As a follower of Jesus, there will be times when you will be tempted and tested, and you will fail. You will sin. You will choose your will over God’s will. You will be selfish. You will deny Jesus in some way.

When you fail and deny Jesus in some way, the devil is going to try to convince you that you are not a Christian or that God can’t use you or you are to damaged or broken to be used by God or that you are worthless. However, when you fail, God can restore you, rebuild you, and continue to use you in His kingdom.

We see this lived out in Peter’s life. Today, we are going to see Peter deny Jesus and lie about being a follower of Jesus. It didn’t mean that he was not a Christian or that he lost his salvation. It only meant that Peter failed, but Jesus would restore him, rebuild him, and continue to use him in kingdom work.

There are a lot of lessons we can learn from Peter’s denial of Jesus. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Before we look at Peter’s denial, I want to remind you that Peter was very confident that he would never deny Jesus. Back in Mark 14:29 Jesus had just told the disciples that every one of them will desert Him. Yet, Peter said with great confidence to Jesus, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will” (NLT). Peter is essentially saying, “Jesus, I know most of the time you are right. You usually know what you are talking about, but you don’t really know me. You don’t know how strong I am. You may be right about all the other disciples, but you are wrong about me. I will never desert you!”

Peter is an example of 1 Corinthians 10:12, “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall” (NLT). Peter thought he was spiritually stronger than he was, but when the pressure was put on him he discovered how weak he was.

With that, let’s see what happens. Let’s pick up Peter’s story in Mark 14:66.

Verse 66

Mark tells us in verse 66, Meanwhile, Peter was in the courtyard below. One of the servant girls who worked for the high priest came by…. Let’s set the scene.

  • This occurred at the high priest’s house. It was a large estate in the city with walls on the outside of the property.
  • It had four large rectangular buildings with a courtyard in the middle of them. We are told that Peter was in the courtyard below. Jesus was upon the second floor being interrogated and Peter was down below in the courtyard.
  • This is where the Roman soldiers and temple guards would be who brought Jesus. It was also a cold night.

Why was Peter there? This is a high-risk location for Peter to be. He is standing around a fire among the soldiers who arrested Jesus, and they are also wanting to arrest the disciples as well, and Peter just cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant about an hour earlier. Why was he there?

We are not told, but we can speculate. My guess is Peter was there because he loved Jesus. He wanted to be as close to Him during this time as possible. He wanted to see what was happening and what would happen. He cared.

So… Peter is in the courtyard. He is standing around one of the fires to keep warm. According to Luke 22, “A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began staring at him. Finally she said, ‘This man was one of Jesus’ followers!” (Luke 22:56, NLT). This servant girl knew she recognized him but didn’t know where she had seen him before. Finally, the pieces came together in her mind, and she blurted out her thoughts right in front of Peter and the soldiers warming their hand around the fire.

Verse 67

In verse 67, Mark puts it this way, and the servant girl noticed Peter warming himself at the fire. She looked at him closely and said, “You were one of those with Jesus of Nazareth.”

  • The servant girl was proud of herself for finally recognizing the face and figuring out who this man was that looked so familiar. This tells me that she had been around Jesus’ teaching or doing miracles with Peter present. She had seen Jesus and Peter together enough that she was able to recognize him as one of Jesus’ followers.
  • However, for Peter, her words were a jolt that caused his heart to skip a beat. He thought he had everyone fooled. No one recognized him. Like a spy being discovered in a foreign land, he was suddenly unmasked. I think all the soldiers began staring at Peter. They went from warming their hands to putting their hands on the handles of their swords.
  • I don’t think Peter was prepared for this. That is often the way Satan works. He hits us when we least expect it in ways we don’t see coming. Under this sudden pressure, surrounded by soldiers holding their weapons that were staring him in the face. The first thing that came to mind was to lie and cover his tracks.

Verse 68

In verse 68, Mark tells us, But Peter denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, and he went out into the entryway. Just then, a rooster crowed. A couple of thoughts on this.

  • First, when Peter’s life was on the line, he lied about being a follower of Jesus. Even though Peter loved Jesus and wanted to be close to see what was going to happen he became a coward when the pressure was put on him.

Throughout the Bible, God encourages us to be bold and courageous. God knows that we will struggle with this for various reasons. Even though Peter failed here, he learned his lesson and grew in boldness quickly. In Acts 4:13, Peter was being questioned by a religious council and the Bible says, “The members of the council were amazed when they say the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus” (NLT). If you were not bold and courageous for Jesus when you should have been then let me say that God has not given up on you. He will help you become more courageous for Him and He will give you another opportunity to display your boldness for Him.

  • Here is another thought, Mark tells us that after he denied that he knew Jesus, he went out into the entryway. What he did was he left the fire so people couldn’t see his face as clearly by the fire’s light. He went to the shadows of where you enter the courtyard.

Verse 69

Then verse 69, When the servant girl saw him standing there, she began telling the others, “This man is definitely one of them!” According to Matthew 26:71, we learn this was a different servant girl, not the same servant girl, that recognized him the second time. Apparently, there were a bunch of people standing around in the courtyard. Even though Peter hid in the shadows, there were too many people. His identity couldn’t remain hidden. This servant girl did not keep her sudden realization to herself either. She told the people around her, inciting a mob to begin surrounding Peter and eyeing him up and down. Peter was caught. He couldn’t run. He was in a walled compound. He figured his options were to lie or die. He chose to lie again.

Verse 70

Then in verse 70, But Peter denied it again. A little later some of the other bystanders confronted Peter and said, “You must be one of them, because you are a Galilean.”

I think Peter’s second denial was more blatant than his first. Peter’s first denial came when he was taken by surprise. This second denial was a premeditated lie. The first time Peter was caught unaware. This time, it was a conscious choice.

One problem with Peter’s denials was the more he lied, the more he spoke. The more he spoke, the more people began to recognize his voice. According to Matthew 26:73, the reason people began to realize he was associated with Jesus is because they recognized his voice and accent. It gave him away. Now everyone knew Peter was lying.

Verse 71

Then in verse 71, Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know this man you’re talking about!” When Peter began to swear, that doesn’t mean he used four-letter words. When the Bible says, Peter swore… it means that Peter was declaring something to be the absolute truth. To drive home that he was telling the truth Peter says, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know this man you’re talking about!”

The ironic thing about this is that on one side you have Jesus telling the truth about who He is and no one believes Him, but because he spoke the truth they are going to execute him. Then you have Peter lying about who he is in order to escape any kind of punishment for associating with Jesus. One is telling the truth and the other is lying. One is demonstrating extremely bravery and the other cowardness.

Verse 72

Then in verse 72, And immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he broke down and wept.

The man who was so confident in his ability to stand strong and claimed he would never fail, failed Jesus miserably in a matter of hours. Peter suddenly realized he was not a s strong as he thought. He was not as good as he thought. Judas had betrayed Jesus. Now peter had denied Jesus three times.

Two things I want you to notice.

  • Often times God will use something in your life to bring back something God has spoken to you about. In Peter’s case it was a rooster crowing. When that rooster crowed it caused Peter to remember that Jesus told him that he would deny Jesus three times.

I think the same is true for you and me. Sometimes it’s a song, a place you drive by, a smell, a sound or the site of a particular person. When you see or hear that something, it triggers a memory of something God spoke to you about of either you doing something or stop doing something.

  • Another thought, Peter was not convicted by the rooster crowing. He was convicted by the words of Jesus. It was what Jesus said that convicted Peter. The Word of God has a unique power to penetrate to the depths of who you are and to address the sin in your life. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires” (NLT). The word of God has the ability to reveal things about you that you need to know, but don’t want to know. Peter was experiencing this that night he denied Jesus.

Luke tells us another interesting detail about this moment. Luke 22:61 says, At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three time that you even know me.” And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly (NLT). Jesus’ trial on the second floor was over They finished beating Jesus with a bag over his head. Jesus’ face was covered in blood. He was disfigured. His clothes were covered in sweat and blood from Gethsemane. Jesus was beaten to a pulp because he spoke the truth. As they led Jesus to jail for a brief period of time until they took him to Pilate for his Roman trial, Jesus’ swollen and bloodshot eyes met Peter’s, as he walked across the courtyard.

Conclusion

How easy it would be to leave Peter drowning in sorrow, bitterly weeping, filled with shame. But Jesus didn’t. Within a few days, after Jesus resurrected from the grave, Jesus would call Peter to His side, saying, “Do you love me?… Tend My sheep” (John 21:17). Jesus was saying to Peter, “Peter, get your past failure out of your mind and focus on the future I have for you.”

Today I invite you to leave the memories of your past failures with the only One who can neutralize their poisonous effect. I challenge you to entrust your failings to the One who died so that you might really live. I encourage you to trust in His forgiveness and turn from your past to consider the future God has for you. Rise from your shame, guilt, and sorrow and ask, “how may I serve You, Lord, with the rest of my life?” He will hear and forgive. What grace!

I know you are not doing well and I’m sorry you are struggling today. I love you and support you and want to encourage you. I am here for you, let me help you if I can. God placed you in my life to make me stronger and God has placed me in your life to make you stronger. We both need each other. We are both broken. We are two broken people who love each other and are committed to each other’s growth and maturity.