From failure to forgiveness
John 18:12-27
Introduction
Max Lucado wrote, “Failures are not fatal. It's not that he loves what you did, but he loves who you are. You are his. The One who has the right to condemn you provided the way to acquit you.” That is good to hear, because we all fail in our discipleship. Today, we are going to look at a great failure of an outspoken disciple. It is significant and heartbreaking. It is recorded in all four Gospels.
Last week we were in the Upper Room, where Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. Today we are in John 18. Jesus and the disciples have entered the Garden of Gethsemane. Judas has betrayed Jesus. Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus. Jesus is bound and begins a series of illegal trials through the night, each escalating in violence and accusation. Before we think about what Jesus endured, we want to focus on a significant moment in Peter’s faith journey.
John 18:12-27 ESV
17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself.
...
25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.
In this lowest point in Peter’s story, we see…The man who wielded a sword in the garden in front of a squad of soldiers, now withering before a servant girl in the light of a fire. The man who swore he would die for Jesus, now swearing that he doesn’t even know him. The man Jesus called a Rock, now a blob of jelly. Peter failed. And in this failure, we learn three truths about failure that we all need to know.
1. Failure is a Fact
Failure is a fact in the Bible. Adam and Eve failed, though in a perfect environment. Abraham failed when he lied about his wife and abused Hagar. Moses failed in the wilderness, to his own great regret. David failed appallingly in his acts of adultery and murder. Every king of Israel failed in one way or another. The people of Israel as a whole failed generation after generation.
In the New Testament, the pattern continues. Even in this story, we often single out Peter but was he alone? Matthew tells us that all of the disciples forsook him and fled. They had all said the same thing as Peter: We won’t disown you or deny you. With the exception of Jesus Christ, the Bible is a story of human failure.
Failure marks every life. I fail, you fail, and so does every other Christian on the planet. Peter denied Jesus in that courtyard; we may deny Him with our words, with our silence, or with the way we live. Failure is not only a fact, it is also foreseen.
2. Failure is Foreseen
The failure of Judas, Peter, and all of the others, too, was foreseen by Jesus. An old hymn has the line, “Jesus knows our every weakness”. This is not a putdown or a threat, but a comfort. Jesus knows, and Jesus can cope with it. There is hope. Our failures grieve the Lord, but they don’t surprise him. His foreknowledge is not permission to sin; it’s comfort when we do.
When Jesus was in the Upper Room with the disciples, he told them several things that were going to happen. When Jesus said that Peter was going to deny him, Peter protested! But Jesus is clear: Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. (JN 13:38).
Notice what happens next. John’s original writing had no chapter headings or verses. Jesus went straight from all that had been said in chapter 13 to these words: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1). One of you is going to betray me, another deny me - but don’t worry, don’t panic! Trust me! Failure is foreseen, and Jesus can be trusted even in the midst of it.
3. Failure is Forgiven
Peter’s nerve failed. His courage failed. But because Jesus prayed for him, Peter’s faith ultimately did not fail.(Luke 22:32 “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”)
Failure does not automatically mean that we lose our faith. When is your most recent failure? Have you felt the shame of that failure? The embarrassment of it? The question is: Do you still trust Jesus?
Peter trusted his own courage, his own strength. But he fell flat on his face, devastated and disgraced. The question is: Where do you go from there? You go back to Jesus. In John 21:15-19, Jesus came to Peter and asked him three times, “Do you love me?” Only John brings us the story of Peter’s restoration. It is the risen Jesus who has already been on the cross and in the tomb. This is the Jesus who had taken upon himself all of Peter’s guilt, failure, disgrace, humiliation, and sin. All of Peter’s shame had been carried by Jesus on the cross. And all of your shame. And all of mine. Peter the failure became Peter the forgiven because Jesus held onto him, and Peter came back to Him in faith.
Conclusion
The story of Peter is a shocking story, but it’s a safe story. It is safe because of where it is, embedded here in the story of the cross.
Peter’s Failure and Yours and Mine…Are facts we can never deny. Your failures never catch Jesus off guard. He knew Peter’s, and He knows yours. Are forgiven by Jesus because of the cross.
How can we grow stronger in our faith and fail less often?
Be a Part. Peter was not isolated from the community in general, but in that moment, he was “standing with” the wrong crowd, away from Jesus. Being a part of the Church Family helps us with commitment, accountability, and encouragement.
Be Attentive. Peter slept in Gethsemane instead of watching and praying; his prayerlessness made him vulnerable. Build up your spiritual life. Preparing ahead of time for the struggles of faithfulness is essential.
Be Persistent. If you have a setback, don’t give up. We all need restoration, prayer, and support. Just think of everything we’re giving up if we turn away from Christ!
The Bible never treats failure lightly. Sin has consequences. But it also never leaves repentant failures without hope. Failures are not fatal; the One who could condemn you chose instead to acquit you at the cross.
Note: For this sermon, I leaned heavily on Christopher J. H. Wright's chapter in To the Cross: Proclaiming the Gospel from the Upper Room to Calvary.
___________________
To watch videos of sermons from Forsythe Church of Christ:
https://www.youtube.com/ForsytheChurchofChrist
Our church website is http://facoc.org
Forsythe Amazon Wish List
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3T2VA3IW7IRDB
To receive sermon notes in your email inbox, subscribe here:
https://forsythesermons.substack.com/
To receive John Dobbs’ newsletter with photographs, books, Christian thoughts, and miscellany, Subscribe Here:
https://johndobbs.substack.com
John Dobbs is the author of several books. Find them on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-E.-Dobbs/author/B0CZLPDWHL
___________________
Discussion Questions
1. When you hear Max Lucado’s line, “Failures are not fatal… he loves who you are,” what emotions does that stir up for you—comfort, suspicion, relief, something else? Why?
2. In John 13–14, Jesus goes straight from predicting Peter’s denial to saying, “Let not your hearts be troubled… believe in God; believe also in me.” How can Jesus’ foreknowledge of our failures be a comfort rather than a license to sin?
3. If you had to summarize Peter’s problem in one word—fear, confusion, disappointment, or overconfidence—what would you choose, and why?
4. What can we learn from Peter’s failure about being prepared to stand against the world’s challenges? What are some places/times when you might be challenged to be known as a Christian?
5. Jesus warned Peter ahead of time (John 13:37–38). How might Peter’s story encourage us to take Jesus’ warnings more seriously in our own areas of weakness?
6. In the courtyard, Peter is “standing with” the wrong crowd, away from Jesus. What are some modern equivalents of “warming ourselves at the wrong fire,” and how can church community help pull us back?
7. In John 21, Jesus restores Peter by asking three times, “Do you love me?” and then recommissions him to “feed my sheep.” What do you learn from the way Jesus deals with Peter’s failure—fire for fire, question for question?
______________________
Bulletin Article: The Nazarene
The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove. Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked. “Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied. —John 18:3-5
The very people who should have been watching for and welcoming the Messiah were set on killing him. John has been preparing us for this throughout his Gospel, but now we arrive at the moment when Jesus stands face-to-face with His destiny. There are a couple of things that come to mind as I read through this account once again.
Nothing happening here is a surprise to Jesus. He “fully realized all that was going to happen to him.” The courage of Christ here is breathtaking: when others would have hidden, He stepped forward.
Judas must have felt empowered to lead soldiers and guards to the place where he knew Jesus would be praying. That feeling did not last long, though. Sometimes, when you finally get everything you thought you wanted, you discover that it was never what you truly needed.
When asked, they said they were looking for “Jesus the Nazarene.” Nathanael’s question came to my mind: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46). They didn’t ask for Jesus the Messiah, or Jesus the Savior of the World. The Nazarene—probably said with a kind of dismissive contempt.?
We sometimes forget that these soldiers and guards were real human beings. They were working on an assignment, following orders. The Roman soldiers may not have known anything about Jesus, but there was something powerful in the way Jesus spoke. As Jesus said, “I am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! (John 18:6) ?
Jesus appealed for the disciples to be let go, since he was the only one under arrest. But I can imagine (especially after the past few chapters of warnings about persecution, hatred, and even death) that there was an element of fear, self-preservation, and maybe they even expected Jesus to perform one of his miracles to escape. But Jesus was not trying to escape.
Then, Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?” —John 18:10-11
Aren’t we cheering for Peter? Someone is willing to step in front of Jesus and protect him! A man of action, not always of thought, Peter aims for the head of Malchus but only snips his ear. Peter is a fisherman, not a warrior. Malchus was the high priest’s slave. What was he doing there? Watching the events unfold so he can report back to the priest? I think so.
So the soldiers, their commanding officer, and the Temple guards arrested Jesus and tied him up. —John 18:12
The garden, which had so often been a place of prayer, became the scene of betrayal and violence. Dread. Anger. Fear. Yet, through it all, Jesus remained calm and resolute; He surrendered. The storm was about to break, and all eyes were on the Lord.
When we stand in moments of dread or betrayal, Jesus reminds us of what courage looks like. He did not hide from the darkness—He met it head-on, trusting His Father’s plan.
The same Savior who stepped forward in Gethsemane still steps toward us today, steady in love and strong in purpose. In our fear, may we remember that His voice still carries the same power that made soldiers fall—and the same mercy that made Him lay down His life for us.?
From Seven Signs, Seven Days: A Devotional Companion for John's Gospel
https://a.co/d/00zLnnoR
John Dobbs
__________________________
Resources
Connelly, Douglas. John: The Way to True Life. InterVarsity Press, 2002.
LeMaster-Smith, Jonathan. Article: Tough Path to Follow. https://spiritandtruthpublishing.com/blog/tough-path-to-follow-john-18/
Lucado, The Burden of Shame. https://jameslau88.com/2020/05/21/the-burden-of-shame-by-max-lucado/
Stamper, Meda. Working Preacher Commentary. https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/peters-denial-2/commentary-on-john-1812-27
Wright, Christopher J. H. To the Cross: Proclaiming the Gospel from the Upper Room to Calvary. InterVarsity Press, 2017.
Wright, T. (2004). John for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 11-21 (p. 108). Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
Wright, N. T. For Everyone Bible Study Guides: John. InterVarsity Press, 2009.
