Peter Denies the Saviour (Luke 22:31-34; 54-62)

This sermon was preached on 22/5/2011

The Bible contains the accounts of several believers who fell from their good standing because of a sin. The falls of Peter, which we will consider in this chapter, and of David, when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then arranged for the death of her husband Uriah, are probably the best-known. Others who fell into sinful practices include Abraham (who twice was prepared to compromise the safety of his wife Sarah), Lot (who became too involved with the life of Sodom and Gomorrah and ended up committing incest), Aaron (who made a golden calf for the Israelites to worship), and Solomon (whose heart devotion to God was affected badly by his pagan wives). The stories of all these individuals tell us, ‘Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall’ (1 Cor. 10:12). What happened to them can happen to us.

I suppose we wonder why so many of their details are recorded in the Scriptures. One answer to that question is to teach us not to be surprised when a prominent believer falls; we are to be saddened of course, but not surprised. A friend once mentioned this story to me. One of his acquaintances told him that when he was a young man he wanted to finish his Christian life in a blaze of glory. Now that he was retired, he only wanted to finish his Christian life without committing a horrible sin. The reason – he had seen many professing Christians fall into terrible sins and mar their witness, and he did not want to do so.

A connected answer to the question as to why such accounts are recorded is that these records should make us serious about our Christianity. The fact is, as Christians we are living like soldiers in a battle who are walking through a minefield, where a wrong step in any direction can cause great damage. We have spiritual enemies continually plotting our downfall – the Bible describes these enemies as the world, the flesh and the devil, and we need to be fully focussed on the dangers we face. Becoming too familiar with situations of sin and ceasing to regard them as places of risk is a sign that we are about to fall into sin. The sins that caused these believers to fall were avoidable if they had been more careful about what was taking place in their lives.

Another way in which seriousness regarding the possibility of falling into sin is displayed is by mutual prayer by Christians. The other ten disciples had heard the warning that Jesus gave to them all, and to Peter in particular. Yet I suspect that none of his fellow-disciples prayed for Peter after he had been counselled by Jesus concerning the imminent denial. Do we pray for one another daily? It would not take long to do so, but the practice of it indicates whether or not we are taking seriously the possibility of falling.

Yet a further answer to the question tells something very comforting, and that is the accounts reveal the safety of these believers. Although they fell, and some did so for a prolonged period (David, for example, was backsliding for about a year in length), they were still in the strong grip of God, and nothing, not even their sins, could take them out of his hands. David, too, was to discover the effectiveness of the prayers of Jesus in preserving his disciples. This reality is not given to make us careless, but it is a crucial aspect of our comfort when we have fallen. It is a marvellous reminder of the grace of God, that he delights in recovering and restoring the fallen, and Abraham, Aaron, David, Solomon and Peter testify in the Bible to God’s renewing grace.

In the previous sermon in this series, we considered what took place in the Garden of Gethsemane after Jesus and his disciples had left the Upper Room. We noted the spiritual difficulties that the disciples experienced there in the Garden, especially as they failed to show sympathy for their Master in his great distress. The sermon closed with Jesus and his disciples making their way to meet the band sent to arrest him. Much of the details in this sermon follow on from that arrest, but we must first return to the Upper Room to the Garden because it was there that Jesus predicted that Peter would deny him three times (Luke 22:34).

The Saviour informed his disciples that Satan was after them in order to put them through very difficult experiences. It is, of course, important to recognise that even in his malice towards the disciples the devil had to acknowledge the sovereignty of their Master. This reality is seen in the devil having to ask permission from God before they can be harassed. Perhaps we have here a similar situation to that of Job, the Old Testament patriarch, who was attacked by Satan maliciously. The surprising fact about the attack is that God allowed it to happen because, after all, Job was a devout and upright believer. In contrast, the disciples at this time were in a bad spiritual state, focussed on self-promotion, and perhaps the devil saw an opportunity of putting them through difficulties. Whatever the reason, he still had to confess the sovereignty of God.

We also have to remember that Peter and the other disciples are still in Christ’s school, moving from classroom to classroom. Although this lesson was going to be unusual in that a strong opponent was going to attack them, it was also a gracious opportunity for them to discover even more about Jesus. They would realise that he knew what was going on regarding them and, although Peter’s fall was allowed, they would later realise that the prayers of Jesus on Peter’s behalf were answered.

Jesus knew that Peter would fall, and was prepared to let it happen, even although it would cause him great distress. This painful experience would eventually turn out for Peter’s spiritual good. Nevertheless, the Lord was sensitive to what Peter would feel after his denial and therefore interceded for him, that his faith would not fail. And he gave to spiritually-deaf Peter a wonderful promise of future usefulness in the kingdom once he had been restored, that of being able to strengthen other disciples.

Sadly Peter was not listening and proudly boasted that he would never deny the Saviour. Instead of heeding the warning, he began to defend himself and made it clear that he regarded as an aspersion the description given by Jesus and ignored the kind encouragement that followed. Despite his protestations the bold assertion by Peter of his readiness to face prison and death for Jesus was answered by the pronouncement that Peter would deny Jesus before the cock would crow three times.

One’s temperament

It is common knowledge that Peter’s character was volatile and unpredictable. We can see the volatile aspect of his character in the way he showed bravery as they left the Garden of Gethsemane when he was prepared to defend Jesus with a sword, and succeeded in cutting off the ear of the High Priest’s servant, which was followed by an excessive denial in the presence of some servants. Peter did nothing in an unenthusiastic manner, even his denials of Jesus were strong and vehement.

This is a reminder that we have to know ourselves. Much public sin is committed by people who are animated by nature. They can jump into situations without thinking. This type of person is very different from the analytical person who can commit a sin coldly and deliberately, having thought about it beforehand, yet still engage in it. Nevertheless, one’s lively temperament can be the cause of doing wrong actions or saying inappropriate words.

Yet at the same time, there does seem to be a small streak of unreliability in Peter. This incident is his denial before the world, but years later he would be charged by Paul with a denial before the church (Gal. 2:11ff.). On that second occasion, he changed his right behaviour of eating with Gentiles because some prominent people came from Jerusalem who disapproved of his practice. Paul had to withstand Peter to the face because his actions were denying an important gospel principle. This streak of unreliability may have been a flaw in Peter’s character with which he had to deal.

Having referred to his enthusiasm and his unreliability, we can also note the predominant feature of Peter’s character – his love for Jesus Christ. Within Peter’s heart was a strong love for Jesus. He did not want any harm to come to his Master. Peter wanted Jesus to have the highest place that could be given to him.

I am not mentioning these details in order to be hard on Peter but to help us magnify the restoring skill of Jesus Christ. If a person makes a mistake in this world, they are like vases that fall to the ground, get chipped, and are of little value any more. With Jesus, it is the opposite. He finds us smashed in pieces on the floor, but he starts to put us together again, and eventually each of his people will be on display, perfectly restored, in the heavenly showroom.

Steps in Peter’s fall

It is not likely that mature believers fall suddenly. The fall may seem sudden to onlookers, yet usually there has been a gradual decline that concludes in the fall. Several steps can be traced in Peter’s downfall.

First, Peter was confident in his own abilities. Further, there is no doubt that Peter was willing to fight for Jesus, as he showed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Earlier he had been sure that he would never deny Jesus because when his Master had said to his disciples in Mark 14:27-29, ‘You will all fall away, for it is written, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.’ Peter said to him, ‘Even though they all fall away, I will not.’ Peter was not too sure about the loyalty of the other disciples, but he had no doubt about his own. He even said to Jesus in Luke 22:33: ‘Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.’ Peter had to learn that self-confidence leads to a spiritual fall. He was beginning to learn the necessity of humility.

Second, Peter contradicted the teaching of Jesus that he would fall because of his failure to listen to the words of Jesus. In his folly, Peter imagined that he knew better than Jesus. We cannot listen to Jesus in the way that Peter did, but we can listen to his teachings in the Bible. How often have we questioned his commandments or his assessments of what is good or bad for us? Yet to question the teaching of Jesus is a sure step on the way to a fall. The path of safety includes an unqualified acceptance of what Jesus teaches and requires.

A third step on his downward path was his unwillingness to pray. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus had urged him to pray because difficulties were imminent. Instead Peter chose to go to sleep. Listening to Jesus in the Bible should always be accompanied by prayer for safety.

There is a fourth step mentioned in this descent and that is the activity of the devil, which Jesus had already warned Peter about (Luke 22:31-32). While there may have been particular features of this assault by the devil that were connected to Peter being an intimate friend of Jesus, it is the case that often believers can find themselves severely tried.

The presence of confidence in himself, contradiction of Christ’s teaching, ceasing to pray and being caught in Satan’s grip made it certain that Peter would fall. If he had been humble, obedient and prayerful, then the devil would not have been able to get a foothold. But Peter’s outlook gave to the devil a secure base from which to attack him.

Stages in Peter’s recovery

The first stage in his restoration was the crowing of the cockerel. In Peter’s case, it immediately reminded him of the warning of Jesus. Sometimes, the Lord uses an event in providence to call us to our senses. Perhaps something happens and we remember times in the past when we heard his word. I don’t think Peter could ever see a cockerel without recalling that he had denied his Master, but the same cockerel would remind Peter that he went from the place of denial to the place of recovery.

The next step in his recovery was to sense the eye of Jesus on him. What a look that must have been! It would have contained a mixture of love, of tenderness, of sorrow, of compassion. One preacher said of Peter that ‘he lived on that look till the Master met him after the resurrection’. This was a precious look that Peter received.

Peter had first known the power of Christ’s gaze when his brother Andrew had brought him to Jesus. As the Saviour looked at him, no doubt Peter felt he was being read through and through as he listened to Jesus describing his character and detailing his future. Yet there was another dimension to the gaze that Peter now saw, once that he never forgot, one that revealed the love of Jesus to him, even although he was a failure.

The third step in his recovery was to repent. Peter went out of the hall and wept bitterly. Confidence was replaced by repentance. His heart was broken by his failure. This is the major difference between Peter and Judas. Judas also realised that he had sinned against Christ, but instead of repentance he only had remorse. The sin of Judas did not break his heart, but the sin of Peter broke his heart. When our sin causes us to weep, it is a sign that the eye of Jesus has looked on us.

Of course, the reason why Peter repented was that Jesus prayed for him. This is a reminder to us of the effectiveness of the intercession of Christ as he sends the Spirit to melt our hearts. When Peter entered the hall of Caiaphas, he did so with a grieved Spirit and a hard heart; when he left the hall, he did so with a grieved heart and a sympathetic Spirit who would maintain him until he met Jesus on the resurrection day. May Jesus send the Spirit into our hearts so that we too may know the sweetness of repentance.