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      "The Denial of Christ"
      John 18:15-18
      Theme: All believers are vulnerable to Satan’s attempts to lure us away from the simplicity of our faith in Christ.

        1. The Overestimation of Spiritual Strength – 18:15-16

          1. The Careful Provision Made by Christ

            1. When Jesus was arrested, the disciples had scattered – cp. Mark 14:50
            2. Jesus had carefully provided for their ability to be free from the present trial – having staked His own credibility on the fact that they all would remain safe – cp. John 18:8-9
            3. So, Jesus had indicated that it was His desire for the disciples to absent themselves while He endured the wrath of God – cp. Mark 10:38
            4. However, instead of taking advantage of the provision made by Christ for their safety, Peter was under the delusion that he was up to the challenge of remaining true even unto death – Luke 22:31-34

          2. The Careless Peril Caused by Curiosity

            1. Wanting to find out what was happening, "Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was another disciple."
            2. Other than that he followed "from a distance" () we don’t know many of the details of his approach.
            3. Perhaps because there "was another disciple" that Peter saw that he was emboldened to approach the house of the High Priest.
            4. The problem was that "that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest."
              1. There is no agreement who this disciple is – some thinking that it is John; while others dispute this because he wouldn’t be any safer than Peter especially since he was well known to this household.
              2. It is likely that this could easily be someone like Nicodemus who would have been known by the High Priest and would have gotten back to his duties as part of the Sanhedrin (explaining his disappearance).
            5. So, "Peter was standing at the door outside" – loitering hoping for some ability to find out what was happening.
            6. Therefore, "the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter in."
            7. Thus, instead of realizing his weakness and vulnerability, Peter boldly steps into the courtyard of the high priest as Jesus is being interrogated within earshot.

        2. The Opportunism of Satan’s Schemes –18:17-18, 25-27a

          1. He Will Use Our Preoccupations – v. 17

            1. It is fascinating to observe how Satan didn’t wait until some dramatic moment to assault Peter – he did it right away – "Then the slave-girl who kept the door said to Peter, ‘You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you’?"
            2. Peter’s thoughts were with Jesus and what He was enduring at the hands of the High Priest – not on the current situation.
            3. This slave-girl, most understand to be a teen, caught Peter spiritually flat-footed with the accusation.
            4. She worded it in such a fashion as to expect a negative answer and he answered "I am not."
            5. Thus, Satan’s tool to humiliate this foremost of the disciples is a teen-age slave-girl who was little more than a doorkeeper.
            6. Satan’s weapons do not have to be formidable to defeat us and to cause us to let go of our confidence in Christ – he hits us when we are preoccupied with problems or when our attention is diverted from the need to stand true.

          2. He Will Use Our Pretexts – vv. 18, 25

            1. Peter continues past the slave girl and into the courtyard where he attempted to "blend" with the rest of the people – "Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it is was cold and they were warming themselves; and Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself."
            2. Here he is – warming himself together with the enemies of Jesus – when he should have been long gone.
            3. He would have had to listen to the blasphemies and comments from these men about the criminal being interrogated and clearly say nothing in his defense or confront the sacrileges being stated.
            4. As fear was present that caused Peter to attempt to blend, he put forth a pretext behind which to hide – something that Satan knows indicates that he has him "on the ropes."
            5. As he "was standing and warming himself, … they said to him, ‘You are not also one of His disciples, are you?’ He denied it, and said, ‘I am not’."

          3. He Will Use Our Pasts – vv. 26-27a

            1. Almost immediately afterward, Peter is forced to deny Jesus for a third time – "One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said …"
            2. Here we see one of Satan’s patented opportunist ploys – to remind us of our past to lure us into a lack of confidence in Christ’s ability.
            3. This salve states: "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?" – the implication being: "Didn’t you cut off my relatives ear?"
            4. Satan is known as the "accuser of the brethren" as he constantly attempts to pick at our lives and generate a lack of confidence in the work of Christ as sufficient to cover our sin.
            5. The difference between true guilt and false guilt must be drawn and we must be aware of the consequence of each:
              1. True guilt is driven by the Holy Spirit to bring a person to a place of repentance and forgiveness through the cleansing of the blood of Christ.
              2. False guilt is driven by Satan and brings a person into continual bondage to sin through a deflation of the power of the blood of Christ to actually cleanse.
            6. Any guilt that extends beyond the confession of sin and the purging by the blood of Christ must be identified as a Satanically driven guilt designed to pull us away from confidence in Christ.
            7. The result is that he couldn’t stand the pressure and "Peter then denied it again."

        3. The Oppression of the Savior’s Sorrow – 18:27

          1. The Awareness of the Savior

            1. Jesus had been well aware of what was going to happen – having prophesied that Peter would do this – cp. Mark 14:29-31
            2. As Jesus was enduring the hostilities and abuses of the illegal trial by the High Priest and Sanhedrin, He was also fully aware of what was transpiring only a short distance away in the courtyard of the High Priest’s home.
            3. Jesus may have even been able to hear the raised voice as Peter cursed and declared "I do not know this man you are talking about!"
            4. Whether Jesus could hear him or not – He was fully aware of what Peter was doing, something that must have caused His heart great sorrow.

          2. The Agony of the Savior

            1. Then, as soon as Peter denied the Lord for the final time (it is apparent that he made six statements of denial in three sets or occasions), we are told that "… immediately a rooster crowed."
            2. This was in fulfillment of Jesus prophecy and marked a turning point in Peter’s life – the synoptics talk about Peter running out and weeping bitterly – cp. Mark 14:72
            3. However, before this – as soon as the rooster did crow – Jesus turned and looked down at where Peter was and their eyes met – exchanging tremendous volumes without saying a word – cp. Luke 22:61
            4. Peter was absolutely devastated at the sorrow and agony that he had heaped upon his beloved Master.
            5. His response was clearly repentant although he didn’t know what he could do to make things right – but the Lord did – cp. John 21:15ff
              1. Upon His resurrection, Jesus made it a definite priority to repair the damage that had been done by Peter’s denials.
              2. He provided Peter with the opportunity to confess his love for Jesus and then commissioned him to represent Him as one of the foremost among those spread the Gospel.

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