Peter Denies Christ - Matthew 26:69-75

Good morning, beloved. Welcome. We are continuing again this morning in the book of Matthew, where we left off last week. Just to remind you, several weeks ago we finished the Olivet Discourse, which was the the final major discourse section of the Gospel of Matthew, and we are now in the last unit of Matthew's Gospel account.

This spans chapters 26, 27, and 28. These three chapters detail the the final lead up to our Lord's death and his resurrection. The verses that we'll be covering this morning constitute a rather short but significant episode in the life of Peter.

Peter’s Denial in the Final Section of Matthew

This morning we'll be looking at Peter's denial of our Lord. It's interesting that here we see the primary action being that of Peter, not of Jesus. This is unusual in the Gospel accounts, but it's given, like all of the Gospels, really like all of Scripture, to point us to Christ, to show us our great need of the Gospel.

Here we will see the unfolding of that which our Lord prophesied earlier in this chapter, when Peter, the leader among the disciples, is going to deny our Lord three times while he is being tried in the Sanhedrin.

This scene is quite sad, but we will see here the wisdom and the providence and the kindness of our God in dealing with us in our sin. This will demonstrate that though we are frail and broken, God's sovereignty addresses our need and he meets our need through Christ.

Mankind's frailty is going to be on full display, our own fallen state, and it is here to warn us against presuming upon our own strength to overcome temptation, but rather to cause us to look to Christ and to trust in Christ for the work that he is doing in the hearts of those whom he has called.

And so I'm going to read here for us from Matthew chapter 26. We're looking this morning at verses 69 through the end of the chapter, through verse 75. So let us hear the word of the Lord. Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard and a servant girl came to him saying, you also were with Jesus of Galilee, but he denied it before them all saying, I do not know what you are saying.

And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, this fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth. But again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. A little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, surely you are one of them for your speech betrays you.

Then he began to curse and swear saying, I do not know the man. Immediately a rooster crowed and Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.

So he went out and wept bitterly. Let us pray. Father, we thank you that you've given us your holy perfect word and that in your word you have revealed to us the glories of Christ that by the help of your spirit as we humble ourselves before your word and submit ourselves to it, your spirit shines the light of Christ, the glory of God upon our hearts that we might see, that we might know, that we might repent of our sin and believe in Christ.

Father, we know that he is our only hope and that we desperately need this gospel. So would you help us now? Would your spirit open the eyes of our hearts that we would see and behold Christ? Help me this morning to proclaim your word faithfully that you would receive all the glory and honor and praise that you are worthy of.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. As we consider this passage, we need to really grasp three aspects here of what we see in this short scene. First, we will see the temptation and failure of Peter. We also then must consider here the mercy of exposure of sin.

The mercy of exposure of sin. And then thirdly, finally, we will see the bitter medicine of repentance. Medicine of repentance that our hearts desperately need. So first of all, as we consider this passage, we need to appreciate the impartial and faithful record that we have here in scripture of these events of Peter's failure.

Considering that that this text and that the gospels were given to us by those who were followers of Christ, we might expect that the text would try to to cast Peter in a positive light or that it would try to make an excuse for his actions or attempt to to paint him in a favorable sense.

But we don't see any of that here. There is no excuse given for his sin. In fact, Matthew in particular puts this scene for us very clearly in the shadow of Christ standing before the Sanhedrin, which Micah taught us on last week.

This context here is intentional and instructive and it creates a sharp contrast that is here to help us. If you recall from the previous teaching, Jesus has been led away to this court of the high priest for this sham trial where the scribes and elders were assembled and they are calling forward false witnesses to ensnare our Lord in their plot to have him killed.

And this came to a climax in verse 63 that we looked at last week. The high priest answered and said to Jesus, I put you under oath by the living God. Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Now last week Micah very helpfully emphasized to us the strength of these words.

That phrase I put you under oath or it might be translated I adjure you. He is he's using legal terminology here to extract from Jesus under the strictest measures here a true statement and we we see here that our Lord answers faithfully and truthfully.

It is as you said. Now Peter, where is he in this scene? It told us in the beginning of that section that in verse 58 that Peter followed Jesus at a distance to the high priest's courtyard. So he is he's here as this is happening at a distance.

No doubt Peter saw this as a virtuous duty of his to see this matter to to follow and and to observe what happens in this trial. He has put himself in this situation as Jesus is being tried. Now why is Peter doing this?

Why would Peter put himself in such a position of temptation? Clearly Peter thought he could handle this situation. He thought he could withstand temptation but remember Jesus predicted earlier in the chapter Peter's denial.

I'm going to read a few verses here from the same chapter verse starting in verse 31. Then Jesus said to them all of you will be made to stumble because of me this night for it is written I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered but after I have been raised I will go before you to Galilee.

Peter answered and said to him even if all are made to stumble because of you I will never be made to stumble. Jesus said to him assuredly I say to you that this night before the rooster crows you will deny me three times.

Peter said to him even if I have to die with you I will not deny you. Peter is puffed up with self-confidence. If you recall again in this same chapter a few verses later in the garden of Gethsemane we see here Jesus is going to watch and pray and he asks his disciples who are with him to watch and pray with him for he was sorrowful and deeply distressed and he's laboring in prayer to his father.

He's showing his dependence and submission to the father. And what do we see of Peter here in this scene? In verse 40 the text says he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and he said to Peter what could you not watch with me one hour watch and pray lest you enter into temptation.

The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak and so Jesus withdraws and he goes and prays again and he returns and does he find Peter heeding this wisdom this counsel to watch and pray lest he enter into temptation no he finds them again asleep.

Remember it was Peter who brashly drew the sword at Jesus's arrest again filled with self-confidence that he in his own strength by an act of violence could stop what was about to happen could rescue the Lord from his captors.

Peter is not heeding the counsel of our Lord but rather is playing the fool. Beloved how often do we like Peter make a show of what we think is virtue but really is foolish pride. Peter then walks right into the fires of temptation without the proper humility of self-reflection having disregarded the words of wisdom of our Lord and having neglected the discipline of prayer that should be protecting him and guiding him as a overcoming sin and temptation.

He doesn't believe that our Lord has has said that his failure his temptation is imminent and he walks right in and sits with these wicked servants of these leaders during this trial. So often we overestimate our own ability to withstand temptation in the company of the wicked.

So we have to consider this path of foolishness that has led Peter to where he is this morning in our text where he will fail not once not twice but three times in a row. Matthew under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit gives us this detail not to shame Peter but to teach us that we might understand the deceitfulness and deception of sin and the craftiness of our enemy to cause us to stumble.

Beloved we must be honest with ourselves as to what we are capable of overcoming and falling before. We must not neglect prayer. Fleeing sin must also mean fleeing the situation where we know we are liable to fall.

The Public Exposure of Peter’s Sin

Now let us consider the sin itself. Notice that these servants recognize that Peter was a companion of Christ. They perceive the difference in his speech and in his manner of behavior. If we are indeed followers of Christ this ought to be the case.

Even at a low point at a point in his life of fear and and doubt he was recognized as a follower of Christ and so ought we to be. The world ought to see a difference in us but then comes the the the accusation from those around.

First one woman comments and then a second and then lastly the servants together they accuse Paul of being with Jesus. One of those fellows. One of them. These accusations may seem mild and relatively harmless to us but in the context of what is unfolding here in the context of what is happening before them these are serious accusations of guilt and shame that they are um they have a real disdain for Jesus here obviously.

They have a real disregard for for who he is and who he claims to be. They see Peter's association with Jesus as being him worthy of reproach and rebuke and guilt and possibly even worthy of death also.

Nevertheless Peter's response is one of complete denial of Christ. Not only does he lie but he shows a real shame in being associated with Christ. First he presents he pretends first not to understand.

I don't understand what you mean. I do not know what you are saying. That's how he words it here. This this play at misunderstanding is him trying to dodge connection with Jesus. He's denying his association with him.

Of course the fact that he lies here is secondary to the fact that he's being called upon to confess Christ and here's the most critical point and instead of showing affection and devotion to Christ Peter responds in fear and denial.

He's ashamed of Christ and then then in this next scene this next episode where the second woman comes to him he denies it even more strongly. He denies it with an oath. Again this this parallel I think is deliberate where Matthew previously had the high priest the one who has the most religious authority in the mind of the Jew.

This this this isn't just an interrogation with Jesus. This is the high priest himself putting Jesus under an oath asking him to confess who he says he is and Jesus submits to that. Now Peter here is trying to emphasize how strongly he is not associated with Jesus so that he voluntarily puts himself under an oath and says I do not know the man.

This is a significant parallel here between our Lord's faithfulness his steadfastness in the truth his self-revelation that he is the Christ he is the son of the living God and Peter's oath to the opposite his oath that he does not know this man.

Another connection here in this narrative that I think is worth considering the very question that Jesus is being put to by the high priest tell us if you are the Christ the son of God. This should sound familiar to us it certainly was familiar to Peter for this is the confession that Peter made back in chapter 16.

Jesus said to them in chapter 16 but who do you say that I am and Simon Peter answered and said you are the Christ son of the living God. So there's no denying the fact that Peter knew the truth in a context that was favorable toward Peter he gladly and willingly and boldly proclaimed the truth of who Christ is but here overshadowed and overcome by his fears and doubts and uncertainty of what lies ahead of this trial he disavows his faith and all knowledge of Christ.

What is it to be a Christian but to know and confess Christ and here Peter denies it three times. I do not know the man and then Peter's third denial here this time it says he began to curse and swear saying I do not know the man we all know that the normal pattern for sin in our lives is that when we give into sin what does it lead to more sin often more grievous more severe more more weighty and offensive sins.

Here as if to prove that he is not one of them after having his accuser say that his speech indicates that he is a follower of Christ he responds with cursing and swearing. Not only is he breaking the ninth commandment here by lying he is apparently breaking the third commandment as well by profaning that which is holy.

Do you see how quickly this can happen when we let our guard down when we let pride fill us when we disregard prayer as a means of grace to cause us to stand in temptation when we disregard warnings from our Lord and from scripture we saw when we surround ourselves with the ungodly we fall.

It is the very same night that our Lord told him that he would deny him three times and so quickly has Peter forgotten so quickly as he has he walked away. This is Peter this is the leader of the disciples one of the closest of the disciples of our Lord who was there who was the first to speak in so many situations the first to act.

He ought to have been exemplary among the disciples he thought himself the boldest and most devout and yet here he has utterly and aggressively disavowed any relation to Christ. One might try to make an excuse for Peter in chapter 27 which we will look at in the next week or two we will see another contrast here between Jesus sorry between Peter and Judas and I'm not going to press too far into that but the fact that Judas's sin was premeditated and planned and Peter's was in a moment of fear and doubt does not justify Peter.

It does not excuse his sin. We must be on guard at all times against the evils that would ensnare us. Temptation can come at any time. And when we let our guard down we can be sure that the enemy is ready and waiting to trap us.

The Mercy of Exposure, Repentance, and Restoration

Let us consider God's mercy now in calling Peter to an awareness of his sin. For in this this moment just as our Lord prophesied after this third denial the rooster crows. God did this in his kindness and love for Peter to expose Peter's sin.

We see here God's providence over all things his sovereignty. For our Lord knew that Peter would sin in this way and even prophesied that Peter's sin would be immediately followed by this rooster's crow.

This was not a surprise to God. God in his infinite wisdom foresaw and foreknew and foreordained how this would play out and even decreed that this rooster would crow precisely when he did. And all of this was for God's glory and our good.

For we see here that Peter is learning a valuable lesson. And by the mysterious workings of God's spirit we too can learn this same lesson. For those who are called by the grace of God to be children of God he will by no means leave us in our sin.

That's a truth that we need to seriously consider this morning and take to heart. For those who are called to be children of God he will by no means leave us in our sin. We like weary Christian in pilgrim's progress will be made to walk through the valley of humiliation.

But even this is for our good. For we need to be humbled. God in his wisdom and providence drew back this night his restraining hand on Peter's heart allowing Peter to deny him in this way to succumb to his own wicked inclinations in order that Peter might be reminded what evil he is capable of.

This man who just hours ago had protested that he would be willing to die before he denied Christ. He was in need of being humbled. Peter needed to walk through the valley of humiliation but God did not leave him there.

God didn't abandon him. Rather God was ready and waiting at the right moment to call Peter out of this dark pit. Before his blasphemy and faithlessness made an end of him. God pricked his heart with the crow of the rooster in order that Peter might not utterly fall and abandon Christ eternally.

For those who are called to be the children of God he will by no means abandon us in our sin. He won't leave us if he did. If his mercy did not call us back from this this denial of Christ we would not reach the celestial city.

None of us would do you understand. It's not our strength that holds us in the faith. It's not our strength that keeps us in Christ. It is his sovereign mercy from start to last. He keeps us from falling away.

He causes us to persevere. And it is so often through these means that when we sin that we fall he calls it to our attention because he's merciful because he keeps his promises. This is the sovereign and unmerited mercy of God that keeps us from abandoning the faith.

That keeps us from the pit of hell. And so praise God for the crow of the rooster. Praise God when you get caught in a lie. Praise God when somebody rebukes you for your immodest dress or your intemperate speech.

Or when someone stumbles upon your sordid internet history. Or when you're caught for cheating in your schoolwork or when you're deceiving your employer or confronted for being disrespectful to parents and leaders.

When you when you give into your fears and the spirit pricks your heart. Sometimes it's just an internal conscience of the spirit that causes you to see the wickedness that you have just committed. This is the mercy of God.

Praise God when he does this it's because he loves you. It's because he's calling you back to faith and obedience. Whether it's you giving in to your fears or or your unbridled tongue or or letting a root of envy take place take root in your heart.

Or you've harbored bitter and grumbling spirit against your spouse or you've entertained lustful thoughts. It is so easy for us to to give ground to the the lusts of the eyes the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life.

But for those who are called by God's sovereign grace to be children of God he will not leave us there. The pricked conscience the unwelcome rebuke the exposure of shame the unwanted consequence for sin.

We must see these as a mercy of God. It's never pleasant no one wants to experience these things. But we must know that they are the kindness of God to keep us from hell. For if he did not restrain us in this way every one of us would abandon Christ.

It is his mercy that causes us to persevere. So then our text this morning ends with verse 75. Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him before the rooster crows you will deny me three times.

So he went out and wept bitterly beloved. When you become aware of the wickedness of your sin it is always the words of Christ that will bring you back. Peter remembered the words of our Lord and it brought him back and it produced this medicine this bitter medicine of repentance in his heart.

This is the proper first response when our sin is exposed to go back to the word the truth. For we have strayed from the path we have disregarded the light. And this is the source of light God's holy and perfect word.

And we when we rightly understand it when the light explodes exposes our wickedness. We are to grieve to grieve. And if we if we don't if we fail to rightly mourn for our sin it is because we don't understand the grave nature of our sin.

It's because we don't understand the holiness of the God whom we have sinned against. And the kindness of God that has exposed our sin. A true awareness of our sin and guilt for the believer will bring about true repentance.

True repentance. True repentance is not just merely being sad. It's not just regretting that you've been caught. Repentance involves sorrow for sin. These words are from the the children's catechism. It helpfully defines true and saving repentance for us.

Repentance involves sorrow for sin leading one to hate and forsake it because it is displeasing to God. Repentance involves an awareness that God hates sin. It involves this sanctifying work in our hearts that causes us to also hate sin.

And so because we hate it because he hates it we turn from it. We turn from it to endeavor after new obedience. This is a saving grace of God. And this is what we see here in Peter. Oh that God would grant this to us that he would grant this to us and to our children to our families our loved ones those who are blinded by sin we need this mercy.

I feel compelled to give an additional warning here this morning. The book of Joshua in the Old Testament recounts after Moses has died on the brink of entering into Canaan. Joshua takes over as the leader of God's people and they enter into Canaan.

And they have this tremendous victory at Jericho where God's power is on full display. Who. These these these people who had been wandering through the wilderness. This small insignificant nation is able by the power of God to overcome and take this great and mighty city filled with mighty warriors.

God is showing his power to a new generation. For the generation that had seen the plagues of Egypt and had seen the parting of the Red Sea. That generation has died and gone. And this new generation needs to see the power of God to fulfill his promises to bring his people into the promised land.

And they see that at Jericho in chapter six of Joshua. But then after this God tells them as they go into the city of Jericho destroy all the the accursed things the things that would lead them into idolatry and paganism because God knows that they are susceptible to these sins.

And then chapter seven immediately after tells the sad story of the sin of Achan. Achan had disobeyed God by taking from Jericho some of these accursed things that God had expressly forbidden them to take and had told them to to burn with fire to utterly destroy.

And he takes these things and he hides his sin in his tent. This is deliberate disobedience and it brought the curse of God upon Achan and his family and even the nation as a whole because they suffered a great defeat in their next battle at Ai.

This must be a lesson to us that hidden sin never stays hidden. Hidden sin is never harmless. No sin is harmless if you wish to be blessed of God. If you wish your your family to be blessed of God and to know his mercy.

If we as a church desire to please God and receive his blessings we must deal with hidden sin. God expose our secret sins that we might be free of their deceitful and damning grip. Expose them that we might be humbled like Peter was in this text that we might be driven again to the cross of Christ.

Grant us true repentance unto life. For only in Christ can we be forgiven. Only in Christ can our guilt be washed away. Only in Christ can we be set free from this bondage. Only in Christ can we be washed clean and made righteous beloved.

There is no other way we can't deal with our sin on our own. We can't atone for it. Only Christ. Only Christ is the means of our salvation. Cast yourself upon him. Repent and be reconciled to God your maker your master and Lord.

Whether you would bow the knee to him or not he is the Lord and every knee will one day bow. So come to him come to him for mercy through Christ. I want to close with the words of David from Psalm 51.

After his sin was exposed. After he was confronted and saw the wickedness and depravity of his own heart he was humbled. And then he says starting in verse 7. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean.

Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness. That the bones you have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart oh God.

And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me by your generous spirit. That I then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners shall be converted to you beloved.

We are all capable of great sin. But God's mercy is always greater. Peter was unfaithful but Christ remained faithful to him. Ultimately this text reminds us of God's sovereignty. We so often need reminders of God's sovereignty at the lowest points of our walks that he is in control and he is with us.

He reminds us of his amazing grace and the forgiving mercy and restorative power of the gospel the gospel of Jesus Christ. The only gospel that saves this is the power of God for man. For sinners the worst of sinners who repent and call upon Christ.

Let us pray. Father in heaven we we ask for your mercy. We thank you that in our sin those who are called by your name called to Christ will never be forsaken. We thank you that in the the wounds that you inflict upon us in discipline and in correction we find mercy and love.

That we might be restored. That we might be caused to walk in the steps of Christ pointing to him as the redeemer the sovereign God of all creation the one to whom we owe our complete allegiance. We thank you for this gospel in Jesus name amen.