KEY PLAYERS IN THE CRUCIFIXION:
PETER
MISPLACED CONFIDENCE
TEXT: Matthew 26:31-35; Mark 14:27-31; Luke 22:31-34 John 13:33-38
INTRODUCTION: We have read the four accounts of Peter’s predicted denial of Jesus. Each gives us a little bit different information than the other three.
In Matthew Peter says, “Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.” Mark adds, “But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise.”
Then in Luke we read that Jesus tells Peter that “Satan hath desired to have you, that he mat sift you as wheat.” Then in John’ gospel we read that Peter asks “Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.”
If we put these accounts together it would most likely read in this sequence.
Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to go where they cannot come. (He is going to the cross.) Peter asks, “Lord where are you going? “ Jesus says you can’t follow me now but you will later. (Peter was crucified upside down.)
Peter asks, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will die for you.” And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”
Mat 26:31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
Mat 26:32 But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.
Mat 26:33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.
Mat 26:34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Mark 14:31 But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.
Peter had great confidence in himself. But as we know he failed and denied the Lord 3 times. Christians seem to identify more closely with Peter than with any other person in the whole New Testament.
We tend to identify with him in his weakness rather than his strengths. We identify with him especially in the trial scene when he denies the Lord. We know that could have been us. Maybe we know that it has been us.
The issue was whether he would identify with Jesus when he wasn’t in the safety of the other disciples. When he was in alien, hostile company. To deny meant to refuse to be identified with Jesus.
Look at Mark 14:66-71. Change the time and the place, and it could have been us. I think if we are honest with ourselves we can identify with Peter because we have all denied Jesus at one time or another. Maybe we haven’t said, “I don’t know this Jesus.” But we have said it in our silence when we should have stood up for Him. And at times in the way we live.
Lets look at Peter and his denial and see where he went wrong so that we can learn from him and not make the same mistakes.
I. TWO CONFLICTING VIEWS OF PETER: PETER’S AND JESUS’
Look at Mark 14:27-31
We have two views of Peter: Jesus’ view the true one as the events show – and his own self-confident view – the false one as the events show.
This wasn’t the first time. Peter’ self confidence is seen many times in the Scriptures.
Look at;
Luke 5:2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
Luke 5:3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
Luke 5:4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
Luke 5:5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
Luke 5:6 And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
What Peter was saying was, “Lord, I am a fisherman. I know what I am doing. We have fished all night and haven’t caught a thing. But if you insist, I’ll let down the net.”
And low and behold, Jesus was right and Peter was wrong.
Look at Matthew 16:13-23
Even after his famous confession of Christ, Peter’s self-confidence got him in trouble. Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to be killed in Jerusalem. And what does Peter do?, He rebukes Jesus and says, “No, No, that isn’t going to happen Lord.”
And Jesus said to Peter, Verse 23 “Peter, what I am saying is right. What you are saying is wrong.”
And the night of Jesus’ betrayal Peter is still confident in himself, still believing in himself, believing his own view of himself.
This view of himself got Peter in trouble. “I’ll never deny you! I’ll show you!”
It was quite a night. Look at Matthew 26:36-40 As Jesus was praying the disciples fell asleep. But Jesus directs His question to Peter. “What could ye not watch with me one hour?”
Peter was warned. “Peter, you can’t even stay awake for one hour? How is the denying going to work if you can’t even stay awake?”
Then, true to character, when they got into the garden and the soldiers came to arrest Jesus we read in;
John 18:10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear.
“I’ll show them!” He was still in that self-confident mode, and I’m sure not very happy that Jesus rebuked him by saying, Verse 52
And then when all had fled (vs 56) Peter stayed right there, determined to prove that he was right and Jesus was wrong. Vs. 58
WHAT WENT WRONG?
How did it happen? Peter had started out well that night, determined to follow Jesus, trying to be true to what he had said he was going to be, standing there by the fire with all the determination he could muster.
Then, before he knew what had happened, he was cursing and denying Jesus. Look at Matthew 26:69-74
What happened? What pushed him over the edge? Was he overwhelmed?
1. Was He Out Of His League?
Peter was a fisherman, he wasn’t rich and now he was standing in the palace of Caiaphas. His home was elegant because he was one of the richest men in the country.
Peter had followed Jesus and as Jesus said, “Foxes have holes but the Son of man doesn’t have a place to lay his head.” No place to call His own.
Now here Peter is, in the luxurious surroundings of a palace. Was he dazzled by the wealth? Was he dumbfounded by the splendor?
Did the contrast with all that he had known unnerve him? We don’t know. But we do know that surroundings sometimes can affect us. People can be intimidated by wealth.
2. Was He Scared And Alone?
Or was Peter just scared? Afraid at what would happen to him if he were arrested also? Did it suddenly dawn on him, “They could do to me what they are doing to Him”? Look at vs. 67
3. Was It A Sense Of Isolation?
Was he intimidated? He was there in that council of 70 or 71 of the richest, most learned, most influential, most religious men in the nation. And they were all against Jesus.
Maybe he thought, “Maybe they’re right. They ought to know, he might have thought. They are unanimous. They couldn’t all be wrong.
Maybe he thought, “I’d better play it safe and go along.” Was it the majority that intimidated him? Again, we don’t know, but we do know that majority opinion affects others; when they are in the minority and others seem better educated, better informed, more experienced and when others ridicule Jesus, they play it safe.
4. Was He Ashamed And Disillusioned?
Or was it shame? Imagine what Jesus must have looked like that night. He was beaten, His hands tied, maybe His feet. His power seemed to have gone. He was speechless. He was so weak and seemed so ineffective.
Maybe Peter thought, “This can’t be the same man. Have I made a mistake? Is He just human with less courage and less sense than even me tonight?”
Was it disillusionment that made him deny Jesus? It might not have been for him, but it has been for others.
Sometimes, in certain circumstances things associated with Jesus can seem so weak and unattractive and ineffectual that we don’t want to be associated with Him any more, and we deny Him by deed or default.
5. Or Was It Something More Subtle?
There was a maid in the story, a girl. Was she beautiful? Did she have a shapely figure? Did she get Peter’s heart beating faster? Did he suddenly become infatuated so that everything else suddenly became unimportant?
We don’t know, but many a man has fallen to the temptation, suddenly forgetting their Christians.
We have been looking at things that might have caused Peter to deny the Lord as quickly as he did. But we are guessing, we don’t know.
The Bible doesn’t say. Why? Because all that matters is that in the end, Peter refused to identify with Jesus. Whatever was the reason or the cause, it was wrong, terribly wrong for him to do this.
Whatever sprang the trap, he shouldn’t have been near it and should have been smart enough to avoid it. The whole point of the story is that there is never any reason for any man or woman who knows Jesus Christ to refuse to be identified with Him.
The reason isn’t given because there never is a good enough reason. A denial is never excusable or justifiable.
Matthew 26:74-75
The cock crowed. Peter had three times denied the Lord just as He had said. Again Jesus was right about him and Peter was wrong. He broke down and wept bitterly. How helpless he felt. How helpless he was.
Have you ever wept over your failures, your denials of Christ?
But there is a happy ending. Peter is restored which gives us hope. Judas died before the cross, but Peter tells us that he was an eyewitness of Jesus’ suffering.
1 Pet 5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
Peter didn’t run away even then, and the two disciples we know that saw the crucifixion were Peter and John.
When Jesus arose from the dead He said to the women in;
Mark 16:7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
And then we end up once again at the sea where Jesus comes to Peter and the others. At the beginning of Jesus ministry there had been that scene where they fished all night and caught nothing. Now at the end Jesus recreates the scene.
Look at John 21:1-7; 15-17
Confidence In Christ
What does all of this say to us? What are the pressures that make us refuse to identify with Jesus? Basically, it comes down to our self-confidence, our attempts to make it on our own.
Some of us may be in the same trap as Peter, playing down our identification with Jesus for the same or less noticeable reasons.
There is too much emphasis put on the word “self” by Christians these days. Self-esteem, self-confidence, self-worth. But there are really only two “self” words that are acceptable. Self-control and self-denial.
There is a place for confidence, but our confidence has to be in God. Our confidence has to be in our identification with Christ;
Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Our confidence has to be in the fact that Jesus is in us so we can say with Paul;
Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
We have to say;
Gal 6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
We can have confidence, but not in ourselves. The confidence that we have is in Christ who is in us, who enables us, who strengthens us and makes us able to handle any situation that we face.
As we look at Peter and see the destruction of his own confidence, his boastfulness, his pride, we see how we too can find strength, not in ourselves, but in the One who loved us and died for us.
