John 18:15-17
Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.”
There are, of course, a multitude of voices that preach peace, wealth and health. These are all fine things, indeed, but if they are loved and desired as ultimate things – or as the measure of things – then they are idols and false gospels. Where in Scripture does it teach that man’s happiness is in his circumstances and that his faith might be measured by the ease and comfort of his days? If this is what your pastor tells you, run for your very life for it is very well at stake, my friend.
We look closely at Peter and we see a broken, broken man. Once so bold, now he follows at a distance; once so assured in his flesh that he promised he’d never back down or flee but now he caves under the scrutiny and questioning of a young girl. Hasn’t Scripture written this for our education? And shouldn’t we see the boldest disciple of all – the Rock – as a cautionary tale so that we will place no confidence in the flesh?
It’s breathtaking, this turn of events. Peter has fallen so far and so dismally as to defy comprehension. He was first and foremost among the twelve and now he has denied Christ. He is as low here as a man can get that lives by his word, his strength and his code. And yet he will fall even deeper into the muck of sin and hopelessness before the dawn. The man that pledged to fight until the death has been ruined utterly. His Lord is in vile, contemptuous hands and will die a ghastly death while Peter swears and tells lies. He saw himself as a hero and now he is the worst of cowards. He has run out on God himself.
This is the Gospel. It’s what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. We are all Peter, living under our own power and then failing miserably when the real tests come. And yet this isn’t the end of it. Christ will redeem Peter, restore him and He will do the same for us too if we – as Peter did – repent. This is the gospel, indeed. A man might live in ease and wealth. Perhaps that’s his lot in this life. Or he might barely scratch out a living and be downtrodden for all his days. Whatever the case, it’s all the same: when it comes to righteousness, we are all beggars before God. Do you think that this passage about Peter is in the holy Scriptures to embarrass him? Of course not. It’s here so that we might look inside our own prideful, overconfident hearts and see the rotten and fetid strands of self-reliance therein. Peter’s reduction is our warning and our proof that whoever exalts himself will be humbled.
Our focus should always be upon our glorious Lord and what he has done for us. False preachers will move our attention to our careers and our things. They will say things like, “if you follow your heart, you’ll be okay.” They will fix your attention upon the world and the flesh and will build you up rather than exalt Christ. And they will tell itching ears what they long to hear. Every Christian will suffer and go through periods of profound trial. If you have your best life now, it’s because you’re going to hell, not heaven.
Peter is overwhelmed because he’s thinking of things in terms of this world. He’s dismayed to the point of denial because he can’t fathom the events at hand. Isn’t he exactly like us when things unravel? How can this happen? I’m in good with God, right? How can I suffer like this? How can I lose my job, or a loved one…?
Tragedy has a way of slowing things down. When it strikes with its swift and terrible suddenness, we’re often left groping around like a sleepwalker. We are reduced, our confidence is shattered and we think things like, “How can this be happening?” Or, “is this real?” This very much appears to be the state of mind that Peter is in too.
We’re used to Peter’s boldness and reckless passion. He’s the one who steps forward with the confession at Caesarea Phillipi when Jesus asks, “Who do men say that I am?” It’s our bold Cephas that says, “You are The Lord. You are the Anointed One.” Also, it’s the same Peter that is ready to fight all of Rome with his single sword just moments ago. Yet at this hour he’s wandering behind Jesus and another disciple, probably John, goes ahead of him. Until this time Peter never brings up the rear. He’s the quarterback of the disciples; he doesn’t ride the bench. But John goes ahead and secures his passage as Peter appears to follow in a fog brought on by shock.
This shock is, be sure, because of strong stuff. Peter’s entire world has just crashed in a way that defies description. Men in history have jumped from skyscrapers when their stocks plummeted. Hitler killed himself and his new wife when the Soviets closed in on him. The great Hemingway tasted a bullet when he knew that his physical powers were slipping. One wonders what Peter must have been thinking at this point. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Wasn’t the Messiah supposed to crush Israel’s enemies under His blessed feet and usher in the new age? All those weird, cryptic things that Jesus said about suffering and being turned over must have been bouncing around his noggin. We assume that he never took them seriously before or else he wouldn’t have drawn his sword in the garden.
The stockbrokers that jumped to their death, and Hitler, and Hemingway, all men – small, good and even great – are crushed when their idols fall. He who lives to experience the crush of reality against their illusion are most to be pitied because that is a sad, sad fate. Peter must have experienced something like this. He followed and wondered. He was stripped of his powers and was led by the events for once.
All of this is true, and yet Peter avoids the fate of Judas exactly because he was following Jesus. He was not following a false god. False gods abound. We see them everywhere, especially when the world tells us we must have this or that thing. It’s fame, or wealth, or security, or sex or power. Perhaps it’s even love or a wondrous thing like music, poetry, and art. Idols are those things that we can’t live without.
Sometimes it’s easy to envy the disciples because we think that they had it so easy. This isn’t an easy scene, though. To follow along and witness the horrid spectacle of evil men debasing and abusing the sovereign Lord of creation is hard indeed. And yet it’s not unlike Christians today that must witness secular culture trampling on Jesus name and mocking the things of God. Like Peter, we often times must watch helplessly as it appears that the Word is defenseless. The Word is shunned and ridiculed and abused.
And God is silent in the face of all the abuse.
It’s hard to watch. And if Jesus hadn’t walked out of that tomb, it would be utterly unbearable. So, take heart when you’re wearied by these things under the sun. No Christian will know triumph on the last day that hasn’t also passed through such dark moments. But they aren’t the last word. Easter Sunday is the last word on suffering, not this night as Peter falls. And when you struggle and wonder where God is, and your world seems to be burning down around you, remember the empty tomb that Peter will see in a few days. Take heart. Christ has overcome the world.
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