Northside Church - Sydney
24 Hours// That Changed the World – Week 3: Betrayal & Denial
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. Well friends, no matter how many times you read these familiar passages, no matter how many times you look at them and they're in all four gospels, these events describing the final hours in Jesus' life, they're very confronting, wouldn't you agree? I mean they're deeply disturbing, even this morning somebody slapping the face of Jesus just because of one word that he says, the detailed descriptions of the rough treatment meet it out to our Lord, they're hard to take in, they're difficult to grasp and although we know how the story ends, we know it ends in a very positive way when the triumphant resurrection, it still doesn't take away the difficulty of hearing and seeing or imagining these images. Back in 2004, I was invited by Hope 103.2 to the premiere of the movie The Passion of the Christ that was down at Fox Studios. I remember how excited I was to think that a feature length movie had been made on the life of Jesus, although it wasn't the first time that had been done, it had been many years since there'd been a movie out of Hollywood on the life of Jesus and some of the ones that had been released that portrayed a fairly weak, a fairly anemic, a fairly insipid kind of Jesus, but I knew Mill Gibson would be different, man with his acting experience and Mad Max and he knew his way around and his movie would be different. Well, of course, if you've seen the movie, you would realise it was and is very different. I found that movie was so confronting, so violent, so graphic, very few people I know took their non-Christian friends to it, which was the idea, originally, I thought we were going to do that, but very few that I know did that for fear of their friends either passing out or leaving or something. To this day, it's the most violent movie I've ever seen. Not that I got much to judge it from because I have built in resistance and aversion to gratuitous violence, so I haven't seen many violent movies, but that one would certainly rank as the most violent I've ever seen. So whether we were moved by that movie or whether we were mortified, one thing is certain. It left us in no doubt as to the gravity, the severity of the suffering Jesus went through. And of course, one of the most striking aspects of our Lord's final 24 hours is his isolation, his loneliness. I mean, no one was there to stand with him and support him. No one better speak on his behalf. No credible witnesses for the defense. No defense at all, really, just a haunting silence for the most part from Jesus. At the very time when he should have been able to depend on people whose lives have been transformed, people whom he'd healed, people who walk with him and minister with him like the disciples, at that very time when he could have expected, you'd think, a whole lot of support all gone. Nowhere to be seen, disappeared. All except Peter, of course. And he's there lurking on the fringes of the crowd. No doubt his heart well and truly breaking with what he was seeing and what he was hearing, what he was experiencing, the mockery, the cruelty. The fact that he remained is very commendable. It took a lot of courage, but it was also a very dangerous move because it was to expose Peter's vulnerability. He was about to experience the worst moment of his life. And friends, I think you'd agree with me that Peter's denial of Jesus is the rock bottom point in his life, in any analysis of his life. That's the real low moment. I mean, this is the one thing, the one thing he'd emphatically said would never ever happen. Only hours before, around the Passover meal, he declared with great confidence, I'm ready to die for you. And yet here he was caving into pressure from various people, including a young servant girl in the verses earlier, who was questioning him relentlessly about his contact with Jesus, and he caves in. And what a price he's paid for that over the centuries. Everybody remembers Peter's denial of Jesus. It's recorded in all four gospels, not one of them misses out, which means that he must have shared openly, at least with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, he must have been fairly willing to talk about it because he was the only person there for that moment. He could have concealed it, he could have left that out and just reported on everything else that happened around the trial. But no, no, he was prepared to share that. Clearly in the days that followed, he was prepared to acknowledge the lessons learned, the insights gained, the growth that he experienced as a result of this very painful time. And look, friends, I'm so glad that this is in the book. I'm so glad this is in the word, and we all should be. We all should be because there's powerful teaching for us all in this moment. You see, at the heart of the incident with Peter is spiritual vulnerability. That's really what we're talking about here this morning. Spiritual vulnerability. The fact that all of us under the right circumstances are prone to turn our backs on Jesus, even to the point of denying our allegiance to him if it gets that serious. That's not where we want to be. That's not where we should be. That's not where he wants us to be. For these reasons alone, it's important we have a close look at what was happening here in Peter's experience. You see, a number of factors contributed to Peter's vulnerability, a number of factors contributed. These become evident as we have a detailed look at some of the events leading up to the final 24 hours in the life of Jesus. Here's the first one. Faith had given way to frustration. Faith had given way to frustration. Now, look, I don't want to push this too hard, but do you recall when on one occasion Peter went from hero to zero in the space of just a few verses? Let me refresh your memories. Back in Matthew chapter 16 verses 21 to 26, Jesus and the disciples were in Caesarea Philippi. It's a part of the Middle East part of Israel. It's the highest point. It's up there, the golden heights we know it as today. There are temples everywhere. Temples to all these unknown pagan gods. Jesus asked as he surveys the temples and the ruins of some of them are still there today. He said, "Now, we're talking about religion. What do people say about me? What do they think about me and my identity, me and my ministry?" You know the answers. Well, some of them say, "You're John the Baptist." Some say, "You're Elijah back from the dead or one of the prophets." And then Jesus spins it around. He said, "Now, what about you? Who do you say that I am?" And of course, it's Peter, who steps forward with great confidence and says, "You have a Messiah. You're the son of the living God." And what's the response from Jesus to that great statement? Look at this. Jesus says, "Good for you, Simon, son of John, for this truth did not come to you from any human being, but it was given to you directly by my Father in heaven." Did you get that? This truth did not come to you from any human being, but from my Father. Now, that sounds like a huge expression of faith. And it was a huge expression of faith, something revealed by the Holy Spirit, something beyond mere human logic, beyond human wisdom. But following this stellar moment in the life of Peter, there's a moment in which he receives a stern rebuke from Jesus. And it's just a few verses later. Verses 21 to 23. Look at this. From that time on, Jesus began to say plainly to his disciples, "I must go to Jerusalem and suffer much from the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law. I'll be put to death, but three days later, I'll be raised to life." Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. God forbid it, Lord, that must never happen to you. Jesus, you're upsetting everybody. You're talking so negatively, so pessimistically. We're on a roll here. People love you. What's all this talk about suffering? And Jesus taught so much of his comments that he gives you in this firm rebuke. He says, "Get away from me, Satan." Pretty heavy. You are an obstacle in my way. And what's this? Because these thoughts of yours don't come from God, but from human nature. Can you see the reversal? A total reversal in the space of a few verses. Here's a complete reversal from faith to frustration. First one, given straight by God. Faith. Second one, human frustration. God, what are you talking about? Suffering, God. We don't want to hear that. There are times in life when we can become impatient, frustrated by the slowness and the difficulties involved in the life of faith. Is that not right? We're looking for the quick fix. We may even be heard to say things like, you know, this isn't fair. This shouldn't be happening. I don't deserve this. Lord, there's got to be a better way than this. We've all been there. And friends, this sort of thinking can affect our joy in the Lord. It can affect our desire to serve others. It can affect our overall sense of effectiveness in the work of Christ. It can lead some people. And this has been my pastoral experience to totally abandon their faith if this sort of issue gets strong enough. The conflict between faith and frustration. People have abandoned their faith because of that. Linked to this for Peter, something else. God's reliance had given away to self-reliance. I want to refer you back to Peter's bold declaration that he would never deny Jesus, you know, that he'd go to prison. Luke's account is very interesting. Luke chapter 22 and verses 31 to 34. Look, look at this. Is Jesus speaking? Simon, listen, listen. Satan has received permission to test all of you. To separate the good from the bad as a farmer separates the wheat from the chaff. But I have prayed for you, Simon. I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you turn back to me, you must strengthen your brothers. This is only in Luke's gospel. Peter answered, Lord, I'm ready to go to prison with you and die with you. I tell you, Peter, Jesus said, the rooster will not grow tonight until you have said three times, you do not know me. All of you will be tested. But I've prayed for you. This is Jesus' story. I've prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. Now, friends, look, think about this for a moment. Just think about this. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the one already acknowledged by Peter as the Messiah, the Promised One. He's making a prediction. Peter, mate, you're going to be tested. But I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail. Wouldn't you think a more appropriate response to those words from Jesus would have been a heartfelt thank you. Thank you, Lord. Wow. If I'm going to be tested, I'm going to need everything you're praying for. I'm going to need your strength. I'm going to need your love. I'm going to need your guidance. Thank you for taking that level of interest in me. But what is his response? Don't worry about me, Lord. Not a problem. You're talking to Peter here. This is, you know, out of the boat. Peter, remember, huh? This is, you know, you over Christ, the Son of the Living God. Don't worry about me. Save your prayers for somebody else. I'm going to be okay. I mean, that's basically what's happening here. In the work of ministry, in our journey as a disciple, there's a fine line between self-reliance and reliance on God. God wants us to feel confident in him. Of course, he does. But he doesn't want that to lead to a preoccupation with our own ability and our own giftedness, which neatly excludes all references to him, one of the biggest traps in Christian leadership and Christian ministry. Oh, God. You are so lucky to have us on your team. No, it doesn't exactly work like that. As the blessings increase, the humility needs to increase correspondingly. Peter in his later life, of course, learned this lesson. He learned a lot from this. Look what he writes in his letter, his first letter, first Peter, chapter 1, verses 13 and 14. What a different man listen to this. So then, this is Peter speaking, have your minds ready for action. Keep alert, set your hope completely on the blessing, which will be given to you in Jesus Christ is revealed. Be obedient to God. Do not allow your lives to be shaped by those desires you had when you were still ignorant. Pride, self-reliance, super-sized selfster. Don't be drawn into that. Peter says years later, when he wrote to a ready first letter, it's tempting to think, plan and operate on our own, in our own strength. It's something we've got to be careful about individually and as leaders. Peter is very vulnerable in this area. We all are. So, faith had given away to frustration. God's reliance had given away to self-reliance. This is all building. This is why he was so vulnerable. This is why he was able to, sadly, deny Jesus. There's one more. Prayer had given way to pragmatism. Now, friends, I'm using pragmatism here to denote that which seems expedient, that which seems necessary, that which seems to be the practical solution. Let's do this. This will solve it. Peter was among the group who's asked to pray in Gethsemane. Jesus said, "Look, guys, I'm really struggling here. Will you please? Look, I'm going to go on ahead. I want you to pray. Just please." You get the sense what's happening here tonight. Please pray. He did that three times. And Peter was among the group for whom prayer did not rate highly enough over sleep. We all had moments like that, but this was the wrong time for that to kick in. You see, that was fine, but when the crisis comes and there's a decision to be made, Peter operates out of pragmatism rather than out of a prayerful mindset. And what was the crisis? He's out of sync with Jesus where he's at. What was the crisis? Jesus arrest. That's the crisis. Somebody's got a crisis right there, but possibly we hope not. That's the crisis. Jesus is arrested. And what does Peter do? He reaches for his sword. We'll fix this. Maybe he's going to touch out Jesus. He starts flying this around, cuts off some poor guy's ear, which Jesus quickly restores. Now, you say, "Well, I don't fear enough. He's just trying to do the right thing." But he's out of sync with where Jesus is at, because Jesus, again, rebukes him. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. Another rebuke. Sorry, Peter. You got it wrong. It's not a time for that sort of action. There was another way. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, 7, "We walk by faith, not by sight. Sometimes in our journey with the Lord, what seems to be logical, what seems to be correct, what seems to be appropriate, even necessary is not what's required." That's the way it is in the life of faith. It's not always that which is logical. Let's just get out and do this. No, no. Sometimes what's required defies imagination. It defies logic. It even defies their own natural inclinations. Gosh, if we had time, how many stories could we tell about the development of this complex when on paper, it just didn't seem logical. On paper, what we were doing just seemed crazy financially and every other way for a church of our size. But we said, "Lord, if you don't show up, it's not going to happen." And so we defied the bankers. We defied the developers. We defied the council on a few issues. Because sometimes the road of faith is not what's just the pragmatic response. There's another response. Peter was out of sync with the Lord. Well, friends, let's pull all this together. Peter's denial was certainly the low point in his life. It was the result of his spiritual vulnerability and all of us are vulnerable in these same areas. We really are. Faith had given away to frustration. God Reliance had given away to self-reliance. Prayer had given away to pragmatism. But here's the greatest part of this story. Peter's restoration. None of this could keep Peter away from fulfilling his calling, his ultimate destiny as a great leader of the early church. And my belief about that look that is recorded in the scripture. When Peter denies three times and one of the gospels recorded Jesus looking straight at him, that wasn't you, but I told you this had happened. You're a shocker. You're shocking failure. This was, I understand, you're vulnerable. You mean well. You're trying your best. But listen, just open your heart to me. Let me move back in and control you. I know that this was just something was going to happen because of your vulnerability. But let me build you up. Let me restore you. And of course, it happens on the beach when Jesus asked Peter those three questions, three times, "Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?" Three affirmations, three opportunities for him to affirm his love for Jesus to counteract the three points of denial. Friends, we're all vulnerable in these areas. But we all can be restored by the power of Jesus. It's up to you, me, just to be open. Get on your knees. Pray this week. God, I don't want to deny you. I don't want to even be shaky in my faith. I don't want spiritual vulnerability to be my undoing. Pray into that this week. Share it with a friend. Whatever's needed, get back on track with the Lord. Let's bow in prayer, shall we?