The Rest of the Story

The Rest of the Story

Our Sunday school lesson this morning discussed Peter’s denial of Jesus during the time He was being questioned prior to His crucifixion. The text we looked at was Mark’s account.

Mark 14:66-72 (NASB)
⁶⁶  As Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest *came,
⁶⁷  and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and *said, "You also were with Jesus the Nazarene."
⁶⁸  But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are talking about." And he went out onto the porch.
⁶⁹  The servant-girl saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, "This is one of them!"
⁷⁰  But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too."
⁷¹  But he began to curse and swear, "I do not know this man you are talking about!"
⁷²  Immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, "Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times." And he began to weep.

In my youth I used to worry about what I would do if someone threatened to kill, or worse, torture me unless I denied Christ. I was pretty certain that I would fail Jesus and say whatever it took to save my skin.

This was such a big concern to me that I ruled out early the idea of becoming a missionary. The way I saw it, the risk of real persecution was much greater over in the jungles of Africa—where I thought all true missionaries went to serve.

I understood very clearly that this weakness made me a second-class Christian, but that was a price I simply had to pay. It was better than losing my salvation and ending up in hell.

Scripture like this came to my mind:

2 Timothy 2:11-13 (NASB)
¹¹  It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
¹²  If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us;

 “deny” arneomai to deny, say no

¹³  If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

I didn’t read this carefully enough. All I could see was that He would deny me. But the scripture actually says that if I died with Him I will live with Him, and it goes on to say that if I am faithless, He will remain faithful. I failed to see that those who deny Him in this passage are those who say no to His gift of grace. My concerns were grounded in lies from the enemy and a lot of bad theology.

After Peter’s failure, Jesus was crucified. We are given insight into the attitude Jesus had about Peter after His resurrection. I want to delve into this today and give what Paul Harvey used to call, “the rest of the story.”

To set the stage a little here, Peter has been fishing all night, but caught nothing. As morning came, Jesus yelled out to the disciples on the boat and told them to cast their net on the other side. When they did that, they caught a net full of huge fish. It was then that Peter recognized that it was the Lord who had called to them and caused the huge catch.

The disciples, led by the typically demonstrative Peter, who “threw himself” into the water to get to shore more quickly, ate fish—which, notably, were already on the fire when they got there—with Jesus for breakfast.

John 21:15-17 (NASB)
¹⁵  So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus *said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He *said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He *said to him, "Tend My lambs."
¹⁶  He *said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" He *said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He *said to him, "Shepherd My sheep."
¹⁷  He *said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus *said to him, "Tend My sheep.

Notice that right at the start Jesus asks Peter if he loves Jesus more than “these.” What Jesus is asking Peter hinges on what is being referred to by the word “these.” The translators of the New English Translation of the Bible provide translation notes here that give some clarity about the significance of what Jesus was asking Peter. Let me walk you through portions of those comments.

“Three possibilities are suggested:

(1) τούτων (toutōn) should be understood as neuter, “these things,” referring to the boats, nets, and fishing gear nearby.” In this case, “Jesus, as he restores Peter and forgives him for his denials, is asking Peter if he really loves his previous vocation more than he loves Jesus. The choice being offered to Peter between material things and the risen Jesus would seem rather ridiculous, especially after the disciples had realized whom it was they were dealing with.

(2) τούτων refers to the other disciples, meaning “Do you love me more than you love these other disciples?” The same objection would apply here: Could the author, in light of the realization of who Jesus is which has come to the disciples after the resurrection, and which he has just mentioned, seriously present Peter as being offered a choice between the other disciples and the risen Jesus?

This leaves option (3), that τούτων refers to the other disciples, meaning “Do you love me more than these other disciples do?” It seems likely that there is some irony here: Peter had boasted in 13:37, “I will lay down my life for you,” and the synoptics present Peter as boasting even more explicitly of his loyalty to Jesus (“Even if they all fall away, I will not,” Matt 26:33; Mark 14:29). Thus the semantic force of what Jesus asks Peter here amounts to something like “Now, after you have denied me three times, as I told you you would, can you still affirm that you love me more than these other disciples do?”” --NET Bible.

This third option is very much preferred. Jesus refers to Peter’s failure, but only obliquely. There is no hint of condemnation; no requirement that Peter ask to be forgiven; no prescribed penance. Jesus merely shows Peter that bragging about how much he loves Jesus is not what Jesus wants from Peter.

Peter’s repeated response, “you know that I love you” shows that he is no longer making claims about himself.  Instead he defers to Jesus’ intimate knowledge of him. He doesn’t set out to prove his love and devotion as we have come to expect him to do. Instead he acknowledges that he is fully known and trusts that will be enough.

His actions in the moment were out of line with it, but Peter’s heart was one of love for the Lord because at his core he believed that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” The truth upon which the church is built and stands.

His faith has shifted from faith in himself, to complete dependence on Jesus.

Paul faced a similar situation, but being more cerebral, he expressed it differently.

Romans 7:15-25 (NASB)
¹⁵  For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
¹⁶  But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.

Notice here that his desire is to do the right thing.

¹⁷  So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
¹⁸  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
¹⁹  For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
²⁰  But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

²¹  I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.

Sin dwells in his flesh. We know that this sin is not in his nature—as it was before his conversion when he was in Adam—because the very next statement he makes is that his heart’s desire at the deepest level is to act righteously.

Who we are is not determined by what we do. Who we are is determined by our birth.

²²  For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,
²³  but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.

I’m sure this is the way Peter felt when that rooster crowed. I know it’s the way I felt a lot of the time before I understood the real truth of the grace of God.

²⁴  Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

I’ve certainly cried out to God like this before. I’ve spent many hours and days beating myself up over habitual and recurring acts of disobedience. I’ve allowed the enemy to lie to me and get me to feel guilty and undeserving of God’s kindness.

This is why Peter wept bitterly. This is why many people struggle with a negative self-image. The enemy tempts us to sin and then accuses us of failure. And he’s right! We did fail!

But God…

²⁵  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

Now we find an unfortunate chapter break. I’m not sure if you ever really thought about this, but verse numbers and chapter breaks were not in the original manuscripts. Never allow them to divide a single thought into two pieces. Romans 8:1 is a continuation of Paul’s discourse, and we know this because it begins with the word “therefore.”

So again; the enemy tempts us to sin and then accuses us of failure. And he’s right! We did fail!

But God…

Romans 8:1-11 (NASB)
¹  Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
²  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

This new law—the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus—has (past tense) set you free from the law of sin and death. The law of sin and death is famously expressed by Paul elsewhere in Romans this way, “the wages of sin is death”. Sin leads to death. Sin isn’t good for you. But sin no longer rules over you. You are no longer a slave to it.

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” John says Christ is your life. Paul says “to live is Christ.” Jesus said, “this is eternal life, to know [the Father] and the One He has sent”, namely, Jesus.

³  For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,
⁴  so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

So the Law, handed down to Moses on tablets of stone—and the other 603 laws in the Mitzvah—could not do this. Jesus told the Pharisees John 5:39-40 (NASB)

³⁹  "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
⁴⁰  and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

The Law couldn’t do it because our flesh prevents us from obeying. Before we were in Christ, our very nature was to sin. Now that we are in Christ, our nature is Christ-like at the core, but we still have the flesh. Our habitual way of understanding and living in the world. We are accustomed to walking by sight. To using our senses.

But we are to put our trust in Jesus blood and His righteousness.

Because the Spirit of the Living God, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, lives in us, we are now partakers of the divine nature. Peter is actually the one who points this out to us!

2 Peter 1:3-4 (NASB)
³  seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
⁴  For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Contrasted with this, Paul continues in Romans clarifying his point.

⁵  For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
⁶  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
⁷  because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
⁸  and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Those who are in the flesh, those who are walking only by sight, those who have denied God and said “no” to God’s gift of grace, cannot please Him. The mind set on the flesh is not even able to do so, as the text points out. That’s slavery. That’s where those who choose not to believe God find themselves.

⁹  However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
¹⁰  If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
¹¹  But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

What Paul is telling us here is that our behavior will naturally change.

Philippians 2:13 (NASB)

13  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Titus 2:11-12 (NASB)

11  For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,

12  instructing (teaching) us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,

The message of “Jesus plus nothing” from start to finish is often too humbling for us to swallow. Instead, we opt for performance hoops to jump through in order to impress God. Sure, we trust him alone for salvation and a place in heaven. But when it comes to daily living, it’s difficult to fathom that he wants to be our resource and carry the load. --Andrew Farley

If the Spirit of God lives in you, you have been freed. You have been forgiven. You are not guilty. You are righteous at the core of your being. You want to do what is right. You want to obey and live a godly life.

Who we are is not determined by what we do. Who we are is determined by our birth.

Put your faith in Jesus Christ alone. He will see to all the details. He promises rest for your soul, not striving to meet some performance target.

¹³  If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

What an amazing God!