hands and whatever you want.” In our story today, what did Peter do when he heard the rooster crow the 2nd time? He wept. Gospel writer Luke adds the word ‘bitterly.’ Peter didn’t kind of tear up; remember, Peter did things in big ways. His brokenness over denying Jesus swept through every cell in his body and he wept uncontrollably.? Restoration begins with genuine brokenness and repentance. There is an inclination in most of us to hide our sin, ignore our sin, blame our sin on someone else. If you’re here this morning and that’s you: you’ve been trying to keep your poor choices in the darkness, let me encourage you to bring it out into the light. It’s only when we name the problem that we can get help from God to fix the problem; only when we stop pretending it’s all right will God step in and bring healing and wholeness.? Story
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