He Failed Jesus… But That’s Not the End [Eschatology Matters]

Welcome back to Take Heart, a pastoral podcast here on the Eschatology Matters Network, where

we seek to apply the truth of Scripture with clarity, conviction, and compassion.

Glad you're here today.

I'm your host, Corey Wing.

On this special Easter Sunday episode, we're going to walk through what I'm calling a

brief portrait of Peter.

Now look, this is not an exhaustive biography, but a pastoral look at one of the most relatable

figures in all of Scripture.

Peter's life is not a straight line of growth.

It's a pretty jagged path, actually.

It's marked by confidence and collapse, clarity and confusion, failure and restoration.

And that's exactly why his story matters so much for us.

We're going to look at his life through five brief movements leading up to through

and after the resurrection of Christ.

Here we go.

First, I want you to see Peter's boldness.

Now this is when confidence is usually resting in self.

And as we talk through these, not only do I want you to see Peter, I want you to try

to see yourself in Peter's story.

Now this will find recorded for us in Luke chapter 22 verses 31 to 34.

So let's begin with what's a pretty striking moment where Jesus says to Peter in that passage,

quote, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like

wheat, end quote, that for being honest, that's a pretty sobering reality.

There's a real spiritual battle behind the scenes of Peter's life.

And truthfully ours as well.

Satan desires to shake him and us to expose the weakness of his faith.

But then Jesus says something deeply comforting.

He goes on in the passage to say quote, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not

fail.

End quote.

Notice that Jesus doesn't say Peter won't stumble, but he won't fall.

But he says that his faith won't ultimately fail.

But contrast that with what Peter's response will be back to Jesus.

When he says quote, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death in quote,

there it is.

There's that bravado, that boldness, but it's misplaced.

You see Peter is confident, but his confidence, well, it's in himself.

It's in his loyalty and his resolve, in his emotional devotion to Jesus.

And if we're honest, well, that's where we often live as well.

We feel close to God and we assume we're strong.

We feel committed and we assume that we will endure.

But self confidence cannot survive true spiritual sifting.

Jesus gently but firmly will go on to tell Peter quote, before the rooster crows today,

you will deny me three times in quote.

And just like that, well, the stage is set.

Secondly, I want you to see the betrayal.

Now this is when all of that flesh that we had so much confidence in actually gives

way.

Same passage, Luke 22, but further down on the chapter, this you'll find in verses 54

to 62.

And as Jesus is arrested, Peter will follow, but at a distance.

And that detail actually matters.

You see distance from Christ often precedes denial of Christ.

So then the pressure is turned up, not from authorities, not from soldiers, but from ordinary

people.

A servant girl begins questioning Peter in the court yard saying quote, you were with

him in quote, and Peter will respond, I don't know him three times.

He denies and three times he gets increasingly frustrated and more emphatic in his denials.

And it's just after that third denial that the rooster will crow.

And Luke tells us this remarkable detail where he says quote, the Lord turned and looked

at Peter in quote, can you imagine that moment?

Not a look of surprise, not a look of rage, but a look that pierces directly through

Peter's heart, a look that says, I told you, and I know you, and I still love you.

And Peter goes out and the text tells us he weeps bitterly.

This is of course the collapse of all of his self reliance.

And maybe you've been there, of course, probably not in the exact same way, but you felt

the weight of your own inconsistencies, your own failures, your own inability to live

up to what you thought you were.

Because here's the truth, even the most sincere believers are not strong enough to sustain

themselves.

But praise God, Jesus Christ is.

Because remember what he tells Peter that he prayed for him, that he prayed for Peter.

The book of Hebrews will go on to tell us that Jesus does that all the time now for all

believers.

He is constantly making intercession before the Father as he has seated in heaven.

It's incredible.

The third I also want you to see Peter's bewilderment.

Now this is when you just don't yet fully understand.

Now we're going to leave Luke and go over to the book of John and you'll find this in

John chapter 20 verses three to ten.

Fast forward a little bit to the resurrection morning.

Peter runs to the tomb with John.

And he goes in, John lingers outside, but Peter, bold as ever, runs right in.

And he sees the linen cloths lying there and the face cloth folded neatly and set aside.

Everything about the scene is intentional, ordered and meaningful.

But yet the text tells us, quote, they did not yet understand the scripture that he must

rise from the dead, end quote, Peter sees, but he doesn't fully understand this.

My friends is bewilderment.

And this is such an important part and a normal part of the Christian life.

And we don't talk about it enough.

Look there are seasons when you're walking with Christ, you're seeing things happen.

You're hearing the word preached and read, but you don't fully get it.

You don't see how it all fits together.

You're not in rebellion.

You're just confused.

Like here's the encouragement though, Jesus doesn't abandon his disciples in their confusion.

Understanding often comes after obedience, clarity often comes after waiting.

Peter is on the brink of considerably deeper faith, but he's not there yet.

So forth, I do want you to see that belief.

This is when Christ will come and make himself known to you.

Stay in John chapter 20, skip down to verses 19 to 22.

The author will tell us that later that same day, the disciples are gathered behind locked

doors.

They're still afraid.

Of course, they are.

They've seen Christ executed and they thought certainly they would be next.

And behind those locked doors in that upper room, afraid, the risen Christ suddenly appears

and stands amongst them and says, quote, peace, be with you, unquote.

That is not just a greeting.

That is a declaration.

The one they abandoned, the one who was crucified, he now stands before them alive.

And he doesn't speak condemnation.

He speaks peace.

He shows them his hands and his side.

And this is the turning point for Peter.

Not because Peter figured it all out, but because Jesus revealed himself.

And that is always how faith grows.

Not by us gripping tighter, but by Christ making himself more clear.

And then Jesus breathes on them and says, quote, receive the Holy Spirit.

And quote, while now we're seeing the shift more clearly, fear begins to give way to faith,

confusion begins to give way to conviction.

And then finally, faithfully, we'll see Peter built up.

And this is when grace restores, equips and sends us on our way.

You'll go into the next chapter, John 21, you'll find this in verses 15 to 19.

We come to one of the most personal and powerful moments in all of Peter's life.

The apostle who was there for all of it.

He was there at the transfiguration.

He was there at the wedding in Cana.

He was there at all of the moments that not even all the apostles saw.

Peter was there.

He walked on water.

He'd been at Jesus's side.

But it would be this morning when Jesus would meet him by the sea.

Cooking breakfast.

And they would have this intimate moment where Jesus would ask Peter three times.

Quote, do you love me?

In quote, and why three times?

Well, the text doesn't explicitly tell us.

But I think we can imagine that that trio of questions would feel all too familiar to Peter

because, of course, of his trio of denials just a few days prior.

Look, Jesus is not just forgiving Peter in a general sense.

He had already forgiven him.

He's restoring him in a very specific way.

Each question, of course, cuts deeply into Peter's very soul.

But each answer that he gives back is equally real.

Where he says, quote, Lord, you know that I love you.

In quote, gone is the arrogance.

Gone is the bravado.

Gone is the comparison to others.

This is humble, honest love.

And with each answer, Jesus gives a command.

First, feed my lambs.

Secondly, tin my sheep.

And finally, feed my sheep.

It's incredible.

Peter is not disqualified.

Instead, he's recommissioned.

His failure doesn't define him.

The grace bestowed upon him by his savior does.

Look, it's never what we say or believe about ourselves that matters nearly as much as

that which our Lord says of us.

His identifying reality in our lives is children of the most high, bought with a price, redeemed,

and justified before God.

That is the defining reality of our existence, both here and now, but also into eternity.

And Jesus even tells him that one day, he really will lay down his life that Peter will

be a martyr and that the boldness that once failed will be replaced by a spirit-empowered

faithfulness, faithfulness that will stand in the face of much harder opposition than

that of a mere servant girl.

This faithfulness will lead Peter to his own reservation with a Roman cross, as he will

give his life crucified upside down for the cause of Jesus Christ.

But before that final event, however, of course, Peter will lead the disciples in taking the

gospel message to the Jews at Pentecost, in seeing the falling of the Holy Spirit as

tongues of fire, not only on Jewish believers, but also on Gentile believers, first in Acts

10 at the house of Cornelius, and then many other times.

Peter will participate in the first ecumenical council that will take place in Jerusalem,

which is recorded for us in Acts chapter 15.

And of course, he will go on to write two epistles of Scripture for all the church to learn

from throughout the ages.

Christ will say that he will also really give an account of his story of Jesus to John

Mark, who would give us the gospel of Mark.

So look, here's my closing encouragement.

What are we supposed to take away from this?

Maybe you see yourself in Peter's boldness, quick to speak, quick to promise, be careful.

Do not place trust in yourself.

Maybe you see yourself in his failures.

Maybe you've denied Christ, and of course, quieter ways than Peter, well, my friend,

take heart.

Christ intercedes for his people.

Maybe you're in a season of confusion.

You're trying to follow, but things just don't make any sense.

My friends stay near to Christ.

Stay connected to his people.

Stay in his word.

Understanding will come.

Maybe your faith feels fragile.

Remember, your hope is not in the strength of your faith, but in the faithfulness of your

savior.

And maybe, just maybe, your in a season where God is rebuilding you.

And if that's you, my friend, don't waste it.

Because the same Christ who called Peter, restored Peter, and used Peter, is at work.

And you, let's pray, Father, we come before you.

We thank you that in the pages of Scripture, you don't hide the warts.

You allow people to be seen for who and what we are.

flawed.

Sometimes miserably so.

You allow all of the realities to come shining through so that it is you, Jesus, who

springs off the page as the only perfect, righteous example in all of Scripture.

Oh, thank you for Peter.

Thank you for all that he did for the kingdom.

Thank you for what we continue to learn from his life and from the Scriptures he gave

us.

Thank you for what you have done in his life.

And because of your faithfulness to him, Lord, we can know that you will be faithful to

us.

Thank you for this resurrection Sunday.

Thank you that because you are risen, we have a hope for the future, a hope of glory.

And we can know that we are made right with God in Christ Jesus.

But as Paul tells us in Romans 8, verse 1, there is no longer condemnation for those who

find themselves in Christ.

Oh, thank you, Lord.

Forgive us of our sins.

Help us to love you more in Christ's name, amen.

Well, happy Easter to all of you and thank you for listening to Take Heart.

If this episode encouraged you consider sharing it with someone who might need the same kind

of reminder.

Until next time, my friends, take heart, Christ is faithful, even when we are not.

God bless.

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