Journey From Death To Life (Part 2)

Last Sunday we spoke about Jesus in the Valley of Kidron, then in the Garden of Gethsemane, and how the whole time He was in God’s will in His journey from death to life.

We are coming to the end of Jesus’ earthly journey in the book of John and can see that these last few hours would be the most difficult He would face. In the Garden, Jesus began to feel the crushing weight, the gravitas of what He would go through to accomplish His Father’s will for the redemption of the world. Then He experienced the painful betrayal of one of His followers, a friend.

Today, we are reading about Peter’s denial. Now both actions, the betrayal by Judas and the denial of Peter sound equally bad but there is a difference between the two. It’s the aspect of premeditation where the difference emerges. For example, we can easily deny someone or something when the pressure is on - when we are embarrassed or because of fear of being found out. Betrayal, on the other hand, takes some plotting and planning ahead of time.

The Scriptures do not give us the specific reason why Judas betrayed Jesus, but we do know that his idea of who the Messiah was supposed/expected to be did not pan out and that his motives for following Jesus were tainted. So, he plotted with Jesus’ enemies and sold him out in a cold-blooded, calculated way.

Did Jesus already know this would happen? Yes, He had told the disciples He would be betrayed in order that the Scriptures would be fulfilled (John 13). He also knew that Peter would deny Him, and the disciples would desert Him in the heat of the moment. Satan requested that Peter be completely removed out of God’s hands and be put totally in his power and then he would use his failure against him. Yet, Peter, in his self-confidence said, “Even if they all fall away - I will not, I am ready to die for you.” Peter was on his own journey from death to life as we will see when his self-proclaimed faithfulness is put to the test.

John 18:15-18, 25-27 (NLT)

15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the disciples. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus. 16 Peter had to stay outside the gate. Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate, and she let Peter in. 17 The woman asked Peter, “You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?”

“No,” he said, “I am not.”

18 Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire. They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself.

25 Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire warming himself, they asked him again, “You’re not one of his disciples, are you?”

He denied it, saying, “No, I am not.”

26 But one of the household slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?” 27 Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed.

When I was studying the passage, I was reading all four gospel accounts and observed three things from this event:

Peter’s Proclamation

People’s Continual Prodding

The Lord’s Prayer

Let’s look at:

Peter’s Proclamation

John is narrating two scenes that are happening simultaneously: the trial of Jesus and Peter’s denial. Jesus had just been unlawfully arrested in the Garden and brought to the high priest’s home. He was brought before Annas, then Caiaphas, and then to an assembly of religious leaders called the Sanhedrin (Matt 26:57). This first encounter with the priesthood was just a preliminary, informal, and unofficial inquiry.” The encounter with these religious leaders was unofficial because it was actually illegal. They broke all the rules, weren’t following the law and were rushing the trial because they wanted Jesus dead before the Passover. And while Jesus was being interrogated, mocked, and beaten in court, another scene was playing out below in the courtyard.

It was just a short distance from the Garden of Gethsemane to the high priest’s courtyard and we see Peter had been following Jesus at a distance (vv. 15-16). At first, Peter was standing outside of the courtyard but one of the disciples who knew the high priest spoke to the servant girl and got Peter in. To Peter's credit, he was more courageous than the other disciples as he and only one other disciple followed Jesus right into the high priest's courtyard. Most likely Peter was so close to where Jesus was that he could observe the interrogation.