Peter (John 18:12-27)
Rev. David French
03/23/22
He was a professional thief. His name evoked fear throughout the Wild West. He terrorized the Wells Fargo stagecoach lineâroaring like a tornado and spooking the most rugged cowboys. During his reign of terror, from 1875 to 1883, he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars. No victim ever saw him. No artist ever sketched him. No sheriff could ever track his trail. His name? Black Bart.
John introduces another Black Bart. If youâve ever felt shame and disgrace, it was his whisper that crushed your heart. If youâve ever felt alone and abandoned, it was all according to his plan. If youâve ever felt useless and no good, it was his accusing finger in your face. He doesnât just want your money. This Black Bart comes to kill, steal, and destroy everything.
Whatâs his name? Guilt! Maybe thereâs someone on the planet who hasnât known guilt, a quagmire of remorse, an ongoing note to self, âYouâre worthless.â But Iâve never met that person. What sucked you under? A one-night stand? A backstreet brawl? Did you take something that wasnât yours? Or maybe your guilt isnât the result of a moment but of a season in life. You failed as a parent. You blew it in your career. You squandered your youth or your moneyâor both. The result? Guilt!
Weâre in a series called Witnesses to Christ. Today, we meet Peter. Peterâs in the courtyard of a high priest named Caiaphas. In that courtyard, we see guilt, Peterâs guilt and our own. Beyond the courtyard, we see grace, grace for Peter and grace for us!
To get some context, we rewind the tape and go back to Gethsemane, where we hear the claim. âPeter said to him, âLord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for youââ (John 13:37). Jesus and Peter had been through so much together. Three years earlier, Jesus was walking on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus sees Peter fishing with his brother Andrew and calls them to follow: âI will make you fishers of menâ (Matthew 4:19). One day, about a year later, Peter follows Jesus out onto the Sea of Galilee during a huge storm. Peter walks on the water, but then he begins to sink. Jesus immediately reaches out His hand, takes hold of Peter, and saves him.
At one point, Peter says to Jesus, âLord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal lifeâ (John 6:68). At another point, Jesus takes Peterâalong with James and Johnâto see His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration. Then Jesus invites this same trio to witness His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. Considering all that he has seen and heard, itâs no wonder Peter believes it when he says, âI will lay down my life for you.â
Weâve all made that claim. When we were confirmed, âDo you intend to live according to the Word of God, and in faith, word, and deed remain true to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even to death?â And we said, âI do, by the grace of God!â âWill you take this man to be your wedded husband?â And you women said, âI do!â âWill you take this woman to be your wedded wife?â And we men said, âI do!â Both promising until death. The claim. The claim? The claim! Itâs so easy!
As the events in the courtyard unfold, itâs like watching cracks in a houseâs foundation slowly spread. A servant girl comes up to Peter and says, ââYou also are not one of this manâs disciples, are you?â He said, âI am notââ (John 18:17). The first crack.
Peter then stands by a fire to keep warm. Some bystanders say to him, âYou also are not one of His disciples, are you? He denied it and said, âI am notââ (John 18:25). The second crack. Now when there are enough cracks, there will always be a collapse! Always!
And here it comes. One of Malchusâs relatives spots Peter and asks, ââDid I not see you in the garden with him?â Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowedâ (John 18:26-27). Let those three words sink in: A rooster crowed. The result? Guilt!
For us, the collapse happens when we say, âJust one more drink,â âjust one more lie,â âjust one more fling,â or âjust one more look.â Crack. Crack. Crack. Because one more leads to one more, and then just one more. When there are enough cracks, there will always be a collapse! Always! Then what? Enter the G-word. The G-word? Guilt!
You know how it feels, that cut to the heart as fear and panic race though your entire body. Thatâs what Peter felt, after the rooster crowed the third time. Luke adds in his gospel that after the rooster crowed, âThe Lord turned and looked straight at Peter Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to himâ (22:61). He was caught and he was horrified. Thatâs what guilt does to us. Guilt turns us into miserable, weary, angry, duplicitous, stressed-out filled with shame people. Who could possibly love a cracked pot like that? Our God can and does because of another G word! You know what it is? Grace.
How? Fast-forward to John 21, where Jesus asks Peter if Peter loves Him. Jesus asks the question three timesâsome believe once for every time Peter had denied his Lord. And each time Peter confesses, âYes, Lord; you know that I love you.â Peter confessed his guilt. What gave him the faith to do that? Well even as Peter was denying Jesus, Jesus was suffering for Peterâs sin.
You see, Jesus doesnât wait until we get it all together. Jesus doesnât wait until we overcome our temptations and fight our demons and conquer our sin. âGod shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for usâ (Romans 5:8). In the courtyard, we see guilt. Beyond the courtyardâat the crossâwe see grace. And grace means what?
The comeback! Who preaches the sermon on Pentecost? Peter. Whose sermon converts three thousand people? Peterâs. Who writes two books in the New Testament? Peter. Listen closely. Comebacks donât depend on how much we love Jesus. Comebacks depend on how much Jesus loves us. Comebacks donât depend on what we do for Jesus. Comebacks depend on what Jesus does for us. Comebacks donât depend on us giving our life for Jesus. Comebacks depend on Jesus giving His life for us.
Remember Black Bart? He was finally nothing to be afraid of. When the authorities tracked him down, they didnât find a bloodthirsty bandit. They found a mild-tempered businessman from Decatur, Illinois. The man pictured storming through the Wild West on his horse was so afraid of riding horses that he rode around in a horse-drawn buggy. Black Bart was Charles Bolesâthe bandit who never once fired a bullet, because he never once loaded his gun!
See guilt for what it really is. A deadly monster? You bet. A painful feeling that can do great harm? No doubt. A tormentor of our souls? Count on it. But also count on thisâguilt is a defeated enemy who has no bullets in itâs gun.
Whatâs that mean for us? Our story isnât over when Jesus is in it. Isnât that amazing? We can all come back from the pain and sorrow brought on by guilt. How? By grace through faith in Christ alone.Â
In His name, Amen.