Have you ever been embarrassed because of some personal failure? Can you think of a time when you REALLY messed up—messed up so bad that it still causes you pain to remember it?
Back in 1979, Stephen Pile wrote an entire book about that kind of thing. He entitled it, The Book of Heroic Failures and it’s got some great stuff in it—true stories of humiliating events. My favorite is something that happened in 1978 during a fireman’s strike that was going on in England—a strike that made possible one of the greatest animal rescue ATTEMPTS of all time.
Since the professional firefighters were all walking the picket lines the British army was called in to take over all emergency fire-fighting…INCLUDING all the other “side-duties” fire-fighters so often do. So on January 14th the brave soldiers were called out by an elderly lady in South London. She wanted them to retrieve her cat that was stuck up a tree. Well, the soldiers arrived with impressive haste, and they very cleverly and carefully rescued the cat. In fact, the elderly woman was so grateful for the way they did their work that she invited the entire squad of brave heroes in for tea. However, as the soldiers drove off later, no doubt distracted by all the fond farewells and enthusiastic arm waving, they ran over the cat and killed it.
Well, does that bring any sympathetic memories to mind? Have you ever tried to do something right but failed miserably? If so would you raise your hand? All hands should be up because, in spite of our best intentions, as fallen beings we all fail. We all do things that cause us embarrassment and even shame. As Joseph Conrad put it, “It’s only those who do nothing that make no mistakes.”
This morning we are studying the actions of Simon Peter on the night of Jesus’ arrest. My hope is that by looking at his infamous experience of failure we will be able to find lessons that will help us deal with—or even prevent—similar tragedies.
Take your Bibles and turn to Luke 22:31-34. I want us to read this text first because it helps us to understand what happened later in our text from John. This is Luke’s account of a conversation Peter had with Jesus at the Lord’s Supper. Jesus says,
Luke 22:31 -“Simon, Simon, satan has asked to sift you as wheat.
32 – But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
33 – But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with You to prison and to death.”
34 – Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know Me.”
Okay…with that conversation in mind, turn to John 18 and let’s pick up where we left off last week. Jesus has been arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and led away by the soldiers.I’ll be reading verses 15-27
John 18:15 – Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard,
16 – but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the girl on duty there and brought Peter in.
17 – “You are not one of His disciples, are you?” the girl at the door asked Peter. He replied, “I am not.”
18 – It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.
19 – Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and His teaching.
20 – “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret.
21 – Why question Me? Ask those who heard Me. Surely they know what I said.”
22 – When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck Him in the face. “Is this the way You answer the high priest?” he demanded.
23 – “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike Me?”
24 – Then Annas sent Him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.
At this point in his narrative John goes back—and tells us what has been happening with Peter outside Annas’ house while Jesus was being tried inside.
25 – As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, “You are not one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it, saying, “I am not.”
26 – One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with Him in the olive grove?”
27 – Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.
Okay—let’s go back and take a closer look at what has just happened.
Nine of the disciples fled at Jesus’ arrest—but John tells us that after our Lord was led away. Peter and “another disciple” followed Him and His captors at a distance. This “other disciple” was known to the high priest in some way so he was able to get both himself and Peter into the courtyard. The first question that pops in my mind here is, “Who is this other disciple?” And—there are many possible answers to this question.
- Some people say he was just an UNKNOWN follower of Jesus whose name we are never given.
- Some think he was Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea—both of whom had conversed with Jesus and who knew the High Priest.
- Some have even suggested that this “other disciple” was Judas.
They justify their belief by saying that Judas must have had gone in and out of the high priest’s house to arrange the betrayal so he would have been well known to the gate keeper. In their thinking, Judas would have welcomed Peter so that he could see Jesus finally show His power after having been forced to so by Judas’ act of betrayal. Judas let Peter in as a way of hopefully vindicating himself for his treasonous actions. Now—I doubt this option because knowing that Judas had betrayed Christ would make Peter not want to have anything to do with him. I mean, forget going in the courtyard! I think the moment our impetuous sword swinging Peter saw Judas, he would have just strangled him on the spot.
- No—I tend to agree with most in thinking this “other disciple” was John himself.
You see, his father, Zebedee, had a flourishing fishing business and John would have delivered salted fish to the house of the high priest on a regular basis. In this way would have been known to the gate keeper and would have been able to gain entry for himself and Peter.
In any case—Peter got in and because of that ironically, he was about to be sifted—or TRIED by satan—while Jesus was inside being sifted or tried by the high priest. And—speaking of Jesus’ trials the one going on in Annas’ house was just the first of six that night—and everyone of them was ILLEGAL according to Jewish law. In fact, Charles Swindoll lists 18 ways the Jews broke their own laws in the way they conducted Jesus’ trials. For example:
- No trials were to occur during the night hours—specifically they were not to happen before the morning sacrifice. Jesus’ trials did.
- Trials were not to be held during religious festivals. Jesus’ was held during the Passover.
- All trials were to be public. Secret trials were forbidden. Each of Jesus’ six trials was private. Only His sentencing was public.
- All trials were to be held in the Hall of Judgement in the temple area. None of Jesus’ were held there.
- An accused person could not be forced to testify against himself. The Sanhedrin convicted Jesus on His own words and did not see the need for witnesses.
- Someone was required to speak on behalf of the accused. No one spoke for Jesus and when He objected to the illegality of the proceeding He was beaten.
- The high priest was not supposed to participate in the questioning. Both Annas and Caiaphas interrogated Jesus.
And so on…I mention this to stress the fact that Jesus did indeed go WILLINGLY to the cross. He knew that a fair polling of witnesses would either exonerate Him of all charges or cancel the false testimony of the religious leaders. But He didn’t want that to happen because Jesus didn’t want to try to escape conviction and execution. No—He had accepted His destiny in the garden. The only reason Jesus objected at all was to establish for the record His innocence and the Sanhedrin’s corruption.
By the way, have you ever been dealt with unfairly? Perhaps someone accused you of doing something you didn’t do. Maybe someone slandered you falsely…or talked about you behind your back. Whenever that happens to you—talk to Jesus about it. Ask for His comfort and guidance. Do this because, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One Who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—INCLUDING BEING TREATED UNFAIRLY—but without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) Jesus knows how to respond to this kind of thing. He has the power and the wisdom to help…so go to Him!
Okay—back to our text. I think John wants us to see the contrast of the “trials” of Jesus and Peter as a way of understanding that it was for the sins of people like Peter—and you and me—that Christ was about to willingly die. I mean, Jesus was victorious over His trials that night—but not Peter. Peter failed miserably. And—as you read John’s account you can see that Peter’s act of humiliating failure didn’t just happen all at once. No—it was a gradual moving from temptation into sinful disaster. In fact, his actions clearly parallel the description of this kind of slippery slope in Psalm 1:1 where it says, “Blessed is the man who does not WALK in the counsel of the wicked or STAND in the way of sinners, or SIT in the seat of mockers.”
Look at the text and you’ll see what I mean. First, Peter WALKED “in the COUNSEL of the wicked” when he walked into the high priest’s courtyard. He should have followed the COUNSEL Jesus gave him earlier…and gotten out of there in a hurry—but he didn’t! Next, Peter STOOD with sinners…stood with the enemy by the fire…and before long he SAT with the mockers on the porch. When it was all done, he had denied our Lord not once…not twice…but three times. I mention this to remind you that sin is indeed a slippery slope. Our humiliating failures always begin with little sins…which lead to bigger sins…and then even BIGGER sins. Before we know it we’ve done something shameful. That’s the way it was with Peter that night.
Let’s go back and review what happened once again to make sure you see what I mean.
First, a servant girl asked, “Art not thou also one of this Man’s disciples?” The Greek text indicates that she expected a negative answer, and that’s what she got. Peter could have said, “Well, yes, actually I am a disciple of Jesus…” but instead he chose to agree with the direction of her question and murmured, “No, I am not.” I’m sure it felt so natural and easy to just smile and say no. I mean, what else was he going to say if he wanted in? He certainly couldn’t do Jesus any good outside the gate. Do you see what I’m saying? It was so very easy to justify that first lie—and that’s the way is often is with the beginning of sin isn’t it!? Can you relate?
But now Peter had a problem. You see, by agreeing with the gate-keeper’s question he had portrayed himself as an innocent bystander. When the next challenge came it was very hard to reverse the course he had taken.
By the way, I have to stop and point out that there is always a “gate-keeper” when it comes to sin.
There’s always that “door way,” that “entry point” into sins of lust or greed or pride or anger or fear or gossip. And, trust me…once you go through—the easiest thing to do is go further in—and the hardest thing to do is to turn around and go back. After we have passed by the “gate-keeper”—well, before we know it we are filled with regret for doing something we thought we would never do…something we thought we weren’t capable of doing. I’m sure that countless times Peter wished he had never gone through that gateway—but of course, hindsight is usually 20/20.
The agonizing truth is, Peter DID go in—and at this point, basically he just tried to blend in with the ungodly crowd. He made small talk around the fire with his new buds. With his silence about his relationship with Jesus, he compromised his witness—while warming himself by the enemy’s fire. And—being in such close proximity to the “enemy,” it is no wonder that he was approached again. This time, ANOTHER servant girl asked the same question, again expecting a negative reply. She said, “You are not one of His disciples, are you?” The wording in verse 25 suggests that others in the circle around the fire took up the question as one by one they hurled it at Peter, “You’re NOT…are you?” “Are you?” Well, again, he denied their inquiries by saying—and I think a little more emphatically than he did the first time—“No—I am not.”
The third question came from one of Malchus’ relatives. Remember Malchus, the servant of the high priest whose ear Peter cut off? Perhaps someone stirred up the coals making the light of the fire flare for a moment illuminating Peter’s face causing the man to say, “Hey, didn’t I see you with Him in the olive grove?” This time the Greek says the questioner expected an AFFIRMATIVE answer. This cousin of Malchus felt sure he recognized Peter. The other gospel writers help us to see that at this point some of the other bystanders took up the discussion so that Peter may have been surrounded by other challengers. Mark tells us that one of them said, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too.” In other words, Peter was recognized as being from Galilee by his ACCENT. You see, most people from Peter’s neck of the woods found it difficult to pronounce some of the gutturals in the dialect that was spoken in Jerusalem at the time…and native Judeans like these servants picked up on that. It’s kind of like our hearing someone who CLAIMED to be from Alabama say, “Pahk the cah in the yahd.” If we did, we’d know something was up!
Well, at that point Peter’s resistance broke down completely. He sinfully declared his innocence by beginning to “curse and swear” (Matthew 26:74). This does not mean that Peter let loose a volley of the Aramaic equivalent of four-letter words, but rather that he put himself under a curse in order to emphasize his statement. It would be like him saying, “May lightening strike me dead if I’m lying—I don’t know Jesus!” —something like that. As I said, in a very real sense Peter was on trial, so he put himself under an oath to convince his accusers that he was telling the truth.
Well, it was at exact moment that the cock began to crow just as Jesus had predicted, somewhere around 3:00AM. Luke tells us that as the echoes of Peter’s loud denial and the rooster’s haunting cry were fading Jesus was led out of the high priest’s house and He had a clear view of Peter. (Luke 22:61) Our Lord made eye contact with him in a way that let Peter know Jesus had heard—and at that moment Peter remembered Jesus’ prediction. Talk about humiliation! Now–what kind of look do you think Jesus gave Peter?
- Was it a look of surprise? No. Remember? Jesus had told Peter this was going to happen.
- Was it a look of anger and rejection? Never. Not Jesus. After all, He didn’t come to CONDEMN the world but to SAVE it.
- Was it a look of judgement…an “I told you so rub salt in your wounds” kind of look? No. Jesus wouldn’t do that either.
I think what Peter saw was the love and grace of God in Jesus’ eyes. He saw a Savior Who was knowingly on the way to the cross to die for Peter’s failures….and was still reaching out to Peter with love. Well, in the light of that loving, forgiving look Peter saw his sin—and he went off into the night ashamed and weeping bitterly.
Okay…what can we learn from all this? I mean, why did Peter fail? How did he get to this point? What led to his humiliating failure? I can see two main things.
(1) First there was Peter’s OVER-CONFIDENCE.
Peter decided to follow Jesus that night when he should have heeded our Lord’s warnings about his over-confident nature—and stayed in hiding. Remember? Jesus had told the soldiers who came to arrest Him to let His disciples go—and Peter should have GONE at that point, but he didn’t. Jesus had said His flock would be scattered. He had told Peter to “watch and pray” so he would not fall into temptation. Jesus had told him his spirit was willing—but his flesh too weak to handle what was to come…but over-confident Peter thought, “Not me. I know what Jesus said but I can handle this. I’ll go only so far and will do no harm.” And of course we have just seen what happened. If Peter had listened to Jesus the humiliating failure of his denial would never have happened. If he had not been so proud—so OVER-confident….
Now—don’t misunderstand me. Confidence can be a good thing. It can positively affect everything you do—your conduct, your ability to learn, your growth, your choice of friends, your choice of a mate—even your career. It is no exaggeration to say that a positive self-image is necessary for a successful life. But—while it is good to have self-confidence, it is dangerous to be OVER-confident. Paul Powell writes, “If self-confidence is the first step to SUCCESS, overconfidence is the first step to FAILURE.” I mean, if we want to avoid Peter’s kind of mistakes we need to understand that the kind of pride and arrogance that keeps people from recognizing and acknowledging their weaknesses…has been the downfall of many an otherwise great person.
William Manchester, in his book American Caesar, says this about General Douglas MacArthur,
“He had strength and power…but his manifest self-regard, his complete lack of humility, lay like a deep fissure at his very core. In the end it split wide open and destroyed him.” In his book A Time To Heal, former President Gerald Ford points out that Richard Nixon, “…had a brilliant mind, a great sensitivity to the public’s political mood and a unique ability to analyze foreign-policy issues and to act decisively on them.”In short, Nixon had many qualities necessary to make a great president. But he also had a great weakness. President Ford also wrote, “Most of us have hidden flaws or personality quirks that seldom come to the surface…in Nixon’s case, that flaw was pride…” And in the end it was that pride—that unwillingness to recognize and acknowledge his own mistakes in the Watergate case—that led to Nixon’s downfall. Ford says that Nixon had not known about the break-in beforehand. He found out shortly afterwards. But, and to quote Ford again, “He viewed admitting the truth in this matter as a sign of weakness…”
There it is again—that fatal character flaw that so many of us struggle with—prideful OVER-CONFIDENCE. Well, as I said, this was one of Peter’s problems. Do you remember his PROUD statement earlier when Jesus warned them of what was to come? Peter said “Lord, I am ready to go with You to prison and to death.” And then with an over-confident sweeping gesture toward the other disciples Peter went on to say, “Though all these other men shall desert you, I never will!” (Matthew 26:33) Jesus warned him—tried to HUMBLE him—by saying, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know Me.” But even this last minute word of caution from Jesus did not convince Peter of his weakness. He was too confident for that. Peter apparently felt he KNEW himself better than his Maker did—and we should pay attention at this point because and our Maker says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can KNOW it?!” (Jeremiah 17:9) He also says, “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1st Corinthians 10:12)
Listen fellow fail-ers! The possibility of prideful evil lies sleeping in all our hearts. It is coiled like a snake ready to strike at any moment. We should NEVER say that the horrible sin another person has committed is impossible for us. We ALL have the potential for sin and we are in our greatest danger when, like Peter, we think otherwise.
Remember Cain—the firstborn of the first Adam? He was only one generation removed from Eden. In essence God was his Grandfather…and Cain murdered his own brother out of jealousy. Anyone ever jealous? Then the possibility of that kind of destructive hate is in you as well.
David, a man after God’s own heart—a man who had walked with God since he was a small boy…David committed adultery with Bathsheeba and then had her husband put in a place where he would be killed. Anyone here ever struggled with lust? Then don’t be over-confident—because you have the potential in you for sexual sins—actions that will later cause you great shame.
Judas—someone who physically walked with Jesus for three years—a man who was thought of bing completely trustworthy by the others…Judas sold Jesus out for money. Anyone here love money? Be warned! That love can draw you into sin just as it did Judas!
And Peter—Peter was the LEADER of the disciples! He was perhaps the closest to Jesus those three years. Before anyone else figured it out, Peter boldly confessed that Jesus was the Christ. I mean, if Peter can fall, anyone can!
So listen to me. Sincere, dedicated followers of Jesus DO fail. The over-confidence that contributed to Peter’s humiliating failure that night can trip anyone up. In fact, this fact should scare us enough to realize that SELF-confidence is not the thing we should embrace as Christ-followers. Even that caliber of confidence can cause us problems. Instead of self-confidence, we need CHRIST-confidence. We need to realize that as Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do NOTHING!” (John 15:5) And, NOTHING…means exactly that. Whenever we forget that, we are in trouble. Anything good that comes OUT of us is not BECAUSE of us—but rather it is because of HIM being IN us.
(2) This leads me to mention a second thing that I think contributed to Peter’s humiliation that night—PRAYERLESSNESS.
You see, one of the consequences of overconfidence is the fact that it can lead us to neglect our prayer life—as it apparently did Peter that horrible night in the garden. You remember what happened. Jesus asked Peter and the others to pray for him. But instead Peter snoozed. When Jesus found him napping, in essence He said, “Hey Peter, I thought you said I could count on you! I thought you said you’d die for Me! Why, even sleep has kept you from standing by Me!”
No doubt Peter’s overconfidence made him think he didn’t need to pray—that he could relax…and rest. Listen, fellow fail-ures, many times WE get to thinking we can go it alone without God’s help and that is always a recipe for failure. I think this is why in “the disciples’ prayer” Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Jesus included this instruction because He knows that every day, no matter how sheltered we are, we will face choices in which the wrong action is so seductive, so plausible, so pleasurable that it will take God’s help for us to reject it. We need to realize that in these moments we could trip up and lose everything—our self-respect, our family, our health, our position…even our sanity. We need to understand that in order for us to fight the temptations that lead to these kinds of destructive acts…to overcome the evil one…we need God’s help. So as Paul told us, we must learn to pray—continually!
You know for the past few weeks I have been extremely stressed by a series of pastoral challenges—things I didn’t see coming. I won’t go into details but let’s just say it felt like a series of Tsunami’s breaking over me. Just when I would get my “footing” back after dealing with one crisis, another “wave” would hit—and this has happened over and over and over again…to the point that I’ll be honest—I felt like I was going under. I found myself saying, “What is going on? This is way more stressful than normal!” And then it hit me, “It’s almost Easter.” Now—don’t label me a neurotic nut. I don’t see the devil behind every tree. But experience has taught this pastor that our adversary attacks in those times when he sees God’s kingdom advancing. As Revelation 12:12 says, “He is filled with fury because he knows his time is short.” So in seasons like Easter when Christians proclaim Christ’s sacrificial death and victorious resurrection and the world is more open to hearing that glorious news…the devil is indeed filled with fury. Plus—we FINALLY are about to move into the ROC…and our adversary KNOWS how powerful a tool for the kingdom that building will be. So, in times like this he attacks—often by leading weak disciples into sinful behavior.
And it is in these times that I realize anew how much I NEED TO PRAY. I fall on my knees for my own survival—for my own sanity—for strength—for wisdom—for peace—I run to God and ask for His help. I do this because I am no match for satan and neither are you! Only God can give me the power to withstand his attacks and prayer is that power line. Vance Havner once said, “Prayer is the only thing we can do that affects three worlds at once. It reaches up in worship of God. It reaches out in work to man. And it reaches down in warfare against satan.”
Well, as I said, it is our overconfidence that causes us to neglect our prayer life. Let me put it this way: self-sufficiency is self-deception. Only God is omnipotent. All of us have situation when we see our inadequacy and prayer is our confession of inadequacy. It is a recognition of our limitations. If we ever get to where we thing we no longer need God’s help we are headed for failure and shame. Think about it. How many times have you found yourself in panic and wondered why and then realized, “Oh yeah! I didn’t pray about this!” How many times have you found yourself wrestling with a decision, not knowing what to do and it hit you, “Now I know why I’ve been so confused. I haven’t prayed.” Samuel Chadwick wrote,“The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayer-less studies, prayer-less work, and prayer-less religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom—but he TREMBLES when we PRAY.” Well, does satan tremble at your prayer life—or are you like many prayer-less, ineffective Christians?
You know, we weren’t warming ourselves by the fire of the enemy like Peter that night—but truth be told we have ALL denied Christ in some way…with our actions and inactions…our words and our silence. So—take a few moments and think about that. Let’s examine ourselves and ask,
“What are the denials of MY life? How have I betrayed my Lord? Am I even now warming myself at the fire of compromise? Am I lurking in the shadows of silence?”
LET US PRAY
Father God, Once again I ask You to shine the light of truth on our lives because without that illumination we are blind to our sins. In this moment, help us to see the ways we have been like Peter that night. Show us the results of our over-confident, prayer-less actions. Show us how weak and foolish and faithless we have been at times. Show us the times we have compromised our faith by being silent about our walk with Jesus when we could have spoken up. Help us to feel again the shameful pain of yielding to temptation. Now—Father, as we each recall these times—help us to see in Your eyes, the forgiveness and love that Peter saw in Jesus’ eyes that night. As we each confess our failures, help us to feel You forgive us and restore us. Make us more like You Father so that we are able to love and forgive other people for their failures. And Father, protect us from the evil one. Give us the power to resist him and live boldly for You. Thank You for sending Your only Son to die for our sins. We praise You for His victorious resurrection. Give us opportunities…give us the words…this Easter to share that news with co-workers and families and neighbors so that more people can come to faith.
I ask this in JESUS’ name. AMEN
As we stand and sing, we invite you to make any decision public that God has laid on your heart. Come speak to me or Bobby or Kevin. Profess your faith in Jesus. Come ask to join this church. Come ask us to pray with you about some struggle…but come as God leads.