The Last Temptation of the Christ - Mark 15:16-47 - February 14, 2021

These are the Sermon Notes for February 14, 2021. We are meeting at the church with specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Covid-19 plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

 Mark 15:16-47 The Last Temptation of the Christ

Good morning! We are back in the Gospel of Mark this morning, chapter 15, verses 16-47, page 852 in the pew Bibles.

The other Gospel writers include many words that Jesus spoke from the cross, there are seven last words of Jesus, phrases really, but Mark only records one. That is not to say that the Lord Jesus was inactive, in truth, He was facing His final temptation.

Let’s pray.

Let’s look at our text for this morning, Mark 15:16-47.

Now, you’ll remember from last time that Jesus had been tried before Pilate and though he found no guilt in Him in order to keep the peace he handed Jesus over to be scourged and crucified.

16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. 

21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. 29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. 

33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” 

40 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. 

42 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

There’s been a million songs written about this beautiful, tragic event. One that we sing quite often, “How Deep the Father’s Love For Us,” includes a beautiful line, “It was my sin that held Him there, until it was accomplished…” 

It was my sin that held Him there on that cross, and that’s true… kind of. 

More accurately, it was His will that held Him there until it was accomplished, it was His trust in His Father, in the purpose for His suffering that held Him there.

Jesus’ life on earth, like ours, was plagued with temptation, and these last few agonizing hours were no different.

16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. 

The Creator of the universe allowed His creation to mock Him and abuse Him, to dress Him as a king and kneel down in fake homage, to drive thorns into His brow and strike His head with the scepter they made Him.

At any point Jesus could have just said, “Enough!” and been transfigured before their eyes and destroyed them all. But He humbled Himself. He resisted the temptation to show them that he really is the King because that was not why He came.

21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.

Golgotha was just outside the northern wall of the city, the place of the Skull. You’ve also heard it called “Calvary” which is based on the Latin word for skull. 

Some scholars believe that it was the burial place of Adam which would be fitting though there is little, if any, evidence to support that theory. Other scholars believe that this was, in fact, Mount Moriah, where Abraham offered up his son Isaac until God provided a ram for sacrifice instead. 

Today there are two places that scholars believe could be Golgotha, one is called “Gordon’s Calvary,” which you can still see in Jerusalem today, and is a big rocky knob that does kind of look like a skull. The other is inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchur, which is also believed to house the tomb where Jesus was buried.

Regardless, when Jesus was brought there, already battered and bleeding from the scourging and abuse from the soldiers, unable to carry the beam of His cross, He was offered wine mixed with myrrh, a potion that would dull His senses and lessen His pain, but He refused it.

He resisted the temptation to ease His own suffering and instead faced the cross with all His faculties intact. 

None of the Gospel writers go into great detail about the actual act of crucifixion, Mark least of all.

“And they crucified Him.” The only four words he needed. Mark’s Roman audience would be fully aware of the horrors of crucifixion, it is the most humiliating, painful, and inhumane way to kill a person, where the victim dies of, either slow suffocation and exhaustion, or, as in Jesus case, the victim bleeds to death.

 But in most cases it was a slow death, slow enough for Jesus to continue to face the temptation to make it all stop.

24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. 29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. 

“Save yourself, and come down from the cross! Come down now so that we may see and believe!”

Jesus continued to face the temptation to make all of this horror stop, to show them all that He really was the Messiah that they wanted, to show with miraculous power that he didn’t have to be subject to this punishment.

But He resisted that temptation because that is not why He came.

The two men that were crucified on either side of Jesus, in our text were called robbers, just like Barabbas. They were murderers and insurrectionists, and Jesus was given the chief place among them, Barabbas’ place.

33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.”

Now the sixth hour was not the same as six o’clock. The Jewish day went from six am to six pm, six am being zero hour making the sixth hour noon. 

We used to sing a song called “Beautiful Scandalous Night” but none of this happened at night, the sky went dark at noon.

Jesus cried out from the darkness the opening words of Psalm 22.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. 

Have you ever wondered why God made the lights go out, why darkness covered the land?

It’s because God said he would, every part of this was planned from the beginning. Amos 8:9-10 says about this day:

“And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. 10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.”

36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” 

At the last cry of Jesus it was finished, the debt that mankind owed to God for sin was paid, and God Himself tore the veil of the Temple from top to bottom, the way to God was now open wide, there was no longer any need for sacrifices to be offered over and over.

Hebrews 10:19 says, and I’ll close with this,

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Jesus resisted the final temptation to make the suffering stop, to make the mockery end, to come down from the cross and prove that he was Messiah, because that was not why He came.

He came to suffer, he came to be mocked, He came to be crucified, because He is Messiah, the only One who could open the new and living way for us to draw near to God our Father in full assurance of faith through His own flesh.

Amen.

The Great Irony - Mark 15:1-15 - February 7, 2021

These are the Sermon Notes for February 7, 2021. We are meeting at the church with specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Covid-19 plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

 Mark 15:1-15 The Great Irony

We are nearing the end of Mark’s Gospel, in my Bible there’s only a page and a half left. But what remains is the climax of Jesus’ earthly ministry. We are going to look at the first stage of that climax in Mark 15:1-15, page 852 in the pew Bibles, when Jesus was brought before Pilate.

I can’t help but see the great irony in everything that happens in these verses, where Jesus Messiah, the Lord of Glory was condemned to death though He had committed no sin and no violence was in His mouth. Maybe you’ll see it too.

So you’ll remember from last week that Jesus had been brought from the Garden of Gethsemane to an illegal night meeting of the Sanhedrin in the palace of the high priest Caiaphas.

And though they couldn’t find two witnesses whose testimonies against Him agreed they condemned Him for blasphemy. The high priest asked Him if he was the Christ, the Son of the Blessed, and Jesus answered, “I am,” and they freaked out.

The next step in their plan would have to wait a little while though because according to the Law they were not supposed to do this sort of thing at night. Fortunately for them, night was almost over as during this farce of a trial the rooster had started to crow.

And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. 2 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 3 And the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5 But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed. 

6 Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. 7 And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. 8 And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. 9 And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. 12 And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Let’s pray.

So as soon as it was morning the whole council got together for an official meeting, knowing that their night trial couldn’t be considered official.

I’ve been to a lot of meetings over the years, I’ve been on lots of committees. But what I can tell you for sure is that real work gets done in the post-meeting meeting, the meeting that happens in the parking lot after the official meeting is over.

But in this post-meeting meeting, the work that the Sanhedrin got done was to decide on exactly what charges they would bring against Jesus before Pilate. 

Pilate wouldn’t care anything about charges of blasphemy, or claims of destroying the Temple. The only charge that they could come up with that would concern Pilate is that to be Christ was to be King and to claim to be king was treason.

Now we’ve got to understand that Pilate was a politician, he was no friend of the Jews, and he didn’t care about the truth, all he cared about was peace. He didn’t care about the hippy-dippy kind of peace, not peace and love, more like peace and quiet. As his judgment here in our text proves.

And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. 2 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 3 And the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5 But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed. 

Jesus’ response to Pilate’s question was not exactly a straight answer but He wasn’t disagreeing with him either. It’s almost as if He said, “If that’s what you want to call it…”

“Are you the King of the Jews?” “If that’s what you want to call it, yeah.”

But John’s Gospel records that Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world, if it were, my servants would be fighting.”

In fact, if this scene wasn’t accomplishing the redemptive plan of God, there’s no way Jesus would just stand there, tied up like a criminal.

This reminds me of the scene in the movie, “The Man of Steel,” where Superman chose to submit himself to the army and they put him in handcuffs so that they would feel safe. But eventually Superman just pops them off like they weren’t even there.

Jesus, who was present at creation, the Word by whom all things were made, who holds the stars in place, and was keeping the atoms and molecules in those ropes that bound Him from flying apart, willingly humbled Himself and stood before an unjust human judge. 

Why? Here’s the irony! 

The Son of God humbly stood before an unjust human judge so that we who believe in Him will be able to boldly stand before the Just Divine Judge.

Christ stood before Pilate in sorrow so that we who believe in Him will be able to stand before God with joy!

Christ was silent before the Sanhedrin so that we who believe in Him can confidently cry, “Abba, Father!”

Christ was silent then so that He could serve as our intercessor now.

6 Now at the feast [Pilate] used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. 7 And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. 8 And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. 9 And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. 12 And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Pilate chose peace over justice. 

He chose what was popular over what was right.

The last thing that Pilate wanted was riot, not because he cared about the safety of the people, he just didn’t want to look bad, he didn’t want to look like he was incapable of keeping the Jews under control.

So the people chose: the life of the innocent was exchanged for the life of the guilty, the Son of God for a notorious criminal, a murderer and insurrectionist.

Barabbas’ sins went unpunished while Jesus would be punished for sins not His own.

The people chose perpetual slavery rather than accept their Redeemer. 

And the One to whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father willingly submitted to the hands of evil men.

The innocent was condemned as guilty, so that, we who are guilty will be declared innocent.

The Jews and Gentiles were united in His condemnation and death just as, through faith in Him, we can be united in His life and glory.

John Calvin wrote, “That the Son of God was reduced so low none can properly remember without the deepest horror, and displeasure with themselves, and detestation of their own crimes. But hence also arises no ordinary ground of confidence; for Christ was sunk into the depths of shame, that he might obtain for us, by his humiliation, an ascent to the heavenly glory: he was reckoned worse than a criminal, that he might admit us to the society of the angels of God.”

And that is the great irony, as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

This is the gospel, the Good News, that God, in Christ, exchanged the righteous for the unrighteous, the sinless for the sinful. Jesus willingly took our place, the condemnation that we justly deserve for our sin, he bore Himself because he loves us that much.

16For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its savior.

Amen.

Jesus' Confession and Peter's Denial - Mark 14:53-72 - January 31, 2021

These are the Sermon Notes for January 31, 2021. We are meeting at the church with specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Covid-19 plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

 Mark 14:53-72 Jesus’ Confession and Peter’s Denial

Good morning! We are back in the Gospel of Mark this morning. We are going to be looking at two concurrent events in verses 53-72, page 851 in the pew Bibles.

Last week Jesus and the disciples were in the Garden of Gethsemane and after Jesus prayed there and submitted to the Father’s will, Judas, the betrayer, brought an armed crowd to arrest Jesus. Peter, in his foolish zeal, pulled his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear which Jesus promptly healed.

Now the disciples have scattered and Jesus has been taken alone to the high priest for trial. Only two of the disciples dared to follow the crowd to see what would happen, Peter, as we will see in our text, and another unnamed disciple recorded in John’s Gospel, most likely John himself or maybe even Mark.

In Mark’s record of these events he skips over the first examination by Annas the father-in-law of the high priest Joseph Caiaphas and goes straight to Jesus before the whole council of the Sanhedrin.

In our text, the trial of Jesus and Peter’s denial of Jesus are happening at the same time in nearly the same place. Jesus and Peter were both questioned but their responses couldn’t have been more different.

53 And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. 54 And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. 56 For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. 57 And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’ ” 59 Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. 

60 And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” 61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. 65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows. 

66 And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, 67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. 69 And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” 71 But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” 72 And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

Let’s pray.

So first let’s look at Jesus’ questioning.

Jesus’ trial was a farce. The language suggests that the Sanhedrin was looking to pay witnesses to testify against Jesus. The Torah required there to be only two witnesses in order to condemn anybody but out of this crowd they couldn’t find any two testimonies that agreed.

Verse 57 says that, “Some stood up and bore false witness against Him, saying, ‘We heard Him say, “I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.”’ Yet even about this their testimony did not agree.”

This one was close though! More than three years before this Jesus did say in John 2:19, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” Of course we know that Jesus was talking about His own body not the temple itself. But this accusation did sort of stick because when Jesus was on the cross people used it against Him and mocked Him as we’ll see in chapter 15.

So after hearing all these false witnesses Caiaphas called on Jesus to be a witness against Himself.

60 And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” 61 But he remained silent and made no answer. 

Isaiah 53:7 says, He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

Here we see that prophecy fulfilled. Jesus would do the same before Pilate.

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. 65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows. 

The high priest tearing his robe is not without significance, it is an echo of 1 Samuel 15:24-28 when God rejected Saul as king of Israel. 

24 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” 26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to compare the Lord tearing the kingdom from Saul and giving it to David to the Lord tearing the priesthood from Caiaphas and giving it to the Son of David, Jesus Messiah.

So while all this is happening, while Jesus was being questioned by the high priest, Peter was being questioned by his servants.

66 And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, 67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed.

So while Jesus was being questioned in the palace by those on one end of the spectrum in Israel and giving a good answer, here we have bold and brash, “they might desert you but I won’t desert you,” ear lopping Peter being questioned by a servant girl out by the campfire.

When Jesus was asked by the high priest, “Are you the Christ?” Jesus said, “I am.”

When Peter was asked by a servant girl, “Are you with Jesus the Nazarene?” Peter said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Can we just stop and examine how lame that answer was…

First of all, you’re in the courtyard of the high priest in the middle of the night while the trial of the century is happening and when you are questioned by a slave girl you pretend you don’t know what’s going on?! 

Peter didn’t have to respond to her at all, she was a slave, he didn’t owe her a response! In truth, he didn’t even have to be there! So after being intimidated by that servant girl he went out to the gateway and out of the light of the fire, followed by the first crow of the rooster.

It’s amazing that the crow of the rooster didn’t get his attention, after all, we always catch God’s subtle hints, don’t we?

69 And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” 71 But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.”

Now, don’t read this and think that Peter just started using foul language, this is not that kind of cursing and swearing. Peter basically said, “May God strike me if I’m lying, I swear on oath, I do not know Jesus!”

And immediately the rooster crowed a second time.

Jesus was inside getting questioned by the powerful, Peter was outside getting questioned by the nobodies.

Jesus was giving the good confession while Peter was denying the Lord.

Jesus was wrongly accused of blasphemy, Peter was actually guilty of it.

Calvin called Peter’s fall, “a bright mirror of our own weakness.” 

While not being supported by the hand of God the mighty Peter blew over in a gentle breeze, and the same will happen to us if we walk in ways contrary to God’s Word. 

Jesus, in the garden, proved that the only strength is in submission to God’s will, His Word, Peter, in the courtyard, showed that we have power over nothing if we deny Christ in our words or our actions.

But there is one last comparison to make, not between Peter and Jesus, but between Peter and Judas.

Matthew 27 records how Judas felt remorse at betraying Jesus and went out and hung himself, but when Peter remembered the words of Jesus that, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times,” he repented and was eventually restored.

He broke down and wept, literally, “when he thought about it he mourned and wailed.” He repented.

And we have further evidence that he learned his lesson, not just about faithfulness but about the meaning of Christ’s suffering. He wrote about it in 1 Peter 2:20-25.

20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Jesus bore Peter’s denial in His body on the tree just like He bore all of our sins, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds we have been healed. For we were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.

Amen.