Jonah Albrecht

Midweek 3 March 19th, 2025

Mark 14:66-72

Jesus is Denied by Peter

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.

INJ Who wants us to confess Him before the world, DFR:

For almost a decade Alice Metzinger had lived in Willamette Valley of Oregon. She was 44 years old, a wife and mother and professional chef. She lived in a white-shingled house, taught cooking classes, helped start restaurants, and moved in her own circle of friends. That is, until 1993. In 1993 she turned herself into the FBI and revealed that she was not Alice Metzinger after all. Alice Metzinger was an identity she had stolen from the 1948 birth certificate of a dead baby. Her real name was Katherine Ann Power, a 1960’s radical turned fugitive who spent 14 years on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. In 1970 she had driven the getaway car in a deadly bank robbery in Boston. A policeman — a hero cop and father of nine – had been killed. Power had been on the run from the law ever since.

But finally, the running was over. After 23 years of deliberately driving the speed limit, of being out of touch with her family, of moving and hiding, and of keeping her identity a secret, she came clean with the truth.

It’s hard to imagine a life like that, isn’t it? Always afraid, always looking over your shoulder, always wondering, “Is today the day someone will find out who I am?”

Is it possible that there are times when we have lived as fugitives, too? Have there been times in your life when you hid your true identity as a follower of Jesus Christ? Keep that in mind this evening as we continue on the Road to Easter. Tonight, Jesus is Denied by Peter.

Of all the characters in the Passion account, Peter might be the one we identify with the most. He is an ordinary man who goes through the highs and lows of his faith life. One moment he is strong, bold, and courageous, the next fearful and cowering. He had the strength of faith to walk on the Sea of Galilee, but the next moment he was crying out for Jesus to save him. Peter was the one who rose to Jesus’ “defense” with the sword, but shortly after he cowered away at the accusation of a young girl. Peter boldly confessed about Jesus, You are the Christ! The Son of the living God. But then he was the first of the disciples to deny Jesus. Peter fluctuated between the highs and lows of spiritual strength. And in that way, he is a lot like us.

This is what we find in our text this evening: A terrible spiritual low for the most bold disciple. After Jesus had been arrested, Peter and John followed at a distance. John, who was known in the High Priest’s courts entered, but Peter remained in the courtyard.

That is when Peter becomes a temporary fugitive and hides his identity. Mark writes, 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. It would be one denial after another – just as there is one layer after another when you peel an onion. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” Again, Peter denied it, this time taking an oath. Finally, he’d reach the pinnacle of his denial: 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.”

The same Peter who had once confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord God, has denied Him as a mere man now three times. In the same way that Judas did not always have it in his heart to betray Jesus and be a thief, so also Peter wasn’t always a fugitive hell-bent on hiding his identity in Christ. You’ll remember on the road to the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter boldly proclaimed that he would never deny Jesus. Even when Jesus predicted what he would do, Peter responded, Even if I have to die with you, I will never forsake you. These words of Peter were genuine.

He never planned things to go the way they did. He didn’t expect the servant girl to rise up with the accusation, This man is one of them. But she did, and all eyes were turned onto Peter. And Peter did what any one of us would do by nature – he lied. One lie after another until any connection with the Christ was severed completely.

Several years ago, a radio commentator suggested that there are two trends in the church today. One trend is for Christians to surround themselves only with other Christians. Their typical day includes hopping in a car they bought from a Christian salesman, filling up at the Christian gas station, on their way to buy groceries from the Christian market. They surround themselves with only Christians, but because they’ve separated themselves from the world, they lose the opportunity to witness to the world.

The other trend is for Christians to be so close to the world that they try to fit in with the world. They are out in the world — but forget that they are not a part of it. They talk and behave just like everybody else. Because of the way they live, nobody has a clue that they are Christians. Both are ways to deny Christ.

Look at your witness, for a moment. Do you ever hide your identity? Have you ever caught yourself saying nothing — because you feared that saying the right thing might bring ridicule from those around you? Have you ever looked the other way at the unethical practices at work — because you feared for your job security? When you are surrounded by peers, when you could be momentarily embarrassed — then we can understand what happened to Peter — because we find the same denials in our lives today.

No sooner had Peter uttered his third denial, Jesus was being moved from one portion of the palace to another. In that brief moment their eyes met and two worlds collided. Though the moment only lasted seconds and no words were spoken, everything was understood. This look from Jesus broke Peter into tears and he ran from the courtyard. But Peter knew that this was not a look of disgust or, “How could you, Peter.” Jesus was telling Peter, “I love you. I forgive you.”

While Peter was denying Jesus outside – Jesus had been confessing the truth inside. His testimony would now cost Him His life. Yet, Jesus bore this cost because He had come to save sinners. In the hours ahead, Jesus would endure physical exhaustion, beating, scourging, and lingering death by crucifixion. Worse still would be the spiritual agony He would endure — agony we can’t understand. To be perfectly innocent, and yet be condemned. To be supremely virtuous, and yet suffer complete humiliation for all His virtue. Sometimes a bitter experience can be tempered by having friends to share your sorrow. But Jesus would have no such comfort. He had seen one friend betray Him, another deny Him, and the rest run in fear.

The reason is clear: This was God’s master plan for salvation from before the world began. His plan was to substitute His innocent Son for guilty sinners like you and me and Peter. It is God’s way of punishing sin, and yet saving the sinner.

The tears Peter shed were true, repentant tears from a heart that trusted in His Savior for redemption and forgiveness. When we find ourselves becoming fugitives from our identity with Christ, let us remember the faithfulness of Jesus just like Peter did. All the opportunities you have missed, all the wrong turns you have made, all the times you have spoken when you should have kept quiet, all the times you kept quiet when you should have spoken, every time your denied Jesus — and every other sin that should rightly send us to hell — all of these Jesus took from you and bore Himself. If you could see Him with your eyes tonight, then you’d see the same look that Peter saw — the look that says: I love you and have forgiven you completely.

Back in 2011, the island nation of Samoa wanted to be on the same side of the international dateline as their trade allies. This meant that when the people went to bed on December 29th, 2011; they woke up on December 31st, completely skipping the 30th that year.

Do you think Peter might have wished for something like that – to have one day, the day of his terrible denial completely eliminated. How about you? Are there days that you would choose to remove? The blood of Christ does something better. It tells us that all sins have been atoned for and are gone. As far as God is concerned, those forgiven sins — never happened at all. Amen.