Luke 22:54
¶ Then took they him, and led him,
and brought him into the high priest’s house. And Peter followed afar off.
55 And when they had kindled a fire in
the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them.
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. 57 And he denied him, saying,
Woman, I know him not. 58 And after a
little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said,
Man, I am not. 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. 60
And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while
he yet spake, the cock crew. 61 And the
Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord,
how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
62 And Peter went out, and wept
bitterly.
Here is a moment that probably stayed imbedded in Peter’s mind for
the rest of his life. As Christ said he would, Peter denies that he knew
Christ. It is a sorrowful moment for Peter and probably resulted in the
“conversion” that Christ prayed for him to receive.
As Matthew Henry noted in his commentary, “It is well for us
that Christ does not deal with us as we deal with him.” How many of us, when
placed in a situation that wasn’t even dangerous for us denied, even if only by
our inaction or our lack of speaking on His behalf, our Lord. We might do this
for fear of rejection by peers or family. We might do this in fear of loss of
employment or position.
The
important thing is that Christ had a plan to restore Peter and for Peter to
provide the leadership he does as represented in Acts. Christ has a purpose for
Peter’s life and does not dispose of him in this most awful moment of his life
to this point.
The
act of denying Christ for whatever reason carries big weight in the Bible.
Here, it is defined as a conscious refusing to admit one’s association and
familiarity with Christ. Remember this passage in Luke, chapter 12;
Luke
12:8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever
shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the
angels of God: 9 But he that denieth me
before men shall be denied before the angels of God.
The importance of holding onto one’s faith in the face of fear or
persecution or the hardening of sin, temptations as they are to deny Christ, is
underscored by Paul.
2Timothy
2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign
with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
Enduring until the end is spoken of in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 and
as Paul also says in Hebrews in regard to sin itself hardening our hearts;
Hebrews
3:13 But exhort one another daily, while
it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of
sin. 14 For we are made partakers of
Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
15 While it is said, To day if ye will
hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Hebrews
10:38 Now the just shall live by faith:
but if any man draw back, my
soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39
But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that
believe to the saving of the soul.
Sometimes atheists will reveal that they believed at one time but
stopped and if you examine their life a little closer you will see that the
desires of the flesh paid some part in their apostasy. I will post again
something I noted earlier about one notable atheist scientist.
Many people, especially young people, have
abandoned their faith when the lusts of youth demanded their attention. A noted
evolutionary biologist, Edward O. Wilson, wrote a book entitled Consilience in which he writes in
chapter one about the joy he felt when he found and believed in the theory of
evolution and the unity of all sciences with that atheistic determinism as
their foundation, well unquestionable fact more than theory to him with the
following as part of his journey to what I call atheism;
On a far more modest
scale, I found it a wonderful feeling not just to taste the unification
metaphysics but also to be released from the confinement of fundamentalist
religion. I had been raised a Southern Baptist, laid backward under the water
on the sturdy arm of a pastor, been born again. I knew the healing power of
redemption. Faith, hope, and charity were in my bones, and with millions of
others I knew that my savior Jesus Christ would grant me eternal life. More
pious than the average teenager, I read the Bible cover to cover, twice. But
now at college, steroid-driven into moods of adolescent rebellion, I chose to
doubt.
It can also be suffering that puts pressure on your faith and, if
you are not grounded in God’s word, can lead you away from Him in your pain and
anguish.
Galatians
4:14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected;
but received me as an angel of God, even
as Christ Jesus.
And it can be persecution that forces you, in order to be accepted
by people or to keep from losing life, liberty, family, employment, or property,
to consider turning your back on God.
For Wilson, unlike Peter, there appears to be no second chance as
his heart was hardened beyond all redemption even though he insists he is not
an atheist while simply stating that belief is part of evolution and should be
studied as a byproduct of man’s evolving thought processes from an ape-like
creature. But, for Peter and others, God left a door open and there was a way
back. Hopefully there is for Wilson as time is running out for him.
There were many movements in the early church that did not want to
allow those who had repudiated their faith under persecution or handing in
their scriptures to the Roman authorities to return to the faith. With names
given to them like Novatianism or Donatism these movements did not accept those
who had renounced their faith under fear or pain.
And truthfully, Paul wrote in Hebrews something that can be
considered as a warning that it is impossible to return under certain
circumstances.
Hebrews
6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have
tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the
powers of the world to come, 6 If they
shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to
themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
However, another way of looking at that passage is considering how
Jesus dealt with Peter, understanding that there can be a way home in these
circumstances for the repentant denier. If that is so then the passage in
Hebrews 6 merely points out the absurdity of thinking you can lose your
salvation. Christ was crucified once and that is sufficient for all.
Hebrews
9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves,
but by his own blood he entered in once
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us…26 For then must
he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he
appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many;
and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin
unto salvation.
Hebrews
10:10 By the which will we are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Peter’s realization of what he has done and the fact that he wept
bitterly shows us that he was deeply repentant over his betrayal. Compare this
with Judas’ betrayal for which repentance was not expressed in bitter tears but
worldly sorrow expressed in self-harm.
Matthew
27:3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him,
when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the
thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed
the innocent blood. And they said, What is
that to us? see thou to that.
5 And he cast down the pieces of silver
in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
I suppose one lesson that can be learned from this passage is that
Godly repentance, in guilt, seeks God’s forgiveness acknowledging His authority
while worldly sorrow, though still an act of sorrow over what you have done, is
expressed not in glorifying Christ but in self-hatred or shame, a sort of
reverse glorification of one’s self making self not Christ of the most
importance.
2Corinthians
7:10 For godly sorrow
worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the
world worketh death.
One of the most notorious ways modern so-called Christians deny
Christ is to call Him a liar. Christ said;
John
14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John also wrote this about believing what Jesus said about
Himself.
John
3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the
wrath of God abideth on him.
So, it is amazing to me how many people today call themselves
Christians but, not wanting to offend anyone and not wanting to appear not
inclusive, they call Christ a liar and say that it doesn’t matter what you
believe as long as you believe in something or that everyone has to choose what
is right for them. How can Christ overlook such a hateful rejection of His own
words?
As Peter so famously said;
Acts
4:12 Neither is there salvation in any
other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved.
And yet, curiously, I have met even people who claim “the Golden
Rule” as their motto, who do works of charity that are exemplary, but who, in
the end call Christ a liar and deny Him.
Luke 22:63
¶ And the men that held Jesus mocked
him, and smote him. 64 And when
they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying,
Prophesy, who is it that smote thee? 65
And many other things blasphemously spake they against him. 66 And as soon as it was day, the elders of the
people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into
their council, saying, 67 Art thou the
Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe:
68 And if I also ask you, ye will
not answer me, nor let me go. 69
Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of
God. 70 Then said they all, Art thou
then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am. 71 And they said, What need we any further
witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth.
We believe and have faith that Jesus Christ was God walking in
human flesh.
John
1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2
The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him
was not any thing made that was made.
It is astounding to think of the creator of all things being
subjected to such treatment by the things He created. Not only that but
subjected to this maltreatment at the hand of the special people He made out of
the nations of the earth.
John
1:11 He came unto his own, and his
own received him not.
Mocking and making sport of is a characteristic trait of the
wicked when they have power over someone and that person appears helpless.
Mocking a helpless enemy is a terrible sign of a spiritual weakness and evil.
It has been a common thing throughout history.
Judges
16:25 And it came to pass, when their
hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out
of the prison house; and he made them sport:
and they set him between the pillars.
Jesus acknowledges that He is the Messiah and in 69 and 70 we see
that the phrase the Son of man with a capital S and the Son of God with a capital
S are synonymous as understood by the Jews of this time. This clears up any
questions on that issue as to why Jesus used that title often as reported in
every gospel. The Son of man is the Son of God as Jesus was fully man and fully
God, the Messiah, God in the flesh.
Note the prophetic importance of that title in Daniel.
Daniel
7:13 I saw in the night visions, and,
behold, one like the Son of man came with
the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him
near before him.
14 And there was given him dominion, and glory,
and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his
dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
The Jews understood Jesus’ claim to being the Christ, the Messiah.
John
5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more
to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God
was his Father, making himself equal
with God.
It is not politically convenient for them to believe Him so they
do not, having accused Him of blasphemy. Christ has validated His claim to
being the Messiah by the miracles and healings He has performed. He also has
done it by the prophecies concerning His death and resurrection that are
littered throughout the gospels. Some people have claimed that He was simply a
great moral teacher, such as Thomas Jefferson, an early president. But, either
Jesus was God or He was crazy or He was evil. You must decide what you believe
about Him because the Bible clearly says that if you do not believe what He
said about Himself then God’s wrath abides on you.
John
3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the
wrath of God abideth on him.
Jesus said that He was the only way to God the Father.
John
14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
He said to have seen Him was to have seen the Father.
John
14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been
so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father;
and how sayest thou then, Shew
us the Father?
He declared, as He did in this passage in Luke, that He was the
Son of man, the Son of God, the Messiah and Christ. Notice this passage in
John.
John
4:25 The woman saith unto him, I know
that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us
all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I
that speak unto thee am he.
The Bible says that you must believe in a physical resurrection to
be saved from Hell and ultimate destruction in a lake of unquenchable fire in
eternity.
Romans
10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.11 For
the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 ¶ For there is no difference between the Jew
and the Greek [general term for non-Jews in Roman culture]: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved.
Do you believe?
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