Transcript

Robert Knievel, who took the nickname Evel Knievel, was an American daredevil who attempted over 75 motorcycle jumps between 1965 and 1980.

One of his famous jumps was over the fountains at Caesars Palace on November 17, 1967. He landed short of the ramp which caused him to go over the handlebars and resulted in him breaking his hip, pelvis, femur, wrist and both ankles. His concussion kept him in the hospital in a coma for 29 days.

During those 75 jumps he broke 433 bones which earned him an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the survivor of “the most broken bones in a lifetime.”

His son Robbie followed in his daredevil father’s footsteps. He began jumping his bicycle when he was 4 and rode motorcycles at the age of 7. When he was 8 he performed his first show with his father at Madison Square Garden.

At 12, he was on tour with his father where he would perform in the pre-jump shows. His father tried to talk him out of motorcycle jumping. Robbie said, I used to sit in the ambulance and look at him and he’d say, “I don’t want you to do this.”

Robbie did not listen to his father and developed back chronic pain from his many crashes. He said, “Every time I look at that ramp I say to myself, ‘You idiot, what are you doing this for?’ But then the crowd gets you going.”

Peer pressure will cause us to do things we wouldn’t otherwise do. We go along with something because we want to please the crowd. We are willing to give up what we believe to be right in order to please others even if we know that it is wrong.

Peter experienced this. Out of fear, peer pressure, pleasing the crowd, even knowing it was wrong, He denied knowing the Lord three times.

Peter failed. But he failed forward. The Lord forgave and restored him. And going forward his failure did not cause his faith to fail permanently. His failure did not keep him from serving the Lord.

And in our lives, we should not allow failure to keep us from serving the Lord. God has a plan and a purpose for each life. Each member of the Body of Christ is needed and your service is needed.

Your past failure and what was learned from it can be used to help counsel others in the Church, just like Peter’s failure continues to teach and help others to this moment.

John 13:36-38: “Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.

“Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.”

The Lord had said a few verses earlier “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek Me…Whither I go, ye cannot come” (13:33).

Peter did not understand that Christ was speaking of His death. He thought He was going on a journey to leave them and didn’t understand why he couldn’t come along too.

The thought of Christ going away, not being able to follow, and being separated from Christ, really bothered Peter (13:8,9).

He was puzzled and so he asked the Lord where He was going. But the Lord told him that where He was going, Peter could not follow Him right now.

In other words, the time of Peter’s death was not yet, he had work to do for Christ, but he would come later, the Lord said, and they would be reunited one day.

But Peter was impulsive and impatient, and said, “Lord, why cannot I follow Thee now?” He wanted to be with Christ now and always, and to remain with Him whatever the cost. He couldn’t conceive of any situation that would make Christ’s words necessary.

Emphasizing his own love for Christ, Peter stated that he was willing to go anywhere He went and that, if necessary, he would even lay down his life for Christ’s sake.

In John 11:16 we read, “Then said Thomas…unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” And this was the resolve of Peter also here, to go anywhere Christ went, being willing to die with Him.

But Peter overestimated the strength of his commitment. And the Lord questioned and challenged his bravado and boasted loyalty to lay down his life for Christ’s sake.

And the Lord solemnly stated, “Verily, verily,” or these words are trustworthy and sure, “The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.”

Mark 14:30 gives the added detail that “And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow TWICE, thou shalt deny Me thrice.”

Can you imagine Peter’s shock! Christ said earlier in verse 18, “I know whom I have chosen.” Christ knew Peter. He knew Peter better than he knew himself. The Lord knew Peter’s inner weakness.

Peter would not and did not question his Lord, but I’m sure Peter couldn’t imagine such a failure. However, as we know, it happened exactly as Christ said.

John 18:15-18: “And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.

“But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter. Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man’s disciples? He saith, I am not.

“And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.”

After Christ was betrayed by Judas and arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, Mark 14:50 says of the disciples, “they all forsook Him, and fled.”

They all fled, but Peter and another disciple found their way back. They couldn’t take the separation. They couldn’t take not knowing what was going on. And so they followed.

Mark 14:54 adds, “And Peter followed him afar off.” He wasn’t anywhere near the Lord. He’s following, but he didn’t want anybody to know it. He loved the Lord too much to just leave, but he’s too fearful to follow closely, so he followed from a distance.

Verses 12 and 13 of this chapter say, “Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound Him, And led Him away to Annas first…”

Annas was the former high priest in Israel. He held the office from 6-15 AD. He was the then current high priest’s, Caiaphas’, father-in-law. Annas still carried a great deal of influence and authority and Christ was brought to Annas for a preliminary examination.

Though Caiaphas held the title officially of high priest, the Jews still respected Annas and his judgments greatly, and even regarded him still as high priest.

According to the Jewish law, the “office of high priest was held for life,” so the Jews still looked to Annas as the high priest.

Thus, the Lord was led to the palace of Annas first, the house of the high priest “emeritus,” you could call him.

The other disciple who followed Jesus with Peter, I believe was John. Calling himself “another disciple” is consistent with John and how he refers to himself throughout his Gospel record, in which he never mentions his own name.

He humbly referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” “that other disciple,” “another disciple,” one of “the sons of Zebedee, “that disciple,” but never John. John also frequently accompanied Peter, such as when they later went to the empty tomb together.

Here John accompanied Peter as they followed the Lord from a distance to the house of Annas. John states that he “was known unto the high priest.” The nature and extent of his acquaintance is not explained by John.

But the influence from this relationship was enough that when they arrived at the palace, John just went right in “with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.”

However, Peter didn’t have the same connections John did, so when they arrived at the house, Peter “stood at the door without.” He remained outside.

John looked around and realized that Peter didn’t come in with him; so John went back out and spoke to the doorkeeper, a servant girl at the gate of the courtyard, and told her that he had a friend he wanted to bring in with him.

She allowed him entrance and John brought Peter in with him. As they were going through the gate, knowing that John was a follower of Christ, the servant girl asked Peter if he was also.

The form of her question in the original Greek expected a negative answer. It’s “You are not one of this Man’s disciples too, are you?”

She expected a negative answer and that is what she got! He replied “I am not.” The emphasis is on the “not.” His reply was “Not me!” Peter denied Christ by denying that he was one of Christ’s disciples.

A servant girl who’s keeping a door is not someone you would typically fear, right? His denial wasn’t before a terrifying, intimidating soldier, but before a maid.

But the question caught him off guard. Peter was in self-preservation mode. The shock of the question brought out the lie he was prepared to give to save himself.

He was blindsided by the question. He gave a knee-jerk response. He panicked and lied and denied the Lord, the first of his three denials.

After the first denial, Mark 14:68 records, “And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.” This was the first of the two rooster crows that the Lord predicted which probably took place around 3:00am.

Mark 13:35 reads, “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning.”

This verse describes the 4 three-hour watches of the night from 6:00pm to 6:00am. The four “watches” were: evening (6-9 pm), midnight (9pm-12am), cockcrowing (12 midnight to 3 am), and morning (3-6 a.m.).

When the Lord said, “before the cock crow TWICE, thou shalt deny Me thrice,” He meant the crowing at the break of day around 6:00am.

There was the first rooster crowing time between midnight and 3:00am. The second cockcrowing was at the break of day. Before the rooster crowed twice, the Lord told Peter he would deny Him three times.

Jerusalem is the mountains of Judea about 2500 feet above sea level. And spring nights can be very cool. During the day it’s warm, comfortably warm; but at night because of the altitude it gets cold. To take the chill off, a fire of coals was burning in the courtyard.

Peter stood and warmed himself by this fire of coals in the courtyard with the servants of the high priest and with the officers. Amazingly, he stood with the very officers who had just arrested his Lord, bound Him, and led Him to Annas’s palace.

John 18:3 says, “Judas then, having received a band of men and OFFICERS from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.”

He didn’t want to leave for a couple reasons. First, because he loved the Lord and he wanted to know what was happening with Him.

Second, because he didn’t want to be exposed. He was fearing for his own safety. He hung around trying to conceal his identity, trying to blend in with the crowd, going so far as to even blend in with the enemies of his Lord.

But when you think about it, how many of us, have tried to blend in with the world, to conceal our identity of someone who follows and believes in Christ. Peter standing at this fire gives us a picture of this truth.

It’s interesting to note as well, that on this COLD night, in the garden, Christ had been sweating when He prayed earnestly under the weight of the coming cross and bearing the sins of the world. Luke 22:44 says, “And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly: and His SWEAT was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

John 18:24-27: “Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest. And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not.

“One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.”

Following the questioning before Annas, Annas sent the Lord to his son-in-law, Caiaphas, the official high priest at that time. Where and how far away that was, we don’t know. It could have been a separate wing in the same residence.

Wherever Caiaphas’ home was located, the final two denials by Peter took place where and when Christ was being questioned before Caiaphas.

Peter was either again or still warming himself by a fire trying to blend in a group of people, which included the servants of the high priest and officers who had arrested the Lord in the garden.

John records how “THEY said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of His disciples?”
Matthew and Mark say it was a maid, a servant girl, who asked this second question. Luke says it was a man. John says it was “they.”

The pronoun “they” suggests that some of those in the circle around the fire took up the question and one by one they hurled it at Peter, both men and women.

Again, the question is framed in a way in which a negative answer is expected: “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” “You wouldn’t be one of His followers, right?”

And again, Peter was adamant with his answer, “He denied it, and said, I am not.” Or “Not me.” The pressure of this crowd bombarding him with this question over and over, made Peter react quickly and deny the Lord and even deny “with an oath.”

Matthew 26:72 says, “And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.” Angry, trapped, and frightened, Peter tried desperately to hide his identity and his association with Christ and he made an oath and called God as a witness to his lie.

This caused things to die down for a while and the pressure was off for the time being. Over the next hour, Peter apparently talked with those around the fire and was having a fireside chat. And his accent gave him away.

Luke 22:59 then records, “And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with Him: for he is a Galilaean.”

Matthew 26:73 says of this accusation: “And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.”

Mark 14:70 records, “And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.”

Matthew and Luke say that “THEY that stood by” the fire accused him of being a Galilaean and thus a follower of Christ because of his accent. The crowd was all accusing him of this.

A man traveled to London to take part in Europe’s largest chess tournament and was destroyed in the first round by a European guy with an accent he didn’t recognize.

He waited until the end of the game to ask him where he was from and what kind of accent he had…He responded: “Czech, mate!”

Here at Berean Bible Society we get calls from people all over the United States and we hear the different accents from phone call to phone call.

The accents of New Jersey, Boston, the various accents throughout the south are all distinct, and we hear them all. We get told that we in Wisconsin have an accent, but we don’t hear it and don’t think we do!

Galileans had an obvious accent at that time that gave them away. Galilean pronunciations were a little different from those used in Judea where Jerusalem was located.

But the fact that accusing Peter of being a Galilean meant he was likely a follower of Christ, shows how thoroughly the residents of Jerusalem connected Christ’s ministry with Galilee, since it was the site of most of His activity. And most, if not all, of His disciples were Galileans.

Peter was recognized by both sight and sound. By the sound of his accent, and by sight of one who saw him in the garden of Gethsemane just a few hours previous.

One in the group was the high priest’s servant, and was present was in the garden when the Lord was arrested, and he also happened to be a relative of Malchus whose ear Peter had cut off. He asked Peter, “Did not I see thee in the garden with Him?”

Peter probably started nervously sweating and pulling at his collar when he got this question. The grammatical structure of this question is different.

Unlike the previous questions which expected a negative response, this question anticipated an affirmative answer. It was “You were in the garden with Him weren’t you? I saw you there.” “Didn’t I see you in the olive grove with Him?”

This sets Peter off. Matthew 26:74 reads, “Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man.” As the accusations became more specific and incriminating, Peter’s denials became more intense and extreme.

Cursing and swearing doesn’t mean that Peter let loose with a string of profanities, but that he was pronouncing curses of divine judgment on himself if he were lying and swearing that he did not know Christ.

The curses would’ve been something like, “May God strike me dead if I am not speaking the truth. I know not this Man of whom you speak!”

And Luke 22:60-62 says, “And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.”

Dramatically and suddenly two things occurred: a rooster crowed for the second time that night. And across the courtyard, the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Stop and think about that look.

The word “looked” means “to look at something directly and intently.” This was a lingering look. And it was a silent look that said so much more than words could say. It was a look of love, to be sure, but injured love.

That look penetrated Peter’s soul. It was like a dagger to the heart. Peter knew that the Lord knew he had denied Him three times. Peter knew that the Lord knew that he had failed Him.

Hearing the rooster and seeing the Lord’s look caused Peter to remember “the word of the Lord, how He had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.”

And the devastating reality of what he had done hit Peter with full force. His heart broken, “Peter went out” of the courtyard of Caiaphas’s house, “and wept bitterly” over his failure and lack of faithfulness to Christ.

Grief over sin, however, reflects a heart that is near to God. Because God feels grief over sin too. We are taught by Paul that by our sin we grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30).

Peter’s bitter weeping shows that he truly loved the Lord. He felt deep remorse and it grieved him to have wounded the Lord and added to His sufferings by his failure and denial that he ever knew Him.

When I was a young man, I watched one of the made-for-TV movie series about the Lord’s life and ministry with my dad. After watching the different parts and seeing Peter with the Lord throughout His ministry and then in the end denying Him three times, I turned to my father and asked, “How could he do that?”

And I’ll never forget my dad’s response. He said “Every time we have the opportunity to share Christ with someone, and we fail to do so, we deny we know Him just like Peter.”

And that went straight to my heart. We can’t be hard on Peter, because just like him, we all deny the Lord and deny we know Him, by trying to hide that we follow Him by blending in with the world and by not speaking out to make Him known when we could.

The Lord predicted that Peter would deny Him three times, but also that he would be restored to serving Him following his failure.

On the night before Peter’s denials in the Upper Room, the Lord told Peter, “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” The Lord knew and told Peter that he would deny Him.

But the Lord prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail and give up as a result of his denials. And He told Peter that after he was “converted” or restored and returned to the Lord after his failure he should strengthen his brethren.

We’ll take a look at Peter’s restoration and his failing forward in our next episode.