Mark 14

²⁶ And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. ²⁷ And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ ²⁸ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” ²⁹ Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” ³⁰ And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” ³¹ But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

I teach college freshmen and sophomores at the Ouachita Baptist University satellite campus in Conway, Arkansas.  For the last couple of semesters I have shown Martin Scorsese’s film version of Shusaku Endo’s book Silence.  That movie never fails to garner strong reactions.  A lot happens it the film but the critical moment comes when a Jesuit missionary from Portugal is told by his Japanese captors that he must step on an image of Jesus and apostatize (deny the faith).  Rodriguez had resolutely refused to do so until this point in the film in which he is told that only by stepping on the image of Jesus will the guards stop slowly torturing five Japanese Christians to death in front of him.

The story presents the reader or viewer with a quandary:  would it be right to step on an image of Jesus Christ (and, in so doing, deny the faith in the eyes of those pressuring you to do so) if by so doing it led to other Christians having their lives saved? This last semester that question led to a very spirited and impassioned conversation in class.  Some students argued that stepping on the image would be permissible in such a situation if, in doing so, the lives of others were saved.  Others argued that, no, it is absolutely never permissible and, in such a situation, the person should refuse regardless of what happens.  (I am in this last camp.)

It is an interesting quandary because there is at least some element of ambiguity in the scenario introduced by the tortured Christians in Endo’s story.  However, when we look at Peter’s denials of Jesus we do not find such ambiguity.  Jesus tells Peter that he will and the others will abandon Jesus in His time of need.  Peter denies that he would ever do such a thing.  Then Jesus reveals that Peter will, in fact, deny Him three times.

And so we sit in judgment of Peter.  We do so because, of course, it was wrong of Peter.  Unlike the scenario in Endo’s story, Peter denied Jesus only to save his own neck.  Yet I wonder if our judgment of Peter happens a bit too easily?  After all, what would you or I have done in such a situation?  We like to tell ourselves we are all brave men and women and that we would never commit such a dastardly deed.  Yet surely Dallas Willard is correct when he says:

No matter how far we progress, there will always be in us a subdued, glowing coal of possibility that, if blown by the right wind, will burst into a flame of iniquity.[1]

Take it a bit further.  Take it out of the realm of the theoretical and bring it into the realm of the actual.  Look back over the last year and ask yourself this question:  Have I denied Jesus this year?  Oh, we have interesting and subtle ways of dressing it up, but the fact remains that there are lots of ways to deny Jesus and perhaps we all know this deep down.  Moreso, perhaps we have all denied Jesus in some way or other this last year.

For this reason, I am not interested in serving Peter up for yet one more thrashing, deserved though it is.  I am interested instead in asking this question:  why did Peter deny Jesus?  What led him to do it?  In understanding this, we will be better equipped to avoid denying Jesus ourselves.

Peter mistook worship-service-euphoria for in-the-streets obedience.

Let us remember that Peter’s adamant assertion that he would never deny Jesus happened in the context of worship.  This was the time of Passover.  For Jews, this was a very important time of remembrance and worship when they celebrated God’s faithfulness to and deliverance of Israel.  In addition to this, Peter and the others had just observed the first ever Lord’s Supper with Jesus.  Now they sing a hymn and travel to the Mount of Olives.

²⁶ And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. ²⁷ And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ ²⁸ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” ²⁹ Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.”

Craig Keener observes that, “after the meal, it was customary to sing psalms from the Hallel, which consisted of Psalms 113-118.”[2]  Thus, Peter’s exchange with Jesus happens very much in a context that is roughly analogous to what we would consider a worship service.  And it is here that Jesus says something that must have been very painful for the disciples to hear: “You will all fall away…”  Peter’s rejection of the idea is utterly emphatic: “Even though they all fall away, I will not.”  It is as emphatic as it is insulting to the others: “Even though they all fall away…”  Here we see Peter’s pride and even Peter’s cockiness.

We know, of course, that Peter will fall away, but what is happening here?  I would propose that what is happening here is that Peter mistook worship-service-euphoria for in-the-streets obedience.

Have you ever noticed how bold you feel about following Jesus in the midst of worship?  There is something about the hymns and the gathered crowd and the knowledge that Christ Jesus is in our midst (which He is!) that leads us to strong resolutions that we will not fall from Jesus again, that this time we will follow Him to the end!

There is a kind of rush or high about worship.  I am not suggesting that this is inherently or necessarily bad.  At its best, it is simply the joy of the gathered people of God and the clarity that this brings.  In worship we can see clearly and in worship we mean the vows we make!  But if we are not careful, we can mistake this worship-service-euphora for in-the-streets obedience.  It is one thing to make strong assertions of obedience when the worship music is still wafting on the air.  It is quite another to hold true to these when we are alone and are actually going to pay a price for following Jesus.

Peter was, we might say, caught in the moment.  His problem was not his desire to follow Jesus. His problem was his failure to understand that following Jesus would require more than worship-service-resolve.  So, too, with us.  You have resolved to follow Jesus. Good!  You have sung the hymns and made the vows.  Good!  But have you considered what doing so may cost you next Tuesday or next Thursday?  Have you considered that you will need more than an emotional moment when you are the lone voice in a room of people who do not share your views and who may indeed oppose them?

Do not begrudge the powerful moments of clarity you have in worship.  Even so, do not seek these moments.  Seek Jesus instead.  You will not need a high to get you through these days.  You will need the presence of God within you.

Peter missed the promise of divine power because he was focused on the possibility of personal success.

It is not merely that Peter invested too much in the rush of the moment.  It is also that Peter invested too much in Peter.  Listen closely, for instance, to this exchange and what happens in it.

²⁶ And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. ²⁷ And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ ²⁸ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” ²⁹ Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.”

Did you catch that?  Listen again to the movements of this exchange:

(1) Jesus: “You will all fall away…”

(2) Jesus: “But after I am raised up…”

(3) Peter: “I will not” fall away!

This is really quite astonishing!  Consider it again:

(1) Jesus: You will fail.

(2) Jesus: But I will rise again!

(3) Peter: I will not fail!

Unbelievable!  Peter is so focused on his own personal success that he misses the power of God!  Peter missed Jesus’ promise of resurrection because he was fixated on his own resolve.  But it is not just that Peter missed the promise of a miracle in his fixation on success.  It is more that Peter missed the only thing that can truly give us “success”:  the victory of Jesus Christ over sin, death, and hell!

To miss Jesus because of focus on self is to miss both Jesus and self, for it is only in Christ that we truly find ourselves.  Oddly enough, in Peter’s radical promise never to fall away from Jesus he had already fallen away from Jesus because even in the promise he had become bigger to himself than Jesus was.

“God knows in us even what we ourselves do not know in ourselves,” wrote Augustine.  “For Peter did not know his weakness when he heard from the Lord that he would deny him three times.”[3]  Oftentimes we do not know what is happening to us and in us because the seeds of our own fallings are dressed in the language of our own resolve.  This is a great tragedy!

Brothers and sisters, you do not need a bigger focus on you.  You need a bigger focus on Jesus.  You do not need greater resolve.  You need greater trust.  You do not need more determination.  You need resurrection.  Do not miss the life-giving power of the risen Christ because of a life-missing focus on your own efforts.

Peter missed the joy of dependence because he was consumed with the rush of resolve.

The foundation of Peter’s tragedy lay in Peter’s lack of dependence.

³⁰ And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” ³¹ But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary offers a very interesting insight into the cockcrow.

The cock’s crow may refer to a real rooster crowing or to the bugle call of the gallicinium (cockcrow) that signaled the third watch of the night in Roman military reckoning (from 12:00 to 3:00 A.M.). The two cockcrows may refer to the signals at the beginning and the end of that watch. The text, however, lacks the definite article before the word for rooster, and this absence suggests that Mark understands it to refer to a fowl rather than a night watch.[4]

While we should likely still hold to the traditional view that cockcrow refers to an actual rooster, it is at least possible and it is certainly provocative to think that Jesus might have been making a colloquial reference to the Roman horns and, by extension, to the Roman military political machine in these words.  Regardless, what is certainly being asserted here is that Peter lacked dependence on Christ Jesus. His resolve would crash and burn in the most spectacular way.

We must come to terms with the fact that Christianity means something other than your best efforts.  This cannot be stressed strongly enough.  Christianity is not about you trying harder.  On the contrary, Christianity tells you on the front end that your efforts are not enough.  D. Martyn Lloyd Jones has written:

If you have not a conviction of sin, and if you do not realize that you are unworthy before God, and that you are utterly condemned and a complete failure before God, pay attention to nothing else until you have it, until you come to this realization, because you will never find joy, you will never get rid of your depression until you are right about that. Conviction of sin is an essential preliminary to a true experience of salvation.[5]

What this means is that true resolution hinges on an awareness that our resolution is not enough in and of itself.

Church, beware your bold promises of obedience.  Trust instead in the work of Jesus Christ.  Beware your desire to protect your own pride.  Trust instead in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.  Beware the need to be seen as strong!  Trust instead in the strength of Jesus Christ.

The cock still crows for all who trust in themselves.  Only in the love and mercy of the One who has defeated sin, death, and hell can we find life and peace and joy.  Only in Jesus can we stand firm!

 

[1] Dallas Willard, The Great Omission (New York, NY: HarperOne, 2006), 63-64.

[2] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), p.175.

[3] Thomas C. Oden and Christopher A. Hall, eds. Mark. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. New Testament II. Gen. Ed., Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), p.209.

[4] David E. Garland, “Mark.” Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary. Gen. Ed., Clinton E. Arnold. Vol. I (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), p.287.

[5] Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure (David Martyn Lloyd-Jones) – Highlight Loc. 361-63 | Added on Monday, May 24, 2010, 09:49 PM