A Rose Among the Thorns (Part 2)

Well, let's take our Bibles this morning and hope you have one with you.

The text of Scripture that we've been looking at, verses 47 to 71.

So Luke 22, 47 to 71, we began to look at this passage last week, and last week I read the entire passage, all 25 verses. But this morning, in a moment, I'm going to reread just a portion of this passage, that portion that pertains to my message this morning.

Now, if you were here last week, then you'll remember that the focus, my focus in preaching from this passage is, of course, Jesus. He's the primary character in the passage.

But we're focusing upon Jesus being surrounded by a group of people who are, in many ways, different ways, one way or another, behaving badly.

And so, that's why I have entitled the two messages from this passage, this larger passage, A Rose Among the Thorns.

A Rose Among the Thorns. Now, of course, Jesus is the rose, right? I mean, it could be anybody else, but Jesus is the rose among the thorns.

And the thorns are the ones who are behaving badly. That's to put it mildly. And who are these thorns? Well, we looked at three of them last week.

Let me just remind you of those three, not just in name only. First of all, the traitorous Judas, remember? That's thorn number one as we kind of walk our way through this passage.

Second, the dangerous soldiers, the Roman soldiers. And then thirdly, last week, we looked at the malicious Jewish leaders. These are thorns.

Jesus is among these thorns. Judas, the soldiers, the Jewish leaders. And I think you would agree with me when I say that these three thorns in Jesus' life at this particular time were really behaving exactly as we might expect them to behave, right?

I mean, they were unbelievers. They were, many of them, I guess all three of those, wicked at heart. They had no real love for Jesus.

And so they are just simply acting pretty much as expected. Judas is acting traitorously. The soldiers are acting dangerously. And the Jewish leaders are acting maliciously, just as we would expect them to.

Now, they were not the only thorns here in Jesus' life. Because, you see, sometimes believers can be thorns.

Sometimes those who are following Jesus and even those who love Jesus can be thorns. And so looking again at our text, and again this morning I'm just going to read those portions of the passage that pertain to my message.

And so if you'll find there in Luke 22, first of all, look at verse 47. Verses 47 to 51. And while he was still speaking, behold, a multitude, and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss him.

But Jesus said to him, Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss? When those around him saw what was going to happen, they said to him, Lord, shall we strike with the sword?

One of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear, his right ear. But Jesus answered and said, permit even this. And he touched his ear and healed him.

And then skip a few verses to verse 54. And let me read verses 54 through 62. Now having arrested him, they led him and brought him into the high priest's house.

But Peter followed at a distance. Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down there together, Peter sat among them. And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, this man was also with him.

But he denied him, saying, woman, I do not know him. And after a little while, another saw him and said, you also are of them.

But Peter said, man, I am not. But then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, surely this fellow also was with them, for he is a Galilean.

But Peter said, man, I do not know what you are saying. I don't know what you're talking about. Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.

Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.

So Peter went out and wept bitterly. All right. So Jesus is the rose. All right. He's the rose among the thorns.

And there are two other thorns that we need to look at in our story. And in many ways, I think you'll agree that we can identify with these thorns.

And so first of all, this morning, and really, if you're taking notes, you were here last week, it's fourth in our list of thorns. We have the overzealous disciples. The overzealous disciples.

All right. So get the scene in your mind. A great multitude of people have come to the Garden of Gethsemane. This large group made up of priests, temple priests.

Perhaps even the high priest was among them. The Bible does mention his servant being there. And so perhaps the high priest and other priests and chief priests and maybe members of the Sanhedrin, members of the Pharisees, those two political parties.

And so we have priests present there in this group. And then to back them up, we have Roman soldiers, probably several hundred of them.

And of course, leading the way is Judas, the betrayer. And they have come to do what? To arrest Jesus. They've come to arrest him.

And so you can perhaps kind of roll a little mini movie in your mind as you kind of picture this whole scene at night. In fact, it's the pre-dawn hours of Friday. And so it's nighttime.

And there is this large procession of people, not only priests, but also Roman soldiers. And they're carrying lanterns, many of them. And so you can kind of picture that scene.

And there is Jesus standing with his disciples. And at the front of this group is Judas standing there. And we can just see him kind of step out from this crowd, walk right up to Jesus, lean over a little bit, and give him a little kiss on the cheek.

You can just kind of picture that. And I would say that at that very moment, the disciples have figured it all out. They know what's going on. In fact, that's what verse 49 says.

It says those around him saw what was going to happen. And what would that be? They saw, they figured it out. It finally dawned on them why Judas is there and why he kissed Jesus on his cheek.

They finally figured it out that they have come to arrest the Lord Jesus, their Lord. And so the disciples are suddenly filled with a great zeal for their Lord.

And so what to do? What to do about it? Now, though they had completely misunderstood Jesus' meaning, they did remember, I think, at that point, what he had said in the upper room earlier.

In fact, just before they left the upper room, remember, he said, He who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. Now, they, remember, completely misunderstood the point of all of that.

And so, well, they had a couple of swords between them, remember? And so they say, perhaps, or they're thinking, perhaps now is the time to use those swords.

And so they say, Lord, shall we strike with the sword? And Peter, impetuous Peter, the guy who, you know, steps before he thinks, he, without even getting any permission, without any response from Jesus, he takes out his sword, perhaps even whips it out, and he's ready to take on the entire Roman government, if necessary, to protect his Lord and his master, the Lord Jesus.

So the overzealous disciples, you can see the whole scene. And so with that in mind, let's just consider a few things about this. Why this was bad behavior on the part of Jesus' disciples.

And really worse than that, why this was contrary to God's purposes, God's will at this point. And so here's the first thing I want you to notice about this. First of all, these guys were suicidal in how they fought for Jesus.

That's the first thing you need to know. They're suicidal. And really, you can see that, can't you? I mean, this is sheer madness. Suicide is what they're about to commit.

I mean, in the first place, what chance did they have against several hundred highly trained, heavily armed Roman soldiers?

I mean, if it were not so serious at this point, it'd be comical. In fact, really, even considering how serious it is, it's comical to us. You just kind of picture these two guys with two swords against all of these Roman soldiers.

Now, imagine this. Peter and John, I would add, and I'll explain this in just a minute. Peter and John, a couple of fishermen. All right, they're not soldiers.

A couple of fishermen with one sword apiece, and they're going to defend Jesus against hundreds of swords. And, by the way, you remember back in verse 38, some unnamed disciples said to Jesus, Lord, look, we have, here are two swords.

Remember that? We have two swords, right? The Bible doesn't name who these disciples were. But I would say it's most likely Peter and John. Now, we know it was Peter. One of them had to be Peter because he used his sword, right?

But the other one had to have been John, I think. And they had the two swords. The word translated sword is the Greek word makaira. Makaira, and it's an unusual word in this sense.

And we have translated this sword in our English Bibles. In fact, really, every translation I looked at uses the word sword. But really, it's not the standard word for sword.

It really is a word that refers to a large knife that was used to cut meat. Really, that's what they had. Now, you might remember, it was Peter and John who were instructed by the Lord to go and prepare the Passover for Jesus and the disciples, which would have included, of course, the killing of the lamb, the slaughtering of the lamb that would be eaten, and then dressing that lamb, and then eventually carving the meat of the lamb.

All right, so do you understand what this means here? As you picture this whole thing. Here's Peter and John, a couple of fishermen, and they're going to fight off the Roman army, the soldiers there, and they're going to do so with a couple of butcher knives.

That's really essentially what we have here. That's suicide. Absolute suicide. And listen, what they were wanting to do at that very moment would have forced the Roman soldiers who represented the Roman Empire, it would have forced them to execute capital punishment at that very moment, and they had every authority to do so.

And if they had done so, it would not have been against the law. They would have rightly done so. And that's really what Jesus meant when he rebuked Peter. I mentioned this last week in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 52.

This is Matthew's account of the same story. Jesus said, really to Peter, really to all the disciples, he says, For all who draw the sword shall die by the sword.

And he's referring to drawing the sword against God's ordained government. And in this case, that would have been the Roman Empire. And remember what Paul said in Romans chapter 13, verse 4.

He said, For he, speaking of the government, does not bear the sword in vain. He said, For he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.

So really, it doesn't make any difference how evil the government necessarily is. It's ordained by God. And to draw swords against the government is illegal.

It's wrong. It's against God's will. And you could expect to be slain by the sword. And that's the principle that Jesus teaches in this passage. And so listen, their foolishness risked bringing down the wrath of the Roman Empire upon not just upon Peter who drew the sword, but upon all of the disciples, including Jesus.

Suicidal in how they fought for Jesus. Next, I would have you notice that they were superficial in what they thought about Jesus.

They were superficial in what they thought about Jesus. Their thinking didn't go very deep at this point. They really had not yet learned exactly who Jesus was. I mean, did they really think at this point that Jesus needed their help?

Think about this. Had they forgotten just who Jesus is? And had they forgotten about all of those times where Jesus demonstrated his awesome power over all of creation as well as over the demonic forces and so forth?

Had they forgotten all about that? They were not thinking very deeply at this point about Jesus. Very surface, very superficial, very limited. And there are two things that happened here in this event that let us know that Jesus absolutely did not need the disciples to protect him.

He didn't need them. And one of them is found in John's gospel. And it's incredible. And perhaps as soon as I start reading it, you're going to remember this.

But in John chapter 18 and verse 4, listen to this. Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that would come upon him, went forward and said to them, said to the group, Whom are you seeking?

Remember this? Then they answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus said to them, I am he. And Judas, who betrayed him, also stood with them.

Now when he said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. It's an amazing part of the story. It is led, by the way, to all sorts of aberrant theologies.

And really, it really is quite simple. Because you see, in the Greek text, the pronoun he, I am he, does not appear in the text.

And so, literally, Jesus said to them, Whom are you seeking? And they answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus said to them, I am. I am.

And he is using, at this point, the divine name for God that was revealed to Moses way back there in Exodus chapter 3. Remember, Moses approached the burning bush, and God said, take off your sandals, you're standing on holy ground.

Remember that? And God gives Moses his marching orders, his task that he has given him to do to deliver God's people out of the bond of Egypt.

And Moses is a little skeptical about all that. And he says, when I go and tell them this, whom shall I say sent me? Remember? That is, what's your name? What did God say?

He said, I am. Tell them, I am. Has sent you. I am. I am that I am. Tell them, I am. Has sent you. And Jesus is evoking that same name.

And he's referring to himself. I am. And this is not the first time, by the way, if you've studied through the Gospel of John in particular, because John loved to bring this out in his account of Jesus' life.

Jesus repeatedly throughout his ministry evoked that I am. I am the bread of life. I am the door. I am. I am. In fact, at one point, he said to the Pharisees, he says, before Abraham was, I am.

Clearly referring to himself as God. And all Jesus had to do was speak it. Just speak it. And everyone there fell back to the ground.

What a demonstration of his sovereignty and his power. Now, don't get the idea that this adds credence to the charismatic view of being slain in the Spirit.

If so, all these guys were unbelievers, okay? They were unbelievers. So if they were slain in the Spirit, if there is such a thing, it's for unbelievers. And they were certainly slain right there.

So they all fell back to the ground when Jesus pronounced his name, which represented his glory. And it's a demonstration of his sovereignty and his power.

And Jesus' enemies were rendered helpless at that very moment. And so really, in essence, it was not them who seized Jesus.

It was Jesus who seized them. And it was not them, ultimately, who arrested Jesus, but really Jesus who arrested them. He's on his way to the cross.

He's in charge of this whole thing. And just speaking his name rendered them helpless before him. But for his disciples, they're the ones we're focusing on here.

They were so superficial in their thinking about the person of Christ, the person of Jesus. They thought Jesus needed their protection. But let me show you something else here in this story.

Again, something that Luke does not give us, but Matthew does. And in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 52, Jesus said to Peter, Put your sword in its place.

And then he said, Do you think that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he will provide me with more than 12 legions of angels?

Remember that that Matthew tells us about? 12 legions of angels. Now, how many would that be? Well, a Roman legion consisted of 6,000 soldiers.

And so just do the math. 12 legions, that would equal 72,000 angels. That's a lot of angels. But Jesus said, of course, he said more than 12 legions.

So not just simply more than 72,000 angels, but maybe exponentially 6,000 above 6,000, even added more and more 6,000, more legions.

Now, tell me how many angels there are in the first place. Billions, perhaps. More. And Jesus said, All I have to do is pray to the Father, and he would send more than 72,000 angels.

Now, what could they do? A whole lot. In fact, in 2 Kings 19, verse 35, there's a story about the Assyrian army coming up against God's people Israel.

And real quickly, the Bible tells us that 185,000 Assyrians were coming against Israel, and they were all slain.

All 185,000 of them were destroyed by one angel. Just one! Now, think about that. Imagine what 72,000-plus angels could have done.

Staggers the mind. Now, did Jesus pray for those angels? No, he did, but he could have. So you see, this is the point. Jesus is saying, Put your butcher knives away, guys.

I'm going with him. And you don't yet know who I am anyway. So I don't have to have your protection. So the overzealous disciples, they were suicidal in how they fought for Jesus.

And they were superficial in what they thought about Jesus. And a third thing here, and we'll move on to the next thorn, they were unscriptural in what they sought from Jesus.

What they wanted from Jesus. What they were seeking Jesus to do at this point in their lives and in history. They were unscriptural in that. What did Jesus say after Peter hacked off Malchus' ear, the high priest's servant?

What did he say to Peter after he did that? He said in verse 51, and this is how it's translated in the King James, the New King James, Permit even this. I explained this last week, the meaning of that.

And the meaning is simply this. Don't stop them from arresting me. Don't stop them. Permit it. Let them do it. And why is that? Well, because it was a part of God's divine plan.

It was part of it. Jesus is on his way to the cross. And so don't stop me. By trying to stop them. I must be arrested. I must be turned over to them.

I'm going to the cross. It is the fulfillment of Scripture. In fact, that's what Jesus said as recorded by Matthew. In Matthew's account, it's after Jesus told Peter to put away his sword.

And after Jesus explained that he really didn't need Peter's sword, he didn't really need any of that, because he could call on legions of angels.

And then he said to Peter in Matthew 26 and verse 54, how then could the Scriptures be fulfilled? That it must happen thus.

That is, he's saying, in order to fulfill Scripture, prophetic Scripture, you must let them arrest me. I must be arrested.

It's Scriptural. So if you want to do the Scriptural thing, put your sword away. Don't prevent them. Let them arrest me. It's Scriptural.

And he also said in John chapter 18, verse 11, he said, shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me to drink? A clear reference to the cross, to his death.

You see, the problem is, there was no place in the disciples' theology, Messianic theology or Messianic hopes, no place in their theology for the death of their Messiah.

No place there for that. And so their understanding of Scripture was incomplete. And so they're not acting according to the Word of God or to the Scriptural teaching.

They're acting in spite of that. They were unscriptural in what they sought from Jesus. What were they seeking? They were not seeking for a dying Savior. They were seeking a king and a great military leader.

And they were seeking Jesus to come at that very moment and not only put down the Romans, but to destroy all the enemies of the Lord and to subdue and conquer the world and establish his mighty kingdom at that very moment.

That's what they were seeking. It was unscriptural. They were unscriptural in what they sought from Jesus. So they were not only, not only were their attempts to stop Jesus' arrest suicidal and superficial, but unscriptural.

Thorns! The overzealous disciples. And Jesus is the rose among the thorns. And then one more this morning. One more thorn.

The traitorous Judas, the dangerous soldiers, the malicious leaders, the overzealous disciples. Then we get to the fifth one, the anonymous Simon Peter.

The anonymous Simon Peter, or he wished to be anonymous. Verse 54 says, Having arrested him, they led him and brought him into the high priest's house.

But Peter followed at a distance. If you look at Matthew's account in Matthew 26 and verse 36, Matthew tells us that all the disciples deserted him, deserted Jesus, and fled.

He's referring to when Jesus was arrested. He said all the disciples, and he would have known he was one of them. They all deserted Jesus. They all fled. That would have included Peter. And yet, evidently, when we add Luke's account here and John's account as well, we have Peter and John first they flee, but then they return.

They kind of double back. Albeit they follow at a distance as Jesus is being led away. And we know John is with Peter because of what John records in his gospel.

In John 18, verse 15, the Bible says, John records Simon Peter and another disciple. That was John's favorite way of referring to himself.

That other disciple were following Jesus. So it's Peter and John. They are following this procession to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest.

And really, that first trial of Jesus is going to take place right there, either on the porch of Caiaphas' house or somewhere there in the courtyard. And that'll become clear as we go along here.

And so, Peter and John, they follow. And when they got there, and again, just putting all of the accounts together, when they got there, they were admitted into the courtyard.

And how could they be admitted in? Because of John. And John tells us, in John 18, verse 15, this other disciple, John, that's John, was known to the high priest.

How could he be known to the high priest? He's just a fisherman. Well, probably a fisherman. He and his brother with his father, their father, James and John, their father, Zebedee, had a probably very lucrative fishing business.

Probably did business with the high priest. And so, John would have been known to the high priest. And so, he was admitted in because of his acquaintance with the high priest. But then, John goes on to say, he, again, John, went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard, but Peter had to wait outside at the door.

Why is that? Well, because he didn't know the high priest. The high priest didn't know him. Right? There's no, no, no connection there. So, he was not admitted in. But he goes on to say, the other disciple, again, that's John, came back, came back to the gate, spoke to the girl on duty there, and brought Peter in.

So, Peter's able to go in with John. All right? So, now, got to get the story straight in your minds. So, here is where Peter falls flat on his face.

Here in the courtyard. Now, he doesn't fall figuratively, or literally, but figuratively, and spiritually, Peter is totally unprepared for what happens next.

Totally unprepared for it. And, we all know the story so well, but I want to read it to you. I've already read it from Luke's gospel, but I want to read it to you from John's gospel.

John was there. I mean, he was right there with Peter in the courtyard, and so he had, you know, a direct eyewitness to this whole event. And so, listen as I read, starting with verse 17, in John chapter 18.

Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, that's the same servant girl that let John in first, and then later John had to come back and speak to her, and let Peter in.

Well, she noticed Peter. All right? So, the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, you're not also one of this man's disciples, speaking of Jesus, of course, are you?

Now, note how it's asked in the negative. Really, really, it's a good setup. I mean, makes it a lot easier to say, oh no, because that's how the question is framed.

You are not, you are not also one of this man's disciples, are you? And he said, I am not. Now, the servants and officers who had made a fire of coal stood there, where it was cold, I mean, this is the middle of the night, okay, and they warmed themselves, and Peter stood with them and warmed himself.

And then you have to skip on to verse 25, because then John goes to some of the dialogue that's taking place in this kind of mock trial before Caiaphas, the high priest, which gives you a sense that this is not just, you know, a betrayal, one, two, three, boom, boom, boom, it's over.

This is kind of went on for a span of time, several hours, perhaps. And verse 25, now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore, they said to him, those who were warming around the fire with him, they said to him, are you not also one of his disciples?

Are you? Again, notice how it's framed. The question is framed. Doesn't it make it a lot easier to say no at that time? You know, well, no, I'm not.

And what did Peter say? Well, he said, I am not. He denied it and said, I am not. And then one of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, which means he might have even been there to see the whole thing, he said, did I not see you in the garden with him?

Still, still framed in the negative. And Peter then denied again and immediately a rooster crowed. So three times Peter is asked, aren't you, don't you know him?

Aren't you one of them? Aren't you with Jesus? And he said, no, I am not three times the anonymous Peter. He wishes to remain anonymous here.

And it all happened just as Jesus said it would. Remember? Of course you do. Peter does exactly what Jesus told Peter he would do.

And Peter does exactly what he told Jesus he would never do. Deny Jesus. Deny him. All right. So now quickly, three things to learn.

And I want to tell you right off the bat that Peter is a sinner. All right. And so the first thing we need to understand here, not just about Peter, but really about all of us.

And that is the malignancy in the center. There's a malignancy in every, every one of us. And it was in Peter. The malignancy in the center.

That's the first thing I want you to notice. And I want to also say right off that your love for Jesus, just like with Peter, your love for Jesus will not keep you from sinning against it.

You say, really? Yeah. Do you love Jesus? Your love for him will not keep you from sin. Your love for Jesus is not a safeguard in and of itself against sin.

Do you understand that? See, there should be no doubt in our minds that Peter intensely, passionately loved Jesus.

I mean, whatever else defined Peter's shortcomings, a lack of love for Jesus was not one of them. Peter loved Jesus.

And we see that in a number of ways. We see that in Peter's strong objection to Jesus prediction that he would deny him. Remember, we go back to that time when Jesus said to Peter, Peter, Peter, Simon, Peter, the devil wishes to sift you as wheat.

That's permission for that. Peter. And Peter denied that he would, would, would ever do such a thing. And it, it, it, I think expresses it, defines for us, Peter's great love for Jesus.

I would never, never deny you. And we would say the same thing, would we? Why? Because I love you, Jesus. I would never do that. But your love for Jesus will not keep you from sinning, will not keep you from denying it.

And we also see that in Peter's willingness to die, if need be, to protect Jesus when they came to arrest him. Peter's willing to give up his life. That's what he said earlier, didn't he?

He said, I, I, I, I'm willing and ready to go to prison and to die for you. And he was. He loved Jesus. Clearly. I think we even see that when Peter, who initially abandoned, deserted Jesus at his arrest, but then he came back and he followed Jesus.

He wanted to stay close to Jesus. I think that is also another example of Peter's great love for Jesus. Peter loved Jesus.

Loved him. No doubt about that. In fact, a little bit later, you know, after the resurrection, Jesus appears and he says to Peter, do you love me? He asked, do you love me?

Peter said, I do. Do you love me? He asked a second time. And Peter said, yes, Lord, I do. And he asked a third time, do you love me?

And Peter said, Lord, you know everything. You know, I love you. And Jesus does not deny it. Peter loved Jesus, but there was something else in Peter.

A malignancy. In this case, we could call it a root sin. fear. And it was fear.

Fear. Fear got the best of Peter. Fear. And so Peter gets to the high priest's house. He's admitted into the courtyard.

But Peter is totally unprepared for what's going to happen next. He's afraid. I mean, he's filled with fear. And he is afraid of what might happen if he is discovered.

And so then comes the one question he feared would be asked of him. And then it comes again. Second time. And then it comes again a third time.

And each time, fear won out. Fear got the best of Peter. I don't know him. Man, I am not one of them. Man, I do not know what you're talking about.

Three times. And you see, listen, this is the way the devil works. We need to understand this. When he discovers some root sin, some seed sin, some hook, some leverage, some weakness in us, then he knows that that will lead us to greater levels of sin.

And so he tempts us there at those root sins. And it never stays there. It always goes on from there and gets bigger.

And we would do things and do things that we would never dream. We love Jesus. How could we do such a thing? And yet, loving Jesus will not keep you from sin.

The great Scottish preacher, Robert Murray McShane, once wrote, he said, the seed, listen to this, the seed of every sin known to man is in my heart.

Hmm? And he, we could all say the same thing. See, the malignancy in the sinner. And again, I'm here to tell you, Peter's love for Jesus was not enough.

He probably loved him more than you love him. And I love him. But it's not enough to cause him to conquer the fear in his heart, a fear that led him to deny the Lord Jesus three times.

And I don't know what your root sin is. Maybe it's fear. Like Peter's. Or pride. See, these are root sins. Lust.

A lying tongue. Covetousness. A love of the world. I don't know what it is.

But it is a malignancy in all sinners. And just because you love Jesus will not protect you from sinning.

So what will? Haven't we already learned that in this passage? We looked at it a few weeks ago. Jesus tells us what it is. The only safeguard is prayer.

It's prayer. Is that what Jesus said to Peter? And all the disciples? He said, pray that you may not enter into temptation. And did they?

Pray? No, they slept. They slept rather than pray. And all of them, the Bible says, abandoned Jesus. They deserted him.

And Peter denied him. But notice the second thing here. Get on to some good news. There's the malignancy in the sinner in every one of us.

Not just Peter, but every one of us. The second, the mercy of the Savior. Peter. The mercy. You know, it's really neat.

In one short little phrase in this text, Luke's account. We see the mercy of Jesus. I mean, look at verse 50. A 60, starting with verse 60.

And the Lord turned and what did he do? He looked at Peter. I mean, just that little simple phrase.

speaks of the mercy of the Lord Jesus. Peter uttered his, now get this in proximity. Peter uttered his third and final denial.

Man, I do not know what you're saying. I don't know what you're talking about. And then immediately, while he was still speaking, while those words are still coming out of his mouth, the rooster crowed.

Peter and then following in rapid succession, the next thing that happens, the Lord turned and he looked at Peter. See, the trial's going on right there in the courtyard.

I don't know how far away Peter was, but he wasn't very far. He's warming himself around the fire and he utters that last and final denial and the rooster crows and I'm sure Peter looked up at Jesus and Jesus looked at him.

I say that that is an indication of the mercy of God toward the sinner. Because Jesus did not turn his face away.

Aren't you glad that when you sin, when you really fail, really miserable? We all do. That Jesus does not turn his face away from us.

He looked at Peter, turned his face toward Peter. He turned, in fact, he turned his whole body and looked at Peter. What happened next?

Well, that brings us to the third thing, the final thing, the ministry of the scriptures. scriptures. This is also very interesting, easy to miss. You have the malignancy in the sinner, we have the mercy of the Savior and the ministry of the scriptures.

Look at verse 61, then Peter, remember, that's the next thing that happened. Peter denied him the third time, the rooster crowed, Jesus turned and looked at him, and then Peter remembered.

He remembered something. What did he remember? the word of the Lord. You say, is that scripture? Yeah. Who did the speaking?

Jesus. And everything he spoke is word. It's the word of God. Peter remembered the word of the Lord. Peter remembered the word of God. Look at it. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him.

Remember, he said to him earlier, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. And Peter, I think, certainly remembered everything else Jesus said on that occasion, where he said in Luke 22, 32, but I have prayed for you.

You think Peter remembered that at this point? He certainly did. He remembered that Jesus said this is what he would do, that he would betray him. And even though Peter denied that he would ever do such a thing, he did do it, and then he remembered the word of the Lord about this, that he would betray him three times, but then he certainly remembered that Jesus said, but I prayed for you that your faith should not fail, that you won't be utterly fail and lose your salvation.

And when you have returned to me, and you will, he doesn't say that, but that's implied, strengthen your brethren. See, there's not only the prediction of the sin that would be committed, but there is also God's word on the fact that Jesus is praying for him, and that he will return, and that he will be used of God.

And I say that that applies to every one of us. The Bible says Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us. And all you have to do is just return to the word and go back to the word.

Peter could count on Jesus' word on this whole subject. no need to fear. And so verse 62 concludes with, we just kind of follow this on throughout this portion of the passage, verse 62 concludes with, so Peter, what did he do?

He went out and wept bitter. That's repentance. Brokenness over sin. What brought about the brokenness?

Jesus' look that led him to the word, which convicted his heart. And that's how it works for every one of us.

Repentance begins with the work of God drawing our eyes to something we need to see. That is what he has said.

And that's what Peter, what Jesus did for Peter when he looked at him. It led Peter to think about Jesus' word. And it convicted his heart and led him to brokenness and repentance.

And ultimately it led him to usefulness in God's hand. I like the way one preacher put it and I'll conclude with this. True repentance begins when the Holy Spirit holds the word up to us like a mirror and we look into that mirror and our eyes are open and we realize who we are and what we've done.

That is what happened to Peter. And what does he do? He goes out and he weeps bitterly. He goes to to to to to to to to Thank you.