Transcript

Human Weakness and Divine Mercy

Matthew 26:31-35, 69-75
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Pastor Randy Smith

---

Have you ever hurt someone unintentionally with your words? You say something, oftentimes trying to be funny, and the person either goes silent, starts crying or snaps back in anger. Your response is often shock as your motives were in no way meant to inflict pain. Such an uncomfortable situation often happens because we do not know enough about the person to whom we are speaking. If we knew they were sensitive to such issues, we would have altered our conversation. We respond, "I'm sorry, I never knew that bothered you!"

This describes our relationship with God. The essence of the Christian life is not to read the Bible and follow a bunch of rules. On the contrary, it is to know the God of the Bible. Then because we know Him and love Him, we desire deep in our hearts to do that which pleases Him and avoid that which brings Him grief. This is what our Lord seeks from among His children.

"That I may know Him," Paul told the Philippians (Phil. 3:20). And the more we know God, the more we will desire purity. "Go. From now on sin no more" (Jn. 8:11). "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin" (1 Jn. 2:1). "Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!" (Rom. 6:15). The commands to avoid sin and pursue holiness are throughout the Bible. It is only natural that God's children will desire to be like their Father who is holy, be conformed to holiness because of the Holy Spirit that is within them, and personally hate the sin that nailed their Savior to the cross!

We want to please God. To please God we must know God. And when we know God we will understand how much He hates sin. So if this is true, why do we still sin? How can we overcome sin? What is our Lord's response to our sin? This morning we will answer those questions by looking at a spiritual meltdown in the life of the apostle Peter.

1. THE FALL OF PETER

Let's begin with the first point.

The Bible is loaded with stories about sin because it is loaded with stories about people. A few are prominent because of the people who committed them and the devastating results that occurred from them. Adam and Eve with the forbidden fruit. King David's affair with Bathsheba. Judas' betrayal of Jesus. And today's story, Peter's denial of Jesus.

Peter was there at the transfiguration. He walked on water with His Lord. He heard all the teaching and observed all the miracles. He just enjoyed an intimate final supper with Jesus. It is hard to imagine that Peter would deny even knowing Jesus, not once but three times! The mighty apostle Peter was ashamed to identify with His Savior. Why the disloyalty and cowardice?

I believe the attention the Bible gives to Peter's sin is additional proof that the Bible was not written by humans. The story of Peter takes prominence in a section that is strongly Christ-centered. It reveals human weakness and makes us wonder why one of Jesus' primary followers would be so unfaithful. Humans would not write this; why did the Holy Spirit? Why a lesson on weakness in the heart of Christ's Passion? I believe it is to teach us a valuable lesson that if someone like Peter can fall to this degree, we had better take heed and learn what we can from his failure. Based on this account alone, I found five reasons for Peter's meltdown that can apply directly to us.

No Faith

First of all, Peter failed because he was lacking in faith. Faith is simply the belief in God that doing things His way is the right way. It is trusting Him. The moment we take our eyes off Jesus Christ and begin to trust in our own feelings and strength and intuition we will collapse. Peter did exactly that.

Jesus could not have made the prediction any clearer. Verse 31, "You will all fall away because of Me this night." And if they needed more evidence He quotes prophecy in the same verse from Zechariah 13:7: "For it is written, 'I will strike down the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered." We have covered this already. God the Son willingly hands Himself over and willingly takes our sin upon Himself. God the Father pours out the wrath that we deserved on the Son. As Paul said in Romans, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all" (Rom. 8:32). The Shepherd is slain, and when the Shepherd is slain, the sheep (that is the disciples) will be scattered. They will run for their lives in fear. Clear prediction from Jesus supported with prophecy in verse 31.

Yet how does Peter respond? Verse 33, "Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away." In other words, "Jesus, I know better than You. You are simply mistaken, Lord!"

Jesus responds to Peter's faithless boast with even more clarity. Verse 34, "Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."

Peter is still adamant that Jesus is inaccurate. By now he is probably offended that his loyalty is questioned. He is beyond listening and reasoning. He is in full self-defense mode to win the argument and prove Jesus wrong. Let me say that again, prove Jesus wrong! More faith in himself than in the Son of God! Toe to toe with Jesus he demands in verse 35, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You."

Verse 35 adds, "All the disciples said the same thing too." I suppose they needed to say this. After all, how could they promise less than their fearless leader? When it was all said and done, each of the apostles basically called Jesus a liar. They supposed they knew their hearts and the outcome of the situation better than He!

Beloved, sin always waits at the door when we begin to think we are wiser than Christ. We are ripe for failure anytime we put more confidence in ourselves than what the Word of God teaches. That is what Peter and the disciples did. The proverbs are filled with warnings: Proverbs 3:5, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding." Proverbs 26:12, "Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him."

No Humility

Peter failed because he lacked faith in trusting God's Word. He also failed because he lacked humility. Obviously his pride led him to believe he was wiser than God, but his pride also led him to believe that he was stronger than his friends. Look at verse 33, "Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away."

Trace the personal pronouns throughout this section (the repeated use of the emphatic "I's"). Peter really thought very highly of himself. And not only did Peter think he was better than others (that's dangerous in and of itself), he also did not care to accept his own weaknesses. His perceived strength became the source of his downfall. It reminds me of what Paul told the Corinthians: "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall" (1 Cor. 10:12).

You see, Jesus said apart from Him we can do nothing (Jn. 15:5). To achieve spiritual victory we cannot stand on our own strength. Our power is too weak, our intentions are too feeble and our enemy is too strong. Spiritual success is dependent on the strength that only God can supply. And until we see ourselves for who we really are, we will never totally depend on God for His resources.

The apostle Paul was tormented with a "thorn in his flesh" (2 Cor. 12:7). Three times he begged the Lord for the trial to be removed. God answered his prayer with a "no." Yet Paul learned to cast away his own self-sufficiency and trust in God's sufficient grace. He began to praise God for the thorn. The thorn brought humility. The thorn revealed his weaknesses and continual need to depend on the Lord. That is why Paul, in connection with this event, said, "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me…for when I am weak, then I am strong" (1 Cor. 12:9-10b).

If Peter could have only learned from all the Old Testament stories he heard as a kid! All those prideful individuals, men like Goliath and Haman and Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar and the fate that awaited them. Unfortunately Peter joined them in spirit. "Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away" (Mt. 26:33). The man with prideful exuberance and overconfident ideals blew it within hours of his remarks. Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling."

No Prayer

Third, another component that led to Peter's downfall was his lack of prayer. Prayer is an opportunity to draw strength from God. Prayer is an act of humility. Prayer is a cry for help; help to be delivered from temptation (Mt. 6:13), help to stand firm under Satan's assaults (Eph. 6:18), help to make holy decisions (Jas. 1:5), help to desire God's will (Mt. 26:39, 42) and help to pursue that will with courage and zeal.

I was reading this week about hiking down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Everywhere you look on the Internet there are warnings of things that need to be observed in order to prevent a tragic outcome. I wonder how many hikers each year ignore the warnings. They skip merrily down to the bottom of the canyon only to be shocked with the real battle which awaits on the return trip. I wonder how many hikers due to their own pride and self-confidence (like Peter) ignore the warnings about water supply and heat and proper trail usage and over-exertion only to find themselves in for more than they expected.

Jesus knew that that final night before His crucifixion would be more spiritually intense for His disciples than walking up the Grand Canyon with ankle weights on during an August afternoon. He warned them, and the warning consisted of their need to pray. Verse 41, "Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (cf. Lk. 22:40, 46). Yet instead of heeding the warning, they fell asleep. Despite seeing Jesus in prayer, they saw no need to be in prayer themselves. They failed to draw upon God's resources, and when the moment of temptation came, they crumbled.

No Devotion

Fourth, Peter was not devoted. Look at verse 58, "But Peter was following [Jesus] at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and entered in, and sat down with the officers to see the outcome." I am going to spiritualize this a bit, but when Peter followed Jesus at a physical distance, it was also symbolic of lagging behind Jesus a bit spiritually.

God has given us the spiritual disciplines to help us stay in union with Him. Yet consider Peter's attitude toward the spiritual disciplines: The Bible - he ignores the words of Christ. Prayer - he prefers sleep. Christian fellowship - he is alone. Now Peter has not totally deserted Jesus at this point, but he is like many churchgoers today. He is not burning bright in devotion, but he is trailing just close enough to feel like he has not abandoned his Savior entirely. It is almost a halfhearted devotion - a little commitment and a little cowardice, being near to Jesus without being noticed.

What happens when you take a man that is extremely tired and very confused and you separate him from Jesus spiritually? Talk about just the right ingredients to cook a nice stew of spiritual failure. It was like a feather seeking to be immovable caught in the path of tornado. Peter didn't stand a chance! No doubt Satan was licking his chops (1 Pet. 5:8). Remember what Jesus said to Peter in Luke 22? "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat" (Lk. 22:31).

Lacking devotion, lukewarm living can only last so long. I've seen these Christians get "sifted." They collapse like a house of cards.

No Fellowship

So Peter was lacking in faith. He was lacking in humility. He was lacking in prayer. He was lacking in devotion. And lastly, he was lacking in fellowship.

We must remember that we are members of the body of Christ. God has set it up in such a way that we are interdependently related to each other. Our strength comes in our togetherness. The gazelle is secure when staying within the herd. But the moment she is detached - off in the distance you can almost see the smile on the lion's face.

You remember when Jesus was in the Garden; even the Son of Man saw the need for human companionship (Mt. 26:37-38). Peter obviously did not think that was necessary for him either.

At this point Peter is not with Jesus. He has broken away from the other disciples, and now he is found hanging with our Lord's enemies (cf. 1 Cor. 15:33). Verse 58 says he "sat down with the officers." Being so vulnerable at this point, could he have put himself in a worse situation? It would be the final straw that gave birth to his spiritual collapse.

Peter would now reap the seeds he had sown. As J.C. Ryle remarked, "Great illnesses seldom attack the body, without a previous train of premonitory symptoms. Great falls seldom happen to a saint, without a previous course of secret backsliding. The church and the world are sometimes shocked by the sudden misconduct of some great professor of religion. Believers are discouraged and stumbled by it. The enemies of God rejoice and blaspheme. But if the truth could be known, the explanation of such cases would generally be found to have been private departure from God. Men fall in private, long before they fall in public. The tree falls with a great crash, but the secret decay which accounts for it, is often not discovered until it is down on the ground" (Commentary, Matthew 26).

Peter's sin now goes public. In verse 69 a servant-girl accuses Peter of being with Jesus. Verse 70, "But he denied it before them all, saying, 'I do not know what you are talking about.'" In verse 71 another servant-girl said to those around him, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." Verse 72, "And again he denied it with an oath, 'I do not know the man.'" In verse 73 some bystanders said, "Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away." Verse 74, "Then he began to curse and swear, 'I do not know the man!' And immediately a rooster crowed."

Not only did Peter deny his Savior, the means of denial became more intense with each interrogation and his subsequent lies. By the end he was denying Jesus with an oath which basically pledged that God may avenge him for any untruthfulness. He acted as if Jesus was a complete stranger to him. It is hard to imagine how that could happen, but after the analysis of the preceding events we have covered, it is well within the realm of probability.

Peter's awful sin was the result of his faithlessness and his pride and his arrogance and his complacency and his compromise and his prayerlessness and his isolation and his poor choice of companions.

2. THE RESTORATION OF CHRIST

I think it would be almost as tragic as Peter's sin to close the sermon at this point. Let's briefly move from Peter's weakness to Christ's restoration.

You might think this account is about Peter, but under closer examination, it is really about Jesus. Behind the ugliness of Peter's sin, we see the brilliance of Christ's glory.

Despite the disciples' predicted failure, it was Jesus who predicted His own resurrection. Verse 32, "But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee." Despite their desire to run from the will of God, it was Jesus who accomplished God's will perfectly (cf. Mt. 26:39). Despite their shame to be associated with Jesus, Jesus was not ashamed to be associated with them. And despite their lack of love, Jesus still loves them and goes to the cross to suffer for their sin.

Considering Peter specifically, it was Jesus who knew Peter's heart and predicted the denial before it happened. It was Jesus who sought to prepare Peter for a dark and tempting night. It was Jesus who prayed for Peter according to Luke 22 (verse 32). It was Jesus who brought Peter to repentance. Look at verse 75, "And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, 'Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.'" The sound of that old bird must have sounded like the devil himself, crowing in triumph. But did the memory of those words from Jesus "pull the rope that [rang] the bell of Peter's conscience? (Hendriksen, Matthew, p. 915). The verse concludes that, "[Peter] went out and wept bitterly." True repentance. Grieving his own failure in His Savior's expectations. Contrition of heart. And it was Jesus who restored Peter to a position of leadership (Jn. 21:15-17).

Luke contains a very interesting verse. Right after Peter denied Jesus for the third time, Luke adds, "The Lord turned and looked at Peter" (Lk. 22:61). Was it that look (from a face that was bloody and smattered with spit) which brought the most agony upon Peter? Was he reminded of the One who loved him so much and the One he hurt so deeply? Was it that which caused Peter to weep bitterly because he understood how he offended his Savior?

May we all come to love our Savior. May we gaze upon the beauty of His face. May we continue to grow in our knowledge of Him. For in doing so, we will live in a way that brings Him much pleasure and ourselves much joy.