Mark 14:66-72, The Denial of Jesus
Introduction:
As we come to verse 66 of Mark 14, we are reading about what is going on with Peter while Jesus is on trial in the house of the high priest, Caiaphas. Peter is in the courtyard of the high priest as he has followed after Jesus in the distance. Inside the house of Caiaphas, Jesus is on trial and has been convicted of the charge of blasphemy, a capital crime to the Jews. It is also important for us to remember that the disciples were about to be arrested by the large mob that arrested Jesus. Jesus had pleaded for them so that none would be lost from His hand, and the disciples turned and fled. Let us now read the remainder of the chapter with this scene in mind.
The Denial
Peter is in the courtyard of the high priest, warming himself by the fire along with others. The others in the courtyard are likely the temple police and maybe also the Roman soldiers who have brought Jesus to the house of Caiaphas. While Peter is in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s servants sees Peter and said, “You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus.” Immediately Peter denies it, and a rooster crows. This is an emphatic statement that Peter makes, which is an outright denial. Peter turns to get away from the woman and goes to the entryway of the courtyard. But the servant girl begins to tell the other people who are standing in the courtyard that Peter is one of the disciples. With an oath, Peter says, “I don’t know the man!” Another hour passes by and another comes up to Peter and says, “You are certainly one of them, since you’re a Galiliean also! Your accent gives you away.” Mark tells us that Peter started to curse and swear. Understand that this does not mean what it would mean today. What Peter is doing is pronouncing curses to be brought upon himself if his oath is not true. Peter emphatically says, “I don’t know the man you’re talking about!” Right at that moment, the rooster crowed a second time. At that same moment, Jesus is coming out of the high priest’s house, for His trial is concluded. Jesus looks directly at Peter, and Peter remembered the words that Jesus had spoken, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” Peter immediately leaves the courtyard weeping bitterly. It is a stunning scene as we see Peter deny the Lord three times in a span of more than an hour.
Defending Peter
Remember the scene
It is very easy for us to look at Peter with great shock for what he had done in denying the Lord. But before we are too critical about what he has done, it is important for us to remember what he was up against and all he had done up to this point. Remember that the disciples were going to be arrested with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested. Some of those who had arrested Jesus are waiting in the courtyard where Jesus is being tried. Peter would have every reason to believe that if the people recognized him, he too would be arrested and put on trial by this angry mob. I do not know how many of us would not have denied knowing the Lord in the face of certain arrest and prosecution.
Remember his acts
Further, before we get too critical of Peter, we must also remember what Peter has done up to this point. In the garden of Gethsemane , Peter was ready to fight to the death. When the large mob comes to seize Jesus, Peter pulls out the sword and is ready to fight. In fact, Peter cuts off the ear of one of the high priest’s servants. It does not seem likely that Peter was going for the ear, but what the ear was attached to. Peter was ready to battle to the death for Jesus. Who else showed this dedication in the garden? But Peter was ready to die with Jesus, just as he had promised.
Let us also consider that Peter has followed at a distance and is in the courtyard to be as near to Jesus as possible. Where are the rest of the disciples? Where are Andrew, Philip, Thomas, James, and the others? They had all made the same promise that Peter made to never deny the Lord and to be with Him to the death. They promised they would not scatter when the Shepherd was struck. But they all scattered. Only Peter and one other unnamed disciple have returned to the courtyard of Caiaphas to await the outcome of Jesus’ trial. But we would also be remiss if we did not consider the lessons from Peter’s failure.
Peter’s Failure
Did not heed Jesus’ warning
Jesus had clearly declared, “Strike the Shepherd and the sheep will be scattered” (Mark 14:27 ). Jesus said to Peter, “I assure you, today, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times” (Mark 14:30). Do you remember how Peter responded to Jesus’ warnings? Peter basically said, “Not me.” Peter said, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown You.” Peter was telling Jesus that Jesus was wrong. Peter stands to Jesus’ face and tells Him that He is mistaken. To the only person in the world who has never been wrong, Peter tells Jesus that He is in error.
How easy it is for us to be like Peter and not believe the words Jesus is telling us. Jesus said, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5). These words are very straightforward, yet we also try to live our whole lives apart from Jesus. Instead of having a life dependent upon and guided by Jesus, many times we live our lives with Jesus as a safety net for our troubles. Many times Jesus is someone to turn to only in times of trouble. Other than that, we often think that we are doing things fine ourselves. Jesus also said, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” We spoke about this teaching of Jesus previously, but it is an important reminder for each of us. It is one thing for us to believe that we are ready and our spirit is prepared to serve the Lord. But it is entirely different when the hour of trial comes.
How many times does Jesus say something to us and it goes in one ear and out the other? Jesus is trying for us to hear His warnings when we hear the gospel preached and when we read and study His words for ourselves. Yet we will often apply God’s words to everyone else but ourselves. Which leads us to our second point concerning the failure of Peter.
Had an inflated opinion of himself
We get an idea of this problem from the way Peter responds to Jesus. Peter said to Jesus’ warning, “Even if everyone falls, yet I will not.” Peter is essentially saying that these other disciples may be the ones who fall, but it certainly will not be him. Peter holds himself as different from the other disciples. The other disciples were weak and they would forsake Jesus. But Peter believed that he was too strong to fall away from Jesus. God says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18 ). This certainly contributed to the failure of Peter. Peter saw no need to heed Jesus’ warning because he felt so sure of himself that he would not fall. Because of his pride, he did fall. How many times we can think of ourselves as stronger and more faithful. It is easy for us to look at other Christians, find some point at which we can judge ourselves superior, and pat ourselves on the back. But we are not stronger, and there is no sin that any other believer has committed that we are not capable of committing under the same circumstances. All of us sin and fall short of the glory of God. Thus, God said, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12 ).
Failed to pray
Jesus told Peter and the disciples, “Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation” (Mark 14:38 ). Instead of praying to prepare himself for the trial that Peter would endure, Peter was sleeping. This failure to pray also contributed to Peter’s denial of Jesus. We need prayer. God gave us prayer as the way to tap into God’s power to work in our lives. Jesus was strengthened by His time in prayer, and Peter failed for his lack of prayer time. How many of our failures are a result of our failure to pray? I believe the correct answer is: more than we realize. God has told us to “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 ). This was not a recommendation, but a command of the Lord so that we can stand firm. Unfortunately, most of us only pray for a few minutes daily, if that. Yet God says we need to pray always and in every circumstance so that we can be righteous. Without prayer, we will fail.
Peter’s Redemption
Jesus’ prophecy
Thankfully, we know that this is not the end of the story for Peter. While Judas was overcome with guilt to the point that he killed himself, we see that Peter took a different route. I would imagine that Peter felt an enormous amount of guilt and failure as he left the courtyard weeping and distraught. But instead of going off and leaving the Lord for good because of his failure, he allowed the failure to make him become a stronger servant. Jesus said that this would happen to Peter. In Luke 22:31-32 we read, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” In this prophecy, Jesus is indirectly admitting that Peter would fail, because He tells Peter what to do after he turns back. Peter was going to fall. He could be left in the mire of his guilt and forsake God. Or he could turn back to the Lord and strengthen the others.
Reminder of hope
Peter’s life is a reminder of hope. We are able to see the spiritual growth he underwent from this event. Though he denied the Lord and had failed, that did not stop Peter from being one of the preeminent apostles that we read about in the scriptures. It was Peter who would run to the empty tomb. It was Peter who would jump out of the boat and swim to shore to be with the Lord after His resurrection. It was Peter who would stand up before the multitudes on Pentecost and preach that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, whom they crucified. It was Peter who would first preach to the first Gentile, initiating God’s plan to bring in all peoples to Him. It was Peter who would remain true to the Lord in the face of Emperor Nero to the point of his own death. Our failure does not have to tarnish the rest of our time of service. The message of Peter is one of hope that we can turn back to God when we find that we have not upheld Jesus Christ. Peter shows that there is hope for each of us when we come up short of what God expects from us.
Applications
How we also deny the Lord
--Ashamed to be a Christian. Too often we are afraid to own up to being a Christian. There are many situations that arise where we may wish or hope that no one knows that we are Christian. We may have friends who participate in sins and vices and we do not want to stand out by denouncing their actions. Too often we are ashamed of Jesus and are not willing to stand up for Him. We sing a song which says, “I’m not ashamed to own my Lord or to defend His cause.” Is that really true, or does that song make us liars? We must also see that we are showing ourselves to be ashamed of Christ when we are unwilling to tell others the good news about Jesus Christ. We too often allow fear and shame to be what compel us to not say a word to those who need to hear. Too often we do not take the opportunity presented to us to attempt to say something to make a person consider his soul. If we cannot be ashamed under these circumstances, why would we believe that we would have done any better than Peter? Facing the prospect of imprisonment for his faith in Jesus and possible death, Peter three times declared that he did not know Jesus. Jesus said, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:37). While I believe that Jesus was referring to His coming of judgment in the destruction of Jerusalem , I believe this statement is true for any of God’s judgments. When God comes in judgment, if we have been ashamed of Him and His words, then He will be ashamed of us and not know who we are.
--Disobedience. We also deny our Lord through our disobedience. We have denied who our master and leader is when we follow after the ways of Satan. Whomever we follow is our Lord. When we continually choose our way over God’s way, then we are denying the power of the Lord and do not believe that we will be held accountable for the actions we are taking. When we do not keep God’s commands, then we are in rebellion and have denied Him.
What shall we do?
--Listen to the warning. God says, “Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us; if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself” (2 Timothy 2:11 -13). God has given us many warnings that there will be the temptations to fall away from the Lord. There will be times when we will drift away. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, and because of this fact there will be times that we will neglect our duties that God has given us. Let us hear Jesus saying that there will be times of temptation coming.
--Humble ourselves. Since we know those times of temptation are coming, let us not make the mistakes that Peter made when he failed. Let us be sure that we humble ourselves. Humility is not in our personality. Humility is something that we are to practice. Humility is choosing others before ourselves. Humility is ignoring our inner self that clamors for attention and instead focusing upon serving God. Let us humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord will exalt us.
--Pray. Let us take every opportunity to pray. We are missing out on talking to our master and our Father who cares so much for us when we neglect prayer. God has promised to help us when we will turn to Him in prayer and surrender to His will. There are many things that clamor for our time. We make excuses that we are too busy to pray. We need to see that we are too busy not to pray. We are doing so much in our lives, and Satan is on the attack against each of us that we need to always pray. The more we have going on, the more we need God’s help to do what is right. Let us all pray more.
--Turn to God. Jesus said that Peter would turn back to God, and that is the path Peter chose. Instead of running from God, Peter turned to God. This is what each of us must do whether we are Christians or not. Each of us needs to turn to God. If you are a Christian and you fall in the hour of temptation, do not go the path of Judas and thrown in the towel. That is what Satan is telling you and me to do. God has made a promise that if we will confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). God is faithful to His word and will always take us back if we will turn back to Him.
If you have not obeyed God’s conditions for salvation yet, then you also need to turn to the Lord today. Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16 ). Instead of living for self and finding the emptiness of life without God, it is time to turn to God today. Become His child and receive the promises and blessings of life with Him.
