Sermon Snippet

On Peter:

“While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servants girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. ‘You were with that Nazarene, Jesus, she said. But he denied it. ‘I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,’ he said, and went out into the entryway. When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, ‘This fellow is one of them.’ Again he denied it. After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, ‘Surely you are one of the them, for you are a Galilean.’ He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, ‘I don’t know this man you’re talking about.’ Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: ‘Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.’ And he broke down and wept.” (Mark 14:66-72)

Many people look at that story and just assume that Peter was scared for his life. That he was a coward and not willing to give his life for Jesus… so he denied that he had anything to do with Jesus… and even called curses upon himself if he did know Jesus. You read that story and the first assumption to make is that Peter is just a big coward.

For a long time, I made that same assumption… until I took a closer look at something that happened earlier in the evening.

Back in the garden of Gethsemene, when the large crowd came to arrest Jesus… the gospel of John tells us that a detachment of Roman soldiers were sent to help arrest Jesus… along with many other people. The crowd came armed with weapons. There were professional soldiers there… and there were a lot of angry people there.

The disciples were outnumbered by a long shot… and yet we see Peter pull out his sword and cut off the ear of one of the people who came to arrest Jesus. I’m sorry… but when you are outnumbered, outclassed, and outsworded… this is not an action of a coward. This is not the action of a man who will just tuck tail and run.

Rather, this is the action of a man who is willing to give his life for the cause, this is a man who is desperate to see all the prophecies come true, here is a man who firmly believes that Jesus is the Messiah… only not the kind of Messiah that Jesus ended up being. Peter’s heart was right on the night of Gethsemene… but his understanding and discernment were way off.

He drew his sword and swung the blade against overwhelming odds… because he thought that this would finally be the time that the Messiah would take control… would wrest power from the Roman government… to rule as King David ruled. To reestablish the kingdom. This would finally be the time that Jesus would begin using his powers to destroy, rather than to heal…

And how crushed do you think Peter might have been when he saw Jesus reach over and touch the wounded ear and it was restored to health as if nothing happened? I bet his gut just knotted up… And how do you think Peter might have felt when the crowd successfully arrested Jesus and took him into custody without any fire from heaven or any resistance at all? I imagine there was a large dose of confusion going on in his head. How emotionally damaged would Peter have been that night when he saw the man who was supposed to be the conquering Messiah led away in chains? I suppose Peter must have felt waves of deep despair and disappointment.

And then flash back forward to Peter’s denials. I truly do not believe that they are denials based in cowardice. Peter was never a coward… he was always the boldest, loudest, the most audacious. No, these denials, I believe, were based in despair and disappointment. He believed that Jesus was there to save Israel through military action… there was no room in Peter’s messianic paradigm for a suffering savior…. and I believe it was despair that led him to deny Jesus three times that night before the rooster crowed. I imagine that this was the darkest night in Peter’s life…