Would You Deny Jesus?
Mark 14:66-72
Message #57
What does it mean to “deny Christ.”
Have you ever denied him?
Would you ever deny him?
We are in the horror-filled last night of the earthly life of Jesus. This night began with the Last Supper, and Jesus instituting the incredible sacrament of communion that symbolizes the oneness of our life with his.
But the life-changing Last Supper was followed by the agony of prayer in Gethsemane. And then the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, and the arrest, and the brutality of the Temple Guards, and the mock trial before the Sanhedrin. Followed by more abuse from the religious leaders themselves, and Jesus still faces a second mock trial before Pilate, and more tremendous abuse – all before he gets to the cross.
And right in the middle of all this, we find Peter denying that he even knows Jesus at all. And guys, we have to see a picture of ourselves in Peter’s denial of Christ. If we don’t, the chances of us becoming Peter are greatly increased. Like all of scripture, Peter’s denial is a picture either of what we have done or of what we could do.
After thirty years in church leadership, I’ve seen an awful lot of people stop following Jesus. I was speaking to a friend the other day who helped us start our first church twenty-nine years ago, and he asked me a question that was too big to answer. He said, “Why do we know so many people from the old days who are no longer following Jesus?”
How can people just stop following Jesus? And I wonder how many of those people thought (when they were following Jesus) that one day they would turn away and not follow him. I don’t think that any of them thought that about themselves when they were following Jesus.
But wouldn’t it be good for us to consider that this could happen to us, that we have in our flesh the same potential to deny Jesus that Peter had. Because maybe – if we’re willing to acknowledge that – then maybe we’ll be able to see the warning signs when they show up in our lives, and maybe we will be able to repent quickly and turn back – as Peter did – before it’s too late.
And so, this is not just Peter’s story. This is a story that is possible in each of our lives because we carry within us the same nature of the flesh, the same sin nature that caused Peter’s denial.
Remember, Jesus predicted Peter’s denial earlier this same night, in this same chapter.
Mark 14:27–31 (NLT)
27 On the way (to the Garden), Jesus told them, “All of you will desert me . . .
. . .
29 Peter said to him, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will.”
30 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
31 “No!” Peter declared emphatically (Notice that – with ALL the Pride he had in him). “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And (because Peter was the outspoken leader) all the others vowed the same.
And please hear me, you and I have that same pride in us, and we need to be aware and afraid of it. (You can say “No” and you can say “Lord.” But you can’t say, “No, Lord.” You have to say, “No, you’re not Lord.” Or you say, “Yes, Lord.” But when you say, “No, Lord” there’s something wrong.) You and I have the same tendency to have the pride that Peter did. We need to genuinely be fearful of what caused Peter to do this. We need to be able to say, “Whoa! Could that be me?” It could be.
And so, we are only hours later now, on the same night, and we start with two verses from our last message to set the stage.
Mark 14:53-54 (NLT)
53 They took Jesus to the high priest’s home where the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law had gathered.
54 Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance (notice) and went right into the high priest’s courtyard. There he sat with the guards, warming himself by the fire.
First, Peter followed Jesus “at a distance.” Isn’t that always the first problem? Isn’t that always the first sign?
“Hey, where is so-and-so? Haven’t seen him at church in a while.”
“Oh, he joined a video game club that meets on Sunday mornings, that’s all.”
“Hey, I called so-and-so to check on how he’s doing with the Lord – he didn’t call me back.”
“Hey, did you hear about so-and-so? He left his family, became a YouTube gamer, and is marrying a girl he met online.”
“Boy, we never saw that coming with him, did we?”
Yeah – we actually did see it coming – because he was following Jesus at a distance.
The first warning sign is always “Following Jesus at a distance” and that is just what Peter was doing.
And then, verse 54 says, Peter went right into the high priest’s courtyard. There he sat with the guards, warming himself by the fire.
While Jesus is in the next room being mocked, humiliated, abused, and set up to be crucified, Peter is in the courtyard warming himself by the fire. He is warming himself with the enemy, by the fire of the world.
Let’s take a look at a picture of what this home would have looked like.
Have you ever denied him?
Would you ever deny him?
We are in the horror-filled last night of the earthly life of Jesus. This night began with the Last Supper, and Jesus instituting the incredible sacrament of communion that symbolizes the oneness of our life with his.
But the life-changing Last Supper was followed by the agony of prayer in Gethsemane. And then the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, and the arrest, and the brutality of the Temple Guards, and the mock trial before the Sanhedrin. Followed by more abuse from the religious leaders themselves, and Jesus still faces a second mock trial before Pilate, and more tremendous abuse – all before he gets to the cross.
And right in the middle of all this, we find Peter denying that he even knows Jesus at all. And guys, we have to see a picture of ourselves in Peter’s denial of Christ. If we don’t, the chances of us becoming Peter are greatly increased. Like all of scripture, Peter’s denial is a picture either of what we have done or of what we could do.
After thirty years in church leadership, I’ve seen an awful lot of people stop following Jesus. I was speaking to a friend the other day who helped us start our first church twenty-nine years ago, and he asked me a question that was too big to answer. He said, “Why do we know so many people from the old days who are no longer following Jesus?”
How can people just stop following Jesus? And I wonder how many of those people thought (when they were following Jesus) that one day they would turn away and not follow him. I don’t think that any of them thought that about themselves when they were following Jesus.
But wouldn’t it be good for us to consider that this could happen to us, that we have in our flesh the same potential to deny Jesus that Peter had. Because maybe – if we’re willing to acknowledge that – then maybe we’ll be able to see the warning signs when they show up in our lives, and maybe we will be able to repent quickly and turn back – as Peter did – before it’s too late.
And so, this is not just Peter’s story. This is a story that is possible in each of our lives because we carry within us the same nature of the flesh, the same sin nature that caused Peter’s denial.
Remember, Jesus predicted Peter’s denial earlier this same night, in this same chapter.
Mark 14:27–31 (NLT)
27 On the way (to the Garden), Jesus told them, “All of you will desert me . . .
. . .
29 Peter said to him, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will.”
30 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
31 “No!” Peter declared emphatically (Notice that – with ALL the Pride he had in him). “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And (because Peter was the outspoken leader) all the others vowed the same.
And please hear me, you and I have that same pride in us, and we need to be aware and afraid of it. (You can say “No” and you can say “Lord.” But you can’t say, “No, Lord.” You have to say, “No, you’re not Lord.” Or you say, “Yes, Lord.” But when you say, “No, Lord” there’s something wrong.) You and I have the same tendency to have the pride that Peter did. We need to genuinely be fearful of what caused Peter to do this. We need to be able to say, “Whoa! Could that be me?” It could be.
And so, we are only hours later now, on the same night, and we start with two verses from our last message to set the stage.
Mark 14:53-54 (NLT)
53 They took Jesus to the high priest’s home where the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law had gathered.
54 Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance (notice) and went right into the high priest’s courtyard. There he sat with the guards, warming himself by the fire.
First, Peter followed Jesus “at a distance.” Isn’t that always the first problem? Isn’t that always the first sign?
“Hey, where is so-and-so? Haven’t seen him at church in a while.”
“Oh, he joined a video game club that meets on Sunday mornings, that’s all.”
“Hey, I called so-and-so to check on how he’s doing with the Lord – he didn’t call me back.”
“Hey, did you hear about so-and-so? He left his family, became a YouTube gamer, and is marrying a girl he met online.”
“Boy, we never saw that coming with him, did we?”
Yeah – we actually did see it coming – because he was following Jesus at a distance.
The first warning sign is always “Following Jesus at a distance” and that is just what Peter was doing.
And then, verse 54 says, Peter went right into the high priest’s courtyard. There he sat with the guards, warming himself by the fire.
While Jesus is in the next room being mocked, humiliated, abused, and set up to be crucified, Peter is in the courtyard warming himself by the fire. He is warming himself with the enemy, by the fire of the world.
Let’s take a look at a picture of what this home would have looked like.
The yellow in the lower center is the entrance to the house, the courtyard. This is a typical High Priest’s home. Some people think where this is located in Israel may have been the High Priest’s home at one time. But this is a typical, elite, Caiaphas, Annas level home. The yellow is where you’d come in.
And where the red lines are (notice there’s two). One of those red lines is walking to the great room. This is a room where they would have receptions and a room big enough for the seventy-two member Sanhedrin.
The blue circle in the middle is the courtyard. This is how every one of these houses at this elite level was built. (The lower houses would be just built in a little “u” shape.) This house is full square.
So, Jesus would walk through the entryway, through the courtyard which is circled in blue (it’s an outside courtyard), and then into an upper room where the courtyard is down below, and there would be a huge meeting room there. This is classic. The remains of this actual house are in Jerusalem today. We see it every time we go.
We don’t know why Peter followed Jesus into the courtyard. We know from the Gospel of John that John got him in, kind of snuck him in, asking for a favor. That’s what John does. Maybe Peter had good intentions.
But one thing we know for sure. Peter ignored the prophetic warning the Lord gave him just earlier that same night. And he ignored it because he was over-confident in his own ability to stand up for Jesus. Peter was the epitome of the “I got this” kind of guy, and he tried to prove it when he whacked off the ear of Malchus, the High Priest’s servant, at the arrest in the Garden.
But Peter’s over-confidence in himself blinded him to the weakness of his flesh. That’s why I am telling you, people who fall away from Jesus don’t plan to. They, in fact, think they never will. But they don’t understand how powerful their flesh actually is, and how easy it is for us to deny Christ, especially slowly, over time.
Peter proudly proclaimed
he would never abandon Jesus
he would never deny Jesus
He made it clear he was ready to die for Jesus. But – Peter wasn’t ready to stand up for Jesus to a servant girl around a fire.
Mark 14:66–68(a) (NLT)
66 Meanwhile, Peter was in the courtyard below. One of the servant girls who worked for the high priest came by
67 and noticed Peter warming himself at the fire. She looked at him closely and said, “You were one of those with Jesus of Nazareth.”
68 But Peter denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, . . .
Maybe Peter was caught off guard this first time. Maybe he reacted without really knowing what he was saying this first time. Maybe it just happened without Peter really thinking about it.
But this servant shook Peter up, and so, he leaves the fire. He leaves the light and he goes into the darkness.
The second half of verse 68 says, After this first DENIAL . . .
Mark 14:68(b) (NLT)
68 . . . he went out into the entryway (away from the fire – where it was dark). Just then, a rooster crowed.
The rooster was an alarm clock. It was a wake-up call.
It’s like when we start following Jesus from a distance, and we get a wake-up call from a fellow Christ-Follower, and we know that we are in the dark like Peter was in the dark entryway, and we hear the wake-up call but we feel stuck in the entryway – like Peter.
And then,
Mark 14:69-70(a) (NLT)
69 When the servant girl saw him standing there, she began telling the others, “This man is definitely one of them!”
70 But Peter denied it again . . .
Whoa, Peter, what happened here? The first time you got caught off guard. You might have answered without thinking. But now, you’re in the dark entryway, you heard the rooster crow, why aren’t you remembering what Jesus told you just hours ago. Peter, don’t deny Jesus again. Stand up for him this time. Jesus is in the room next to the courtyard being humiliated, and spat on, and beaten – for you. Stand up for him Peter, don’t sink any lower.
But… he does sink lower. It seems like Peter kind of “gets it together” in the dark entryway and heads back out to the fire thinking, “he’s got this” like he always thinks.
But…
Mark 14:70(b)-71 (NLT)
70 . . . A little later some of the other bystanders confronted Peter and said, “You must be one of them, because you are a Galilean.”
71 Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know this man you’re talking about!”
Peter – what are you doing? How can you keep going lower, and lower, and lower? Why is it getting easier and easier for you to deny Jesus in your life? Now you’re swearing a curse on yourself to try to convince people to believe your lie?
Peter knew the power of Jesus, and he knew the power of faith in Jesus. He had seen the power of Jesus. He experienced the power of Jesus.
What Peter did not know was the power of his own flesh. He thought he was beyond it.
Peter did not know what the Apostle Paul would write in Romans 7.
Romans 7:18–19 (NLT)
18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.
19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.
This is the battle of the new nature versus the old nature. Peter did not understand that battle or he thought he was “above it.” Peter did not understand the war between the spirit and the flesh that Paul explains in Galatians 5.
Galatians 5:17 (NLT)
17 The sinful nature (same as Romans 7) wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.
What happened to Peter is the power of the flesh won over the power of the spirit in his life. Guys, if you are born again today through faith in Jesus Christ, you and I have both the power of the spirit and the power of the flesh living in us.
Yeah but… the new life we have in Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit gives us victory over our flesh, right? Yes! It absolutely does.
So why do we see some Christians get taken out by the flesh, and why do we see some Christians grow in the grace and power of the Holy Spirit? Because the one you feed is the one that wins. The one you feed is the one that wins.
If you feed the flesh of denying Christ (even in small things), that area of your flesh will grow stronger and stronger until the power of the Holy Spirit inside you seems non-existent. But, if you feed the spirit, standing up for Jesus even in the small things, the Holy Spirit inside you will grow and grow, and the power of the flesh will be more and more crucified in your life.
And every time Peter denied Christ, he fed the power to deny Christ more, and now Peter is at the bottom of his denial experience.
He had just denied Christ for the third time with a curse on himself for emphasis.
Mark 14:72 (NLT)
72 And immediately the rooster crowed the second time . . .
Remember the picture showing the two red lines? One line showed how Jesus would walk through the courtyard to get to the first mock trial. Well, now that trial with its mockery and humiliation, the spitting and the beatings were over, and Jesus was being dragged back through the same courtyard where Peter was denying him on his way to Pilate and to the cross.
So, let’s finish with Luke’s account.
Luke 22:61–62 (NLT)
61 At that moment (of the 3rd Denial) the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
62 And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.
Now, how much self-confidence do you have, Peter?
Now, how much pride in your own strength do you have?
And Peter left the courtyard weeping bitterly.
Lord, save us from ourselves. Save us from our self-confidence. May we constantly be aware of the great enemy of the flesh that is constantly crouching at the door of our lives waiting to take us out. May we feed the spirit in our lives. May we starve the flesh.
And where the red lines are (notice there’s two). One of those red lines is walking to the great room. This is a room where they would have receptions and a room big enough for the seventy-two member Sanhedrin.
The blue circle in the middle is the courtyard. This is how every one of these houses at this elite level was built. (The lower houses would be just built in a little “u” shape.) This house is full square.
So, Jesus would walk through the entryway, through the courtyard which is circled in blue (it’s an outside courtyard), and then into an upper room where the courtyard is down below, and there would be a huge meeting room there. This is classic. The remains of this actual house are in Jerusalem today. We see it every time we go.
We don’t know why Peter followed Jesus into the courtyard. We know from the Gospel of John that John got him in, kind of snuck him in, asking for a favor. That’s what John does. Maybe Peter had good intentions.
But one thing we know for sure. Peter ignored the prophetic warning the Lord gave him just earlier that same night. And he ignored it because he was over-confident in his own ability to stand up for Jesus. Peter was the epitome of the “I got this” kind of guy, and he tried to prove it when he whacked off the ear of Malchus, the High Priest’s servant, at the arrest in the Garden.
But Peter’s over-confidence in himself blinded him to the weakness of his flesh. That’s why I am telling you, people who fall away from Jesus don’t plan to. They, in fact, think they never will. But they don’t understand how powerful their flesh actually is, and how easy it is for us to deny Christ, especially slowly, over time.
Peter proudly proclaimed
he would never abandon Jesus
he would never deny Jesus
He made it clear he was ready to die for Jesus. But – Peter wasn’t ready to stand up for Jesus to a servant girl around a fire.
Mark 14:66–68(a) (NLT)
66 Meanwhile, Peter was in the courtyard below. One of the servant girls who worked for the high priest came by
67 and noticed Peter warming himself at the fire. She looked at him closely and said, “You were one of those with Jesus of Nazareth.”
68 But Peter denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, . . .
Maybe Peter was caught off guard this first time. Maybe he reacted without really knowing what he was saying this first time. Maybe it just happened without Peter really thinking about it.
But this servant shook Peter up, and so, he leaves the fire. He leaves the light and he goes into the darkness.
The second half of verse 68 says, After this first DENIAL . . .
Mark 14:68(b) (NLT)
68 . . . he went out into the entryway (away from the fire – where it was dark). Just then, a rooster crowed.
The rooster was an alarm clock. It was a wake-up call.
It’s like when we start following Jesus from a distance, and we get a wake-up call from a fellow Christ-Follower, and we know that we are in the dark like Peter was in the dark entryway, and we hear the wake-up call but we feel stuck in the entryway – like Peter.
And then,
Mark 14:69-70(a) (NLT)
69 When the servant girl saw him standing there, she began telling the others, “This man is definitely one of them!”
70 But Peter denied it again . . .
Whoa, Peter, what happened here? The first time you got caught off guard. You might have answered without thinking. But now, you’re in the dark entryway, you heard the rooster crow, why aren’t you remembering what Jesus told you just hours ago. Peter, don’t deny Jesus again. Stand up for him this time. Jesus is in the room next to the courtyard being humiliated, and spat on, and beaten – for you. Stand up for him Peter, don’t sink any lower.
But… he does sink lower. It seems like Peter kind of “gets it together” in the dark entryway and heads back out to the fire thinking, “he’s got this” like he always thinks.
But…
Mark 14:70(b)-71 (NLT)
70 . . . A little later some of the other bystanders confronted Peter and said, “You must be one of them, because you are a Galilean.”
71 Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know this man you’re talking about!”
Peter – what are you doing? How can you keep going lower, and lower, and lower? Why is it getting easier and easier for you to deny Jesus in your life? Now you’re swearing a curse on yourself to try to convince people to believe your lie?
Peter knew the power of Jesus, and he knew the power of faith in Jesus. He had seen the power of Jesus. He experienced the power of Jesus.
What Peter did not know was the power of his own flesh. He thought he was beyond it.
Peter did not know what the Apostle Paul would write in Romans 7.
Romans 7:18–19 (NLT)
18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.
19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.
This is the battle of the new nature versus the old nature. Peter did not understand that battle or he thought he was “above it.” Peter did not understand the war between the spirit and the flesh that Paul explains in Galatians 5.
Galatians 5:17 (NLT)
17 The sinful nature (same as Romans 7) wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.
What happened to Peter is the power of the flesh won over the power of the spirit in his life. Guys, if you are born again today through faith in Jesus Christ, you and I have both the power of the spirit and the power of the flesh living in us.
Yeah but… the new life we have in Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit gives us victory over our flesh, right? Yes! It absolutely does.
So why do we see some Christians get taken out by the flesh, and why do we see some Christians grow in the grace and power of the Holy Spirit? Because the one you feed is the one that wins. The one you feed is the one that wins.
If you feed the flesh of denying Christ (even in small things), that area of your flesh will grow stronger and stronger until the power of the Holy Spirit inside you seems non-existent. But, if you feed the spirit, standing up for Jesus even in the small things, the Holy Spirit inside you will grow and grow, and the power of the flesh will be more and more crucified in your life.
And every time Peter denied Christ, he fed the power to deny Christ more, and now Peter is at the bottom of his denial experience.
He had just denied Christ for the third time with a curse on himself for emphasis.
Mark 14:72 (NLT)
72 And immediately the rooster crowed the second time . . .
Remember the picture showing the two red lines? One line showed how Jesus would walk through the courtyard to get to the first mock trial. Well, now that trial with its mockery and humiliation, the spitting and the beatings were over, and Jesus was being dragged back through the same courtyard where Peter was denying him on his way to Pilate and to the cross.
So, let’s finish with Luke’s account.
Luke 22:61–62 (NLT)
61 At that moment (of the 3rd Denial) the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
62 And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.
Now, how much self-confidence do you have, Peter?
Now, how much pride in your own strength do you have?
And Peter left the courtyard weeping bitterly.
Lord, save us from ourselves. Save us from our self-confidence. May we constantly be aware of the great enemy of the flesh that is constantly crouching at the door of our lives waiting to take us out. May we feed the spirit in our lives. May we starve the flesh.