The objective of this lesson: (a) to closely examine Peter's denial of Jesus, (b) to enable us to be encouraged to repent and serve when we fail.
Arrogance creates some horrible situations for people who belong to God. The aspect of arrogance this lesson addresses is not the flamboyant personality that loves to exaggerate and is determined to focus attention on self as "the superior" one. This person is known by everyone as arrogant, but the person himself or herself is oblivious to his or her arrogance. This lesson speaks of the person who is genuine in his or her commitment, but regards certain ungodly behavior as being impossible to commit, beneath him or her.
Emphasize that sometimes arrogance is obvious to all, and sometimes it is hidden and deceives most everyone.
Satan is extremely shrewd and knows no limits to his commitment to the downfall of people who follow God. Those who seek to be godly are limited in their scenarios to their own imagination. Satan is not limited to our imagination in contriving his devices. Satan loves to put those who seek to be godly in situations they never imagined. Those are the situations that can take the heart out of people who are Jesus' devoted disciples. When people devoted to Jesus do things they did not think they were capable of doing, they are disillusioned in major ways.
Never underestimate Satan or his tactics. This in no way suggests that Satan is superior to God. It only says Satan is always superior to us and is not limited in his acts to our imagination. His total commitment is to the disillusionment of Christians.
Peter was genuinely committed to Jesus. He left his livelihood to follow Jesus. He placed following Jesus as being more important than what his society regarded as being responsible in caring for his wife. He was the first who knew, by revelation, that Jesus was the Christ. By Jesus' choice, he was one of the "inner three" in the twelve--only he, James, and John witnessed such things as Jesus' transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-3).
The key to Peter's denial is NOT to be found in a lack of commitment to Jesus. Peter was (and had been for a long time) committed to Jesus.
Peter knew moments of humiliation--like the moment he dared rebuke Jesus. Yet, Peter recovered. He continued being Jesus' disciple in spite of his mistakes. However, he simply could not imagine a situation in which he would forsake Jesus. Such simply would not happen!
Peter knew spiritual failure prior to his denial of Jesus. He knew the weakness that could come from an exaggerated opinion of what you knew. However, he was convinced that under no circumstance would he ever deny knowing Jesus.
Jesus declared in an illustration all the disciples understood that the shepherd would be killed and his sheep would be scattered. Peter understood that portion of the illustration. The idea that he would desert Jesus was beyond Peter's comprehension. As we would say, "The very idea!" Peter knew he was capable of a lot of things, but deserting Jesus was not one of them!
Peter knew Jesus was badly mistaken about his deserting Jesus. Read Luke 22:31, 32 and note how much Jesus cared about Peter even when Jesus knew Peter would deny him!
Even if loyalty to Jesus meant death, he would die with Jesus rather than deny Jesus. This was not an idle statement made when there was calm and no threats! Matthew 26:47 declares Judas was accompanied by "a great multitude with swords and clubs." John 18:3 stated that multitude included a Roman cohort as well as officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees (are these Roman soldiers and the temple guard?). Peter used one of two swords (see Luke 22:38, 49-51 and Matthew 26:52-53) which the twelve had to defend Jesus. Peter was ready to die! A former fisherman is no match for a large group of professional soldiers! Peter would die fighting against the odds, but not standing, doing nothing.
Stress Peter would have died for Jesus if he could have died his way. Often for us it is not a lack of commitments, but the way the Lord would have us express our commitment (like turn the other cheek--Matthew 5:39).
Can you imagine what a ridiculous waste Peter witnessed? Look into Peter's thoughts as his mind raced in the betrayal event. "This is the man who raised Lazarus from death! This is the man who faced all of you in Jerusalem this week! Why doesn't he defend himself? Someone has to do something! Dying like this is such a waste, so useless!" How many times would we stand against evil if we could do it "our way?" How many times would we take a position if doing so made sense to us in the circumstances? Was Peter any different?
Often God's ways seem wasteful to us before those ways accomplish God's purposes. Who would have thought God would use a painful, shame-filled crucifixion to pay human indebtedness to sin? Who would have thought God would have used a resurrection to produce a worldwide Savior? Who would have thought God would use martyred Christians to advance Christianity in an idolatrous world? We have the advantage of looking back and seeing God's wisdom. Before the events, the events often seemed wasteful. Do we not struggle with the "way things look" when we are in the "before" stage of God's actions?
Who knows what Peter envisioned? Whatever it was, it was not what was happening. Nothing takes the heart and fight out of us more than the unexpected. When the unexpected happens, we typically feel overwhelmed and defeated. It was a confused, overwhelmed, defeated Peter who ran.
God commonly does not do things the way we would do them. Read 1 Corinthians 1:22-31. We find the unexpected especially overwhelming. We need again to realize that God's wisdom is not dependent on human understanding or permission.
To Peter's credit, he came back. It seems he came back to see what would happen to Jesus. He never envisioned the awkward circumstances that just watching Jesus would cause on that cold evening. He was in the courtyard, not inside the house where the proceedings happened, when a servant girl said he was with Jesus. He responded. "You do not know what you are saying." He went near the gate of the courtyard, and another servant girl said he was with Jesus. This time he denied knowing Jesus with an oath. Still later, bystanders said the way he spoke proved he belonged to the group who followed Jesus. Peter responded by cursing and swearing as he affirmed he did not know Jesus. Revealed by servants and bystanders!
Peter did not comprehend that "coming back" and being an onlooker in the courtyard would place him in an awkward situation. He likely did not imagine that servants and other onlookers (not "the important people" in charge of Jesus' Jewish hearing/trial) would create Peter's awkward situation.
Then the rooster crowed. At the sound of the crowing, he remembered Jesus' statement about him denying Jesus three times. Thoroughly defeated and disillusioned with himself, he went into the night weeping bitterly.
The rooster crowing shocked Peter back into the awareness of what he was doing and had done. Until the rooster crowed Peter was so caught up in the moment and its danger that he forgot who he was and what he was doing. Ask if anyone has ever been so caught up in the moment that they forgot who they were.
It was this man who preached the first sermon about Jesus in Jerusalem to Jewish people in Acts 2. It was this man who was so esteemed in Jerusalem that people brought their sick to Jerusalem streets in the hope that Peter's shadow might fall on the sick and heal them (Acts 5:15, 16). It was this man that the Lord used to deliver the first sermon to the gentiles (Acts 10). It was this man who was the first witness in Acts 15 to verify that God intended gentiles to become Christians without becoming Jewish proselytes.
In spite of Peter's glaring failure, the Lord used him powerfully after his failure. Ask if Christians make use of failures in such ways today? What should determine when and when not a failure should be used? What role does repentance and lessons learned play in that decision? What strengths does a person who fails and recovers have?
Even though he denied Jesus three times, Peter (with the Lord's forgiveness) recovered. Because he had the courage to repent, the Lord made use of him.
Genuinely facing failure requires courage! Peter failed in Jerusalem, preached in Jerusalem, and led the church (initially) in Jerusalem. The site of his failure was the initial site of expressing his faith.
The issue is not have you made grave mistakes. The issue is do you have the courage to repent. Do you have the courage to let the Lord use you in spite of your mistakes?
The courage to repent is an essential courage.
For Thought and Discussion
A person who is flamboyantly arrogant is commonly a person who (a) exaggerates, (b) loves to draw attention to self, and (c) is oblivious to his/her arrogance. This lesson is about a person who is genuinely committed, but is certain there are things he/she would never do.
Satan is extremely shrewd and in tactics/devices is not limited to our imagination.
Satan places them in circumstances they never imagined.
Peter was genuinely committed to Jesus. Peter also knew moments of humiliation.
Peter could not comprehend his denying Jesus.
Peter would rather die with Jesus than to deny Jesus.
The unexpected often takes the heart and fight out of many Christians.
Peter was confronted by servants and bystanders.
The discussion should include (a) his memory of what Jesus said and (b) a realization of who he was and what he did.
The discussion should include what Peter did in Acts 2; 5:15, 16; 10; and 15.
The issue is not have we made mistakes. The issue is have we had the courage to repent.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 6