If I am not mistaken, the general characteristics of fiction writing have changed over time. Correct me if I am wrong, but one, two and three centuries ago, most novels depicted the good-guy, the protagonist, in the best light. Of course there have always been exceptions, but speaking generally, the bad-guy wore a black hat, so to speak, and the good-guy wore white – rarely did he have any major flaws. But today, the protagonist may have as many weaknesses and flaws as the antagonist. Sometimes it is hard to know who is the good-guy and who is the bad-guy until the end of the book.
One of the many proofs of the authenticity of the Word of God is that its heros are all depicted as flawed. Perhaps I should say that they are displayed in their true light – in their fallen, sinful condition. That is contrary to the oldest practices of writing. If the historians of Israel were left to their own devices, when it came to the biographies of David, Abraham, Solomon and Jacob, they would not have recorded those men in their sins. I recently read an account of the official Syrian history of Sennecharib’s siege of Jerusalem. It fails to mention the hand of God and the details with which the Bible describes Syria’s retreat. It eliminates the miraculous and magnifies the incidentals. It edits the true history, painting Sennecharib in the best possible light. It cannot be trusted, because it is the official record of a national hero. But what about the official histories of the hero of Israel? That’s entirely different. David, Moses, Abraham – nearly every major character are depicted as sinners.
Can we say that Peter and Paul are two of the heros of early Christianity? The fact that we have them described in both sunshine and shadow testifies to the truth of the record. The Bible depicts Peter in his true colors – warts and all. This Book was not written by men painting Christianity in garish, cartoonish colors. It is completely accurate because it was not written directly by man, but by the inspiration of God.
Another internal evidence of the Bible’s authenticity is another brief, but accurate, fulfilment of prophecy. While still in the upper room after the Passover and the Lord’s Supper, Jesus again reminded the disciples, “All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.” “Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.” Christ was not making an educated guess, based on His previous knowledge of Peter, and knowing that He would be arrested that evening. With complete omniscience of what was going to take place, Christ specified even the details – “this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me (not twice or five times, but) thrice.”
In order to be practical, let’s consider Peter’s obvious sins.
Although this is basically a biographical message, it is not merely a biography. This is not just some more background information about one of the major characters in God’s Word. No, Peter is you – he is me – but with a different name and wearing out-of-date clothing. This is not mere history, or just an ancient story like “the Iliad” or “Scheherazade.” God wants us to learn about ourselves by looking at this man, Peter.
So we notice that Peter was not guilty of murder, aggravated assault or grand larceny. When we study Judas, Jezebel, Ahab or Saul, we can sometimes hide from applying any of their sins to ourselves, because we all sin differently. “Thank you God, that I am not as other men are: extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I go to church three times in the week and give tithes of all that I possess.” Sometimes we can dodge the proverbial bullet – but not when the gun is in Peter’s hand. His were pretty common sins, although none of them were very pretty, from our self-righteous perspective.
First, Peter was guilty of lying about his relationship to the Son of God. Lying may be one of the most common of all sins, although I can’t particularly tell you why. Is it because the tongue is a muscle harder to control than those of our hands and fingers? Perhaps it’s because the tongue is more directly connect to our deceitful and wicked hearts, than are our feet and arms. I don’t know. I do know that the Psalmist once said that “all men are liars,” and likely that is very true. If your lips have never uttered a lie, then you are a very special person. And if your heart has never tried to deceive you – you must be very near perfection. Why is it that Revelation 21:6 lists lying amongst some of the worst of all human sins? “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Peter’s second sin was cowardice; he was apparently fearful of a couple of little servant girls. But was it fear of them or of some fire which they might have ignited with their questions and comments? Not only does “the fear of man bringeth a snare,” but so does the fear of little insignificant damsels.
And then there were Peter’s denials – one, two and three of them, just as the Lord had prophesied. “He denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man.” How many times have you said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” when actually you did? Perhaps it was not premeditated on Peter’s part, but it was prevarication never-the-less. Then he denied with an oath which may have involved blasphemy – “In God’s name I tell you that I do not know the man.” Then on the third occasion Peter’s sin stepped up again to a higher level – he curse and then swore to be telling the truth. As Shakespeare might have said, “This gentleman protests too much, me thinks.”
I am in a unique position when I am among the members of the Inland Empire Philatelic Society – Spokane’s Stamp Club – because they know that I’m a Christian and a pastor. It was even more obvious when I was working – where so many of my co-workers had really filthy tongues. When they were with me they tried to be more selective with their vulgar vocabulary. Oh, but when they were with their own sinful crowd, their tongues ran in the sewer in order to identify themselves with the other sinners. Peter cursed and swore in order to appear to be one of the gang and not a disciple of Lord. But “the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain,” no matter who that person might be.
Is there any man here who can say, “I have never lied, I have never cursed, I have never let the truth fall naked to the ground”? Or is ever any man here who can say, “I have never thought a lie, or thought a curse?” Remember “there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not.” “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
But of course, Peter’s sin was aggravated by special circumstances. I say that not to justify Peter’s sin, but rather just the opposite – to show it’s heinousness. That he earlier professed to be so near to the Lord, made his sin all the more odious. That he was clearly warned a few hours before, of the details of his sin, should’ve made him think twice.
What do you suppose YOUR next sin will be? It might be a flash of unjust anger; perhaps more likely a flash of pride; it might be a lie. Of course, the Lord has not predicted and told you that before bed-time you will commit this particular sin. But in giving us the illustration of Peter, He has warned us and given us a generalized prediction. Just as we might point our finger at Peter and say, “He should have known better,” we need to point the finger at ourselves.
What we need to see at this point is the proximity of our own sins to those of Peter. As redeemed, we Christians should abhor our transgressions – those past, but more particularly those present and future sins. We have brushed against the hem of Jesus’ garment very, very often through the years. Not only do we have the same lessons that Peter had, but we have the lesson of Peter himself. We look at the sins of Peter as reprehensibly black, but aren’t ours even darker?
Peter’s Conduct was horrible, but what about his Conscience.
Matthew and Mark fail to mention it, but Luke tells us that just as the rooster crew, Christ glanced in Peter’s direction. “And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And (then) Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.” Maybe the Saviour was being interrogated in a room with a window. Maybe He could look out and others could look in. Perhaps He had His back to the window or doorway, while listening to the priests, but at just this moment, with the cock crowing in the distance Jesus turned and looked at Peter. Or perhaps Christ was being brought out of the priest’s office at that moment, under the providence or authoritative control of God. That glance might be used as an illustration of the disciples’s conscience. Or we could speak of it as the means of the awakening of that conscience – it was kick-started by God.
What message did the glance of Christ give to Peter? It said, first of all, “Peter, you cannot hide your sins from me!” Peter may have been trying to hide from the servants of the priests, but he couldn’t hide from Christ. No ordinary man, standing in the shoes of Lord Jesus and persecuted by High Priest would have had the ability, let alone the desire, to hear what was happening in the court-yard outside. It is unlikely that any ordinary man would have even known that Peter was outside, because Peter followed the Lord secretly and in the dark. But Jesus knew that he was there – once again testifying to the deity of Christ. He reads our thoughts more easily than you can read a second-grade story-book. Before the Day of Pentecost when this same Peter was leading the Church to look for successor Judas, he prayed with greater conviction than he ever had before: “Thou, Lord, knowest the hearts of all men.”
No one can successfully hide his sins from omniscient gaze of Christ. We may fool our children; we may fool our parents; but we cannot fool the Lord. In fact, we are the fools if we think that we can fool God. That glance of the Saviour says to us all: “Son, I know thy sins!”
That look also said, “Peter you have just hurt me sore.” When David said in prophetic psalm, “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me,” John tells us that the scripture was speaking about Judas. But couldn’t it also have been speaking about Peter and all the rest of us? Obviously, Peter was only interested in saving his own stiff neck. Standing above, and squashing down any love or concern for Christ was Peter’s concern for himself. If there was ever a tear in Jesus’ eye at any time after His betrayal it was at that point. Oh, how we all are constantly guilty of similar felonies against the Saviour. Jesus’ tear-filled eye said, “Peter, Peter, you’ve hurt me very badly.”
Nevertheless, that look also said, “Peter, I love you, nevertheless.” Not once, never, did the Lord Christ ever put Himself before others. Here He was – bruised, beaten and spit upon – with every right to self-pity – if any man ever had a right. But he was more concerned with Peter than He was with Himself. I think that if he had opportunity, he would have put his arm around Peter, speaking softly with his disciple about the sins that he was committing. “Peter, it’s for these very sins, that I’m suffering this shame.” “Peter, I love thee.”
And that look of Christ provoked and broke the conscience of His wayward disciple.
And it brought about a kind of collapse in sinful Peter, bringing him back to Peter the child of God.
First, it refreshed his memory. Immediately, Peter remembered what he had forgotten about Jesus’ prophesy of the denial and the cock. It may have reminded Peter of all that he and the Saviour had ever done together. How they sat at the same table and ate the same bread. He remembered that Christ had often played with Peter’s children and restored his mother-in-law. That look reminded Peter of Who the Saviour really was. “Thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God.” “To whom shall we go, thou hast the words of life.” Sure Christ had prophesied His own betrayal, arrest and death. But He also prophesied that Peter would deny Christ three times before the dawn awoke the rooster who lived near the priest’s palace. That had completely slipped Peter’s mind, until crowing and the look. In other words, that look of the Lord Jesus revealed Peter’s sin.
I suppose that we all have different excuses which we use to justify our sins. But that glance of the Saviour ripped away whatever specific cloak Peter was using at the time. And it was just a simple look, but oh, the power that it contained. Imagine what it will be like when we stand before this same God in judgment. He will look at us and everything we own will be melted down to its rudimentary elements. Our deeds will be revealed as wood, hay, stubble, or gold and silver. Our hearts perhaps will even burst into flames. The glance of Christ is infinitely more powerful than surgeon’s modern laser or the science fiction writer’s phaser weapon. Jesus’ glance revealed and exposed Peter’s sin.
And it melted that disciple’s heart; He went out and wept, and wept, and wept. “O Lord, look on us, because our hearts are so very, very hard. We used to be so tender that even Grandmother’s frown made us burst into tears.” I remember reading certain books, and the message of God they contained broke my heart. Why is it that today I read the same material and I fall asleep before finishing the third page? Is it because I’m not noticing that the Saviour is looking my way? The early church had a tradition that from Pentecost on whenever Peter heard the sound of a rooster, he would burst into tears. If he was preaching when cock crew, he would have to stop for a few moments. But when he started again, he would preach with renewed power and conviction so that his hearers immediately spotted the difference. The look of Christ melted that hard, old fisherman.
But it also led him from shame back to service. Peter’s sin bears some of the same characteristics as Judas’ betrayal of this same Saviour. No, I won’t try to equate them, but there are some similar characteristics. And Judas, too, felt the working of that sharp-pointed cog-wheel called “the conscience.” But Judas’ unanswered conscience drove him to despair and death. Judas hanged himself. But the loving, convicting look of Jesus, had gracious power enough to heal and rebuild Peter. He turned – and returned – to Christ and the service of the Lord.
Peter has lessons for all of who call ourselves “Christians.” Are any of us here tonight, in the court-yard of the priest, standing there with Peter? How would we respond to the questions and accusations of the servants of Christ’s enemy?