[Machine transcription]
In the name of Jesus, amen.
Of all the Lord’s disciples, which one would you have liked to have known personally?
My name is Andrew, so growing up I always wanted to know more about the disciple Andrew.
He appears so little in the New Testament.
But I think, even though our answers may vary, most of us would probably want to know the
disciple Peter.
Not only do we have a lot of information on Peter in the Gospels, he’s such a character.
He’s so very human. He seems to be the first one to speak up and say something,
but also the first one to stick his foot in his mouth. He wants to be brave and
then he falters. He wants to believe and make a clear confession of faith, and he
does, but then he has a way of forgetting what he said and having doubts. But
here’s the point for tonight. Jesus is faithful even when Peter is faithless.
Jesus is faithful even when we are faithless. This evening I’d like to focus
in on one of the sections from the past, Peter’s denial. But to better understand
our text, we need to rewind a little bit. Jesus has just predicted earlier in the
that Peter would fall away from him. And Peter, being one of the disciples and
being a bold man, says, though the others deny you, Jesus, I won’t ever deny you. I
would rather suffer death than deny you. That’s when Jesus gave Peter this
warning. I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three
times that you know me. And that brings us to our text tonight. Jesus is on trial
for his life before the high priests and the rulers of the Jews. And Peter is
there, not at the actual trial, but in the courtyard of the high priest because the
disciple John has access. And you can imagine that Peter wants to know what’s
going on. He wants to know what’s going on with Jesus, but he doesn’t want to be
seen. He doesn’t want to be known by anyone. But it’s cold in Jerusalem. It’s
early spring in the mountains, and they’re all gathered around a fire, and
you can imagine that a flame of fire lights up Peter’s face, and a servant
girl looks at him intently and says, this man also was with him. But Peter denies
this, saying, woman, I don’t know him. Peter, the faithful one, who had proclaimed to
Jesus, you are the Christ, has now acted faithlessly. Well, many of you know how
this story goes. It only goes from bad to worse. It’s honestly tragic. Peter goes
from disowning Jesus, I don’t know him, to outright denial of being a part of his
group, man I am NOT, to cursing and swearing and professing ignorance about
the entire situation, man I don’t know what you’re talking about. And then, the
crows, just like Jesus said it would. No doubt the sound of that rooster pierced
the heart and mind of Peter, and he remembered what Jesus had said. He
remembered his prediction, and in case Jesus forgot, or in case Peter forgot,
Jesus turns and he looks at Peter, and Peter remembers Jesus’ words. Before the
rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me. And he breaks
down and weeps. Now on the one hand, we aren’t Simon Peter, we aren’t a disciple
of Jesus 2,000 years ago on the night of Jesus’ trial before he’s crucified. We
haven’t denied him in the face of his executioners, but that doesn’t mean we
haven’t denied our Lord in other ways. You know, the second commandment is, you shall
not take the name of the Lord in vain. And the Catechism says this is
about using God’s name rightly, of prayer, of calling out in praise, and this is
right. But in the Old Testament, it’s even broader. It’s about bearing the name of
God. And as Christians, the name of God has been tattooed on our forehead. When we were born, the name of
God was put on us, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so, in what we say and what we do,
the name of God goes with us and we reflect in what we reflects on God and
that name and so we have to ask ourselves how many times by our words
our thoughts and our deeds on God’s name Peter I don’t know the man I don’t know
Jesus how many times words been no difference than those are the world
around us, angry, bitter, gossip, actions, served ourselves what we want, what we desire
instead of serving each other. And it gets even worse when we realize that Jesus sees
us in our denials. He hears our thoughts, words, and deeds that proclaim to him, I don’t
knows the man. And this is honestly terrifying, because we know Jesus’ judgment on the last day.
You help me, I’ll help you. You reject me, I’ll reject you, and so on and so forth. For Jesus
even when we are faithless, hear these words, with Jesus we will also live with Him. If we endure,
we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will disown us. But if we are faithless,
he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself our faithlessness he is the
faithful one who faithfully obeyed his father he is the one who said not my
will father but yours be done and he went to the cross to die for your sins
and my sins and as Isaiah the Prophet says in that very Lenten chapter Isaiah
53 by his stripes we are healed you see as long as we live God’s final words was
is never judgment. As the collect said today, God’s glory is always in having
mercy. God always desires for us to turn to him, to be forgiven, and to live in
his grace because of what Jesus has done. After all, we see this in the life of
Peter himself. Peter denied Jesus three times on the very most important night
of Jesus’ life when it really counted the most. But Jesus is faithful. After his
resurrection, Jesus comes to Peter and all the disciples. He stretches out his
hands. They see the holes in his hands, the marks of his crucifixion, the price
of their forgiveness, and Jesus proclaims, peace be with you, forgiving their sins.
And in John chapter 21, in his resurrection appearances, Jesus takes
Peter aside personally and he absolves him. Three times he forgives Peter for
the three times he denied knowing Him. Jesus is faithful even when Peter was
not and even when we are not. And as in Peter’s life, the emphasis falls on what
Jesus has done. His life, His death, His resurrection for you and for me. His
faithfulness instead of our faithlessness. You know sometimes in Lent as Lutherans
and as many liturgical church bodies, I get concerned that sometimes we get the
impression that we need to constantly be sorrowful as Christians, that we need to
really work ourselves into a state of depression during the season of Lent.
You know, there’s the moving hymns and minor keys that have us reflect on the
suffering and gore and pain of Jesus’ passion, and there’s the black ashes that
begin the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday that are smudged across our
foreheads and really drive home the severity of our sin and death, the wages
of sin. And these are good things that I would never want to get rid of. They’re
good things to do. But Lutherans have always confessed that repentance has two
parts. Confessing our sins, one, and trusting God’s promises. Trusting Jesus
for forgiveness. And we get it wrong if we focus only on that first part. Because
we can never mourn or weep enough over our sins to gain God’s forgiveness. We
can never enumerate every single wrong thing we’ve done or feel bad enough
about them. Repentance ultimately turns to Jesus and His faithfulness and the
promises He has made us. And our thoughts, words, and actions may cry out,
I don’t know the man. But when we return to the Lord, Jesus cries out, I know you.
I know all of you.
You are my beloved bride.
I died for you on the cross
and I forgive you.
That’s why the second part of repentance
is so important.
Trusting God’s promises.
Going where Jesus comes to us
like He came to Simon Peter.
In the Lord’s Supper.
In holy baptism where He claimed you.
In the Word and in the absolution
where the pastor just said,
I forgive you in the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Those are the places Jesus promises us
faithfully to be there for you. So yes, mourn your sins. Lament the darkness in
your hearts, particularly in this situation that we see all around us. But
trust even more firmly in the promises of your Lord Jesus. For Jesus has been
and always will be faithful to you, whether in life or in death, in sickness
and in health. And in that, there’s always reason for joy. In the name of Jesus,
Amen.
