184. Luke 22:54-62 THREE DENIALS BY SIMON PETER

Introduction:

	Earlier that night Jesus had announced to His disciples that
they would all forsake Him before the night was over.  Simon
Peter declared in no uncertain terms that he would never forsake
the Lord.  Jesus then informed him that he would not only forsake
Him, but he would deny that he ever knew Him.  He would deny
Jesus, not just once nor twice, but three times.  Jesus said that
before the cock would crow twice, Peter would deny Him three
times.
    In our previous text we saw Judas betray the Lord and we saw
a large group of men come from the temple in Jerusalem and arrest
Jesus.  In our text today, we see the Apostle Peter deny Him
three times just as Jesus had said he would.

I.  Peter following Jesus afar off

    V. 54, "Then took they him..."  Luke makes no mention of what
the other disciples, do when the chief priests and the arresting
party started to take Jesus away, but the other gospel writers
tell us they all broke and ran.  They scattered like a covey of
quail.  Even the Apostle Peter ran.  When they took off, he
panicked and he took off, too.
	However, the Apostle Peter was apparently braver than the
others.  He did not run far.  He stopped running rather quickly
and he started following them instead.
    (V. 54), "...and led him, and brought him into the high
priest's house.  And Peter followed afar off."  The Apostle Peter
was careful not to get too close so that they might see him, but
he kept the lights of the arresting party in sight as they
carried Jesus back to Jerusalem.  He knew they were going to
Jerusalem; he just did not know where in Jerusalem.
	Luke says that they carried Jesus to the house of the high
priest, and they did.  However, John says that they carried Him
first to the house of Annas.  Annas was an elderly former high
priest.  He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the present high
priest!  It was probably upon instructions of Caiaphas that he
was carried to Annas first.  Annas has had much more experience
than Caiaphas and Caiaphas would want his more experienced
father-in-law to question Jesus first.  He would hope that Annas
would be able to get Jesus to say something that could be used
against Him.  Apparently Annas got nowhere and Jesus was then
carried on to the palace of Caiaphas for a hearing before the
Sanhedrin Council.
	The Apostle Peter, of course, followed them to both places.
He followed them to the house of Annas and then on to the house
of Caiaphas.
	Luke says nothing about it, but, about the time the members
of the Sanhedrin Council arrived, the Apostle John also arrived.
While John was growing up his family had been friends to the
family of Caiaphas and John was personally acquainted withthe
servants around the house of Caiaphas.  So John got into the
palace easy enough.  It was then John who got Simon Peter in.
John saw Simon Peter standing at the door looking in so he spoke
to the woman in charge and got Simon Peter in.  Apparently Peter
and John then split up once Peter was inside the palace.

II.  Peter's first denial of Jesus

    V. 55, "And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the
hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them." The
nights were cool and the officers and servants inside the palace
of the high priest built a fire in the courtyard in order to keep
warm.  Simon Peter made his way to the fire and sat down with
them by the fire to watch the proceedings while Jesus was before
the court.  The trial of Jesus would take place in a large
elevated area in the center Peter and others in the courtyard
would be able to see and hear the proceedings.
	This is where Peter was when he denied Jesus the first time.
V. 56, "But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and
earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him."
According to John, the woman who first identified the
Apostle Peter as a follower of Jesus was the same woman who had
earlier let him in the door.  Apparently she had thought even
then that he looked familiar and she kept watching him until she
finally figured out who he was.  She must have seen him with
Jesus in the temple during those days when Jesus was teaching in
the temple.  At any rate, she approached Simon Peter and just
stared at him.  Finally she spoke and told the men there at the
fire, "This man is one of them.  He is one of the followers of
Jesus."
	Simon Peter had been very brave back in the Garden of
Gethsemene when he drew his sword and cut off the ear of the
servant of the high priest.  Back then he was willing to lay down
his life in defense of Jesus.  But by now he was scared.  He was
not so brave now.
    V. 57, "And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not."  I
can just hear the sharpness in his voice.  He wanted to put this
idea to silence before it got started good.  He denied that he
knew Jesus.  Apparently he spoke with such certainty that she
pursued the matter no further.
	That was a close call!  Luke does not say so, but after that
close call at the fire, the Apostle Peter moved away from the
fire and went out onto one of the porches which adjoined the
courtroom area.  He would still be able to see and hear from the
porch.  He must have thought he would not attract as much
attention to himself here.  He was wrong.  Even there he was
recognized.

III.  Peter's second denial of Jesus

    V. 58, "And after a little while another saw him, and said,
Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not."  Matthew
says that it was another maid who first recognized him.  She said
nothing directly to Peter, but she did say something to the men
around her and one of the men then spoke up and accused Peter of
being a follower of Jesus.  He said, "You are also one of them."
Peter answered and denied being a follower of Jesus.  According
to Matthew he took an oat and said, "I do not know the man." What
an obvious lie!  What was he doing out here in the wee hours of
the night if he did not know the man?
	This is now the second time that Peter has denied being a
disciple of Jesus and denied even knowing Him.  Mark tells us
that it was at this point that the cock crew for the first time.
The way I picture it was that almost everything else was silent
for a moment and in that moment when all was silent the rooster
crowed.  It rang out loud and clear.  Peter heard it, but his
mind was so filled with other thoughts that it did not really
register with him.  He would be able to remember later that he
had heard the rooster crow, but, at the moment,  he paid no
attention to it.  His mind was too absorbed by his own danger and
the fate of Jesus.

IV.  Peter's third denial of Jesus

    V. 59, "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."  The accuser was very sure of
himself.  He was very confident that he was right.  He said, in
effect, to Peter, "I know that you are a follower of Jesus
because you are a Galilaean."
    Peter's speech had given him away that he was a Galinaean.
He spoke with a dialect that was peculiar to the Galilaeans.  In
this the man was right.  He was right also in that Peter was a
disciple of Jesus.  But the man's logic was way off base.  There
were many Galilaeans which were not followers of Jesus.
    John says that one of the men was kin to the man whose ear
Simon Peter had cut off back at the Garden of Gethsemene.  John
says this man said to Peter, "Did not I see you back in the
garden?"  I think that right about that time, Peter's heart must
have come up in his throat.  He was just about scared to death.
	For the third time then Simon Peter denied that he was a
follower of Jesus.  V. 60, "And Peter said, Man, I know not what
thou sayest..."  Luke's account of this is very mild.  The other
writers say that Peter took an oath swearing that he was telling
the truth.  He also cursed.  That is, he called down curses upon
himself if he were not telling the truth.  It was his speech
which had given him away that he is a Galilean and he wanted to
make sure now that his speech convinced them that he was not a
follower of Jesus.
    (V. 60), "...And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock
crew."  This is the second time that the cock crew.  This time
the crowing of the cock came through loud and clear to Peter.  I
am quite confident that he could also remember that he had
already heard him crow earlier.   It all rang a bell with Peter.
	Luke tells us something right here that none of the other
writers mention.  V. 61, "And the Lord turned, and looked upon
Peter..."  For a long moment there were the two of them looking
right straight at each other.  Neither of them said a word, but
the silence must have been deafening.  (V. 61), "...And Peter
remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before
the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice."
	Luke says nothing about the cock crowing twice, but, no
doubt, Peter can remember both of them.  Can you imagine the
effect our Lord's words had on Peter when he remembered them?
    V.  62, "And Peter went out, and wept bitterly."  I think
Peter rushed out as fast as he dared.
.  He was trying desperately to hold back the tears.  He did not
want to burst into tears there among the people.  He rushed out
into the darkness and there he turned loose the great emotional
flood of tears.  He boohooed!  He wept loudly!  He wept bitterly!
Peter was grieved that he had denied the Lord and his burden of
guilt was more than he could bear.  It poured forth in the form
of tears.  None of the writers tell us how long Peter wept.  But
the picture I get is that he wept for a long time.
	Listen!  It was at this very point that the Apostle Peter
began to achieve true greatness.  It was not when Peter vowed
that he would never forsake the Lord that he was great.  It was
not when he drew his sword and cut off the servant of the high
priest that he was great.  It was when he saw himself as weak,
when he saw himself as a failure, when saw himself as an unworthy
sinner that he began to achieve greatness in the eyes of the
Lord.  Peter repented of his sin and got right with God, that is
what made him a great man.
	Listen!  Peter was a saved man and he repented of his sin an
sought to get right with God.  That is something that every saved
person needs to do.  We sin so many times even after we are
saved.  We fail the Lord so many times even after we are saved.
Christians fail sometimes to come to church and worship God as
they ought to do.  Sometimes they fail to live a clean, godly,
moral life as they ought to do.  Sometimes they fail to study
their Bibles and pray as they ought to do.  Sometimes they fail
to give to the Lord's cause as they ought to do.  Sometimes they
fail to witness to the unsaved as they ought to do.  But in
whatever way the saved fail the Lord they sin and they ought to
repent of their sin as the Apostle Peter did.  They ought to
surrender their lives to the Lord as the Apostle Peter did.  They
need to become great servants of the Lord as the Apostle Peter
did.

Conclusion:
	
    Listen!  After all the wrong that the Apostle Peter did in
denying the Lord, yet he became one of the greatest servants of
the Lord of all the ages.  If he can do it, so can you.  Turn to
the Lord and let Him have His way with your life.
	Then there are those who are not saved at all who here in
this service you need to be saved.  You ought to repent of your
sins and turn to the Lord and ask Him to save you.  You ought to
ask Him right now in this service to save your soul and keep you
out of hell.  I am asking that you do that very thing.  I am
asking you to get out of your seat and come forward just as
hastily as the Apostle Peter got out of that palace.  Come and
get right with God.