Most national sports leagues have a Hall of Fame where players with notable careers are inducted. There is one for Baseball, Basketball, Bowling, College Football, Pro Football, Golf, Trap Shooting and Swimming.
There are even halls of fame for Rock and Roll, Country Music, Agriculture, Aviation, Barbers, Cow Girls, Hamburgers and Parade Floats.
A search on the internet will also yield a variety of what are referred to as “halls of shame.” There is a hall of shame for those who have been convicted of crimes against the public. There is a hall of shame that inducts poorly-conceived reality TV shows.
There is an Ethics Hall of Shame put together on a website to bring public attention to politicians who are involved in ethics scandals.
An internet search will also yield a Christian Music Hall of Shame and a Televangelist Hall of Shame. There are also hall of shames for Christian album covers and cheesy Christian t-shirts.
In the Bible you will find a hall of shame. This hall of shame was a monument built by the Apostle Paul as a testament to the grace of God in his life.
The reason Paul shares some of His past with his readers was to contrast it with his present position in Jesus Christ, effectively letting people know that Christ had forgiven him for everything he was during those times. He wanted people to know that though his sin was great, God’s grace was greater still!
Over the next few weeks we are going to look at the life of the Apostle Peter, another of the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will look at several events in Peter’s life that he would most surely include in his hall of shame.
Someone said that Peter was the disciple with the “foot-shaped mouth.” His mouth always started running before his brain got into gear. Pastor and author John G. Butler writes the following in a powerful biography on Peter:
The night before the crucifixion was a very bad night for Peter. It gave him the darkest hours of his life, for during that night occurred his great spiritual collapse. He said things and did things of which he would forever be ashamed. If there was one segment in his life Peter would like to blot out of his record, it would be that night.
Peter’s great spiritual collapse, which climaxed in his three-fold denial of Jesus Christ, was like the collapse of a great building. For one part gives way, then another part gives way, and then another and another part gives way until at last the whole building lies in a heap. Heretofore Peter had at times not performed well; but these times were only momentary; and Peter always bounced back quickly to excellence in following Jesus Christ. But on this night, the darkest night in Peter’s life, his decline spiritually was not a momentary passing incident. Rather as the night progressed, his conduct worsened. Step by step, incident after incident, he went down in his behavior until he hit his all time low as a disciple of Jesus Christ by denying Christ three times.
Over the next three lessons we will be studying the various incidences in Peter’s experiences and conduct that led to his denial of Jesus Christ. We will also observe the grace of God in action as Jesus takes Peter by the hand and lifts him up from his pit of despair and leads him into a renewed state of love and fellowship.
Over the course of this study we will discover that Peter had:
An overconfident spirit
An insecure love
An unholy alliance
An empty hope
A restored fellowship
An Overconfident Spirit
John 18:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered.
John 18:2 And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples.
John 18:3 Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
We all should be familiar with this story—Judas is about to betray Jesus. Up to this point, he has been so slick with his deception, all the other disciples did not even realize what was going on—he was just one of the guys.
Judas (who by this time was possessed by the devil) was about to betray Jesus with a kiss, but Peter (who was one of Jesus’ own) was soon to deny Jesus.
Judas’ betrayal took place in a garden. It is interesting that King David was betrayed in this same garden.
In 2 Samuel 15:30-32, King David was betrayed by a friend (Ahithophel) while crossing the brook Kidron and going up to the Mount of Olives. In John 18, Jesus crosses over this same brook with His disciples as He makes His way to the garden in the Mount of Olives.
I believe that this particular olive garden was strategically selected by Jesus. It was the ideal place for His disciples to make a quick getaway. Now the Bible doesn’t say this, but it does let us know that Jesus didn’t want His disciples to be captured or killed.
In verses 8 and 9 Jesus tells the troops and officers coming to arrest Him, "… if you seek Me, let these go their way,” and then John, the writer of the gospel adds, “that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, ‘Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none.’”
Jesus tells the soldiers, “Let these go their way…” Jesus clearly wants His disciples to get away out of harm’s reach. But a hard-headed Peter would not have it that way. John 18:10 says, “Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear.”
Why would he do this? To understand what motivated Peter to draw his sword we need to go back to the time when Peter was observing the Passover with Jesus and the other eleven disciples.
In Luke 22 we find Jesus along with Peter and the other disciples in the upper room.
The evening started out good. Jesus sends Peter and John to get the Passover ready for the group that they would eat it together. They don’t know where Jesus wants them to have it so Jesus tells them to find “a man…carrying a pitcher of water and follow him into the house that he enters.” This is an odd thing to happen in this culture—usually the women carry the pitchers so it would be easy for the disciples to spot this kind of thing happening.
It gets stranger as Peter and John are instructed to say to the owner of the house, “The Teachers says to you, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"' Jesus goes on to say, "And he will show you a large, furnished, upper room; prepare it there." This obviously should prove to the disciples that Jesus is much more than a mere man!
What a great way to begin the Passover! Everything is prepared; they are in the upper room reclining as they customarily do to eat a meal.
Now something happens as they partake of the Passover meal. Jesus uses the elements on the table to show His disciples that He was indeed God’s Passover Lamb. Jesus also lets His disciples know that someone sitting with them at the table would betray Him (vs. 21-22).
Now verse 23 lets us know that at this time the disciples began to discuss among themselves which one of them it might be who was going to betray Jesus and they were not, it appears, concerned for Jesus as much as they were concerned for themselves.
Luke 22:24 And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest.
Now Luke doesn’t mention what happens next, but the Apostle John does in his gospel narrative:
John 13:2 And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him,
John 13:3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was going back to God,
John 13:4 rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about.
John 13:5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
Here is when we find the beginning of where the night turns dark for Peter.
In the Middle East most roads were not paved, so in this arid geography the streets were dry and dusty. When you entered someone's home, the customary thing for the host to do was to have someone wash the feet of their guests.
Normally a servant performed this task but on the night in the Upper Room there was only Jesus and His disciples. As the rabbi and leader of the group, Christ would have been exempted from this menial task, so it would have fallen on one of His disciples.
Not one of the disciples picked up the basin and towel to perform this act of kindness and hospitality and no wonder, they were arguing about who was the greatest among the twelve.
Since no one volunteered to do this, Jesus got up from the table and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself—He poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciple’s feet and to wipe them with the towel that he was wearing.
When Jesus got to Peter, verse 6 tells us that Peter protested saying, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” Peter’s protest was legitimate and it was not a sin for Peter to be perplexed with Jesus’ actions.
In those times, foot-washing was performed by a slave—not a slave who was a Jew but a Gentile slave—this work was too low for the lowest of Jews to perform.
For Christ to take upon Himself the task of washing feet—this was extremely unacceptable to custom, to honor, and respect. It was all backward. They should have been washing Christ’s feet, not the other way around.
Jesus takes note of Peter’s perplexity and says to him in verse seven “What I do you do not realize now, but you shall understand hereafter.”
Here’s where the night continues to get darker for Peter. Oh that he would have accepted Christ’s gracious response and kept his mouth closed, but not Peter.
Peter said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!" (John 13:8a)
Who are you talking to Peter? Check out his words; try to imagine with me the tone of his words. Peter’s abrupt response to Christ was rude; it was abrasively blunt. He was contradicting Christ in that he was opposing Christ’s desire. In addition to this, Peter used the word “never.” “Never” is translated from a Greek double negative which means “never, no never.”
The sad thing is that Peter is speaking to the Lord. He is responding to the revealed Word of God. A great darkness is beginning to be seen in Peter.
Peter is also demonstrating a false humility. Wasn’t he just debating with the other disciples over who was the greatest? Now when given the chance to be treated as the “greatest” and have someone wash his feet, he fronts this false humility.
False humility is prevalent in our churches. Most ministers know the lesson taught by Jesus in Luke 14:
Luke 14:8 "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited.
Luke 14:9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.
Luke 14:10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests.
Most ministers know this lesson but I have been in churches where ministers have entered as guests who are unknown to the pastor and ushers. They know they should not walk up to the front and sit with the other ministers without being invited, so I’ve seen ministers do one of two things: 1.) They introduce themselves using their title or 2.) They whisper to the usher that they are a “minister.” This is a false humility.
Then there are the people in our churches who are asked to take on a ministry assignment and they respond, “Pastor, I don’t really know if I could handle all that responsibility…it’s going to take someone who knows more of the Bible than I know; you should look for someone who is more qualified than I am.” It’s not that they lack the ability or qualification; more often than not, I’ve found that these people lack the “want to” and put on a false humility to cover up their lack of desire to fulfill their Christian duty.
Listen to how Jesus responds to Peter:
John 13:8b Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me."
The “part” that Jesus was referring to was not His relationship to Peter but His fellowship with Peter. Jesus wasn’t talking about taking back Peter’s salvation but that their fellowship together would be impacted.
Notice Jesus’ straight talk here. You don’t hear this kind of talk in the church much these days. Much of what comes across many pulpits today is sugar-coated; it tickles the ears rather than convicts the spirit and saves the soul.
Pastors and teachers do not want to offend their congregations for fear that the offering might decrease. They want people to enjoy themselves so that they will continue attending.
Someone has aptly said that these kinds of pastors preach, “sermonettes for Christianettes.” But the preacher is called to be a “watchmen on the wall.” God told Ezekiel:
Ezek 3:17 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.
Ezek 3:18 When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.
Ezek 3:19 But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.
Jesus got straight to the point and I imagine that this statement almost sent Peter rolling off the pillow he was reclining on. So Peter opens his mouth and darkness seeps out again:
John 13:9 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head."
At first glance it appears that Peter is on the right track. He seems like he has been convicted and is now trying to make things right with Jesus. But he rebelled against Jesus when he said, “You will never wash my feet” and here he is still in rebellion.
In his first response to the command of Christ Peter flatly refuses to comply; now he alters the command of Christ by adding with it something that Jesus did not say: "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head."
Eve added to God’s command not to eat of the forbidden fruit by saying that he also told her not to touch it.
King Saul added to the command of the Lord. 1 Samuel 15:18 tells us that God sent him on a mission, saying, “Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.” When confronted about his disobedience, Saul said, "But I did obey the LORD, I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king.”
Today church folk add or alter the commands of God and this too is nothing but rebellion against the commands of God.
In 1 Corinthians 16:2 God tells the Christian to “on the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income” so that there would be an adequate amount of money for a local church collection. But many Christians amend and alter this command and give the Lord’s money to other needs. The pattern in both the Old and New Testaments was to give unto the Lord the first part or the first fruit and then you have the freedom to manage the rest of your income to the glory of God.
Then there are some who amend and alter the command of God when it comes to their worship and fellowship. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.”
Some amend and alter this command by reasoning within themselves, “Well God didn’t say what time to get there; just as long as I make it there…” Or the classic response: “No, I didn’t make it to church, but I had the Lord on my mind.” or “I watched the preacher on TV and listened to my Gospel music.”
Peter was still in rebellion when He said to Jesus, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." He was adding to and thus altering the unalterable Word of God.
Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you." (John 13:10)
Jesus was telling Peter that he was already clean…there was no need to be spiritually cleansed or “saved” all over again. All he needed was a foot bathing.
If you are already a Christian you walk through this world and get dirty. The filth of the world has a habit of clinging to you. Sometimes we find ourselves doing things that Christians should not do; saying things that Christians should not say; thinking things that Christians should not think.
Some churches teach that when this happens you have lost your salvation and need to be saved all over again. The Bible says that the blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us of all of our sins. Therefore, as a Christian, when you sin, you do not need to repeat the once for all cleansing of salvation; you need the daily cleansing of forgiveness.
The Declarations of Loyalty made by Peter
The Scripture records that Peter made four emphatic declarations of loyalty to Jesus on that dark night before the crucifixion. Each declaration was made as a result of and in response to a statement made by our Lord Jesus.
The first two pronouncements of Peter’s loyalty to Jesus occurred in the Upper Room; the third and the fourth occurred on or near the Mount of Olives.
The first declaration of Peter occurs in the Upper Room where Jesus informs Peter that He would be praying that Peter’s faith would not fail.
Luke 22:31 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;
Luke 22:32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."
Luke 22:33 And he said to Him, "Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!"
Did you notice that it seems as if Peter didn’t even hear what Jesus said? Jesus told Peter that Satan had demanded permission to sift him as wheat! If Jesus would have told me this, I think I would have at least said something like, “He did? Why does he want to sift me? Out of all the people on this planet, why does he want to pick on me?”
Then I would have asked Jesus, “He demanded permission from you to sift me? Did you give it to him?”
Jesus tells Peter that He prayed for Him…I would have at least said, “Thank you Jesus! Tell me what I need to do in order to get prepared.” But Peter’s overconfidence moved him again to open his mouth and speak before his brain went into gear.
Here we find another lesson for the Christian. Satan wants to sift you. He wants to make your faith fail. The expression “fail not” in Luke 22:32 comes from a Greek word that is translated into our English word, “eclipse.” Just like the moon can eclipse the brightness of the sun, Satan wants to eclipse the brightness of our faith and our testimony by getting us to sin.
Rather than boasting about our faith and readiness to suffer for Jesus, we need to be watching for how Satan wants to sift us—we need to be watching where we go, who we spend time with, what we watch on TV and the internet and the activities we get involved with.
The second of Peter’s declarations of loyalty also occurred in the Upper Room when Jesus told His disciples that He was going to leave them and they could not go with Him but would join Him later.
John 13:33 "Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You shall seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, I now say to you also, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.'
John 13:36 Simon Peter said^ to Him, "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered, "Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you shall follow later."
John 13:37 Peter said^ to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You."
What Peter is doing here is no different than what some do in our day. We live in a “microwave society” where people are unaccustomed to waiting. Jesus tells Peter that he can’t follow Him now but will be able to later. But Peter objects, saying, “No! I want to follow you right now!”
There are lots of people today, who like Peter, don’t like the words, “wait” or “later.” They want it now.
* They do not want to wait when it comes to sex. They cannot wait for marriage to have sex the way that God allows for in His Word.
* They do not want to wait for God to provide them with the right mate. They take anyone and anything that comes along.
* They do not want to wait for God to prosper them—they do most of their purchasing with plastic and high interest payments.
* They are not patient with their brothers and sisters in the church. They are not willing to be a peacemaker in the church and do the work of reconciliation when relationships have trouble so they “jump ship.”
The third pronouncement of Peter came when they were on or near the Mount of Olives and Jesus was predicting that the Shepherd would be struck down, and when He was struck down, the sheep of the flock would scatter.
Mat 26:31 Then Jesus said^ to them, "You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, 'I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED.'
Mat 26:32 "But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."
Mat 26:33 But Peter answered and said to Him, "Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away."
This reminds me of many years ago, when communism still held the Soviet Union in its iron clench, a little group of Christians met behind closed doors in the underground. This was a secret meeting, a secret church service. (My daughter Sophia attended those kinds of services during her stay in China several years ago)
As this small group of Christian was meeting in secret, suddenly, the doors burst open, and two soldiers appeared with sub-machine guns. They shouted, "To all those who are willing to renounce Jesus Christ: You've got five minutes to leave! Everyone who remains will be shot immediately."
As you can imagine, every Christian in that place began to search their heart, and ask themselves, “Am I willing to die for Jesus Christ right now, today?”
A few got up and left, ashamedly, quietly, they left with heads hung low. Most of the people stayed. As one more left, a soldier shouted, “Is that it?” He held up his gun and repeated, “Anyone else?” Another man rose and ran out.
The soldiers locked the doors, and turned toward the people...they laid down their guns and said, "Brothers and Sisters, we too are Christians. We do not want to worship the Lord with anyone who is not willing to die for Him! Now that the half-hearted have gone, let's have church!"
Jesus predicts to Peter that the Shepherd would be struck down that night and all the sheep of the flock would be scattered. Notice that Jesus also says, “But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”
Again, these words seem to pass right by Peter…his overconfidence has stopped his ears from hearing. His arrogance continues to manifest itself: “Peter answered and said to Him, "Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.”
Peter is not alone. The spirit of Peter has a vice-grip on the church.
* We sing songs declaring our love for the Lord and commitment to His purposes but renounce Him on our jobs and among the groups of people we hang with.
* God blesses us with money to go to a good restaurant and enjoy great food but we are ashamed to say “grace” in that public setting.
Jesus tells Peter, "Truly I say to you that this very night, before a cock crows, you shall deny Me three times."
The fourth declaration of Peter’s loyalty to Jesus was also on or near the Mount of Olives and came after Peter was told by Jesus that He would deny Christ three times.
Mat 26:35 Peter said^ to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You." All the disciples said the same thing too.
Mark 14:30 And Jesus said^ to him, "Truly I say to you, that you yourself this very night, before a cock crows twice, shall three times deny Me."
Mark 14:31 But Peter kept saying insistently, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" And they all were saying the same thing, too.
Did Peter keep his word to Jesus? Matthew 26 gives us the answer:
Mat 26:69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a certain servant-girl came to him and said, "You too were with Jesus the Galilean."
Mat 26:70 But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you are talking about."
Mat 26:71 And when he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said^ to those who were there, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth."
Mat 26:72 And again he denied it with an oath, "I do not know the man."
Mat 26:73 And a little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Surely you too are one of them; for the way you talk gives you away."
Mat 26:74 Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know the man!" And immediately a cock crowed.
Mat 26:75 And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, "Before a cock crows, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.
Peter thought he was too strong to fail. Many Christians today think they are too strong to fail.
* The office manager who flirts with his secretary thinks he is too strong to fail.
* The office worker who loosely fraternizes with her coworker thinks she is too strong to fail.
* The teenager boy who browses to those porn sites on his computer or cell phone thinks he is too strong to fail.
* The teenage girl who chats online with someone who says he is a friend of a friend thinks she is too strong to fail.
* The pastor who breaks one of the cardinal rules of counseling and meets alone with someone of the opposite sex thinks he is too strong to fail.
Matthew Henry said, “There is a proneness in good men to be over-confident of their own strength and stability. We are ready to think ourselves able to grapple with the strongest temptations, to go through the hardest and most hazardous services, and to bear the greatest afflictions for Christ; but it is because we do not know ourselves. Those often fall soonest and foulest that are most confident of themselves. Those are least safe that are most secure. Satan is most active to seduce such; they are most off their guard…”
Butler says, “Just about the time when we think we are no longer going to fail, along comes a trial or temptation of some sort that exposes how weak we really are. One of the great perils of this overconfident attitude is that the person thinking this way is not as cautious as he needs to be regarding temptation.”
The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:12, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
When Jesus told Peter that the flock would scatter, he should have fallen to the feet of Jesus and begged Him for help. When the Christian is facing temptation…when the believer is facing trouble…when the follower of Christ is facing tribulation, he or she needs to cry out to the Lord for help!
In Psalm 19:13-14 David prays, “…keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Thy sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.”
In Psalm 86:1-2, David prayed, “Incline Thine ear, O LORD, and answer me; For I am afflicted and needy. Do preserve my soul, for I am a godly man; O Thou my God, save Thy servant who trusts in Thee.”
Psa 119:29 Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your law.
Psa 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.
In Psalm 34:6King David said, “This poor man cried and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.”
Next time we are going to continue following the life of Peter. Obviously Peter is a work in progress as we all are. God is not finished with Him as He is not finished with us.
In Philippians 1:6 Paul writes, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” God began that good work in Peter and was faithful to complete it. If you are a follower of Christ, God has begun a good work in you and will complete that work. You are a work in progress.
There may be someone in our midst that’s here today and needs this kind of work to begin in your life. God’s redemptive, life-changing work can begin today for you. It begins as you become a follower of Jesus Christ.
