The Wound of Denial
Matthew 26:69–75
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 26:69–75 69 Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.”70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.”71 And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.”72 But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!”73 And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.”74 Then he began to curse and swear, saying, “I do not know the Man!”Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.
Dear fellow Lenten travelers… Peter had said, “Even if I must die with You, I will not deny You!” (Matthew 26:35). He said it quite emphatically. Peter loved Jesus. He could not imagine the intense love he felt for Jesus ever being insufficient or ever changing or ever stopping. But our Lord knows what is in man. And in fallen mankind there is fear; and the biggest fear is the fear of death. Fear of death, as Hebrews (2:15) puts it, is how the devil keeps us in bondage. So, the Lord tells Peter before it ever happens that it will happen.
Not once, not twice, but three times Peter was given an opportunity to confess His Lord. And not once, not twice, but three times, Peter instead denied Him. Among the wounds that afflicted our Lord during His Passion, surely the denial of His beloved disciple Peter looms very, very large.
And who among us has not added to that wound? Opportunities to confess our Savior arise at every hand. Time and time again we have the chance to speak of the faith, to speak and proclaim that Jesus has paid for the sins of the world, to invite people we know to attend here with us…. And yet, how often do we pass up these opportunities by our silence? And yes, our silence is a denial of Jesus.
And isn’t our fear the same? The fear of the death of others’ respect, the fear of the death of their friendship – I mean, really, who wants a religious fanatic for a friend? The fear of the death of our reputation – what will others say about us if we are known for speaking up in confession of the Lord? Yes, our silence is just as much of a denial of Jesus as when Peter said, “I do not know the man.”
But look… Jesus goes into His Passion to be wounded for our transgressions. Our denials of Him do not mean that He will deny us. On the contrary, He has carried those denials to His death for us. And where we denied Him, He made the good confession before the high priest and before Pontius Pilate.
Jesus did not let fear of death deter Him, and we do well to ponder that. For though our Lord hates death – despises it, scorns it – He does not fear it. He came into this world to destroy death. He came among us to let death devour Him completely, so that by falling into its clutches, the One over whom death had no claim would destroy death forever. By this His people – you and I – are set free from our slavery; we are set free from our fear.
Standing before the high priest, Jesus knew what was about to happen. He knew that He would yield His life upon the cross, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to His Father, His blood blotting out forever the guilt of our sin and the sin of the whole world. And Jesus also knew and rejoiced that His Father would never abandon Him to the grave.
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For his part, Peter had only heard that Jesus would be raised from the dead; but before his eyes he beheld the Master in the hands of those who were beating Him, mocking him, and who would turn Him over to be crucified. Quite naturally and quite understandably, Peter trembled with fear. So, rather than confessing His Lord, Peter denied Him for fear of his own life. And as the fateful rooster crowed, Peter recalled how His Lord said it would be so… And Peter went out and wept bitterly.
Indeed, Peter wept bitter tears for his own fear, for his own sin and for his own cowardice…but he did not despair. And it is here that Peter differs from Judas. Did he recall the look in his Lord’s eyes when He said, “Remember, I told you that you would deny Me, and I was right, so you have. But remember that I also told you I would rise again, and I will be right about that too! I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith may not fail!”
Now think of the man we meet on the other side of the resurrection, on the Day of Pentecost. The man who once cowered before the servant girl and her friends quite boldly told the crowds in Acts 5:30-32: “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey!” Wow, that’s quite a turn around. What happened in between? What made the difference? The difference is the resurrection of Christ and the coming of the Spirit.
And so it is with you and your Baptism. There in the waters you were drowned and you died. Every Baptism is the drowning and death of a heathen. You were, in a sense, placed into the tomb with Christ. It is as St. Paul writes in Romans 6:4: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death.” And then, in that same Baptism, you were also raised with Him as the guarantee of a life that will never end. Again, as St. Paul says one verse later, “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” In those baptismal waters the Holy Spirit descended upon you even as He descended on Peter and the other apostles on Pentecost, transforming them from sniveling, pathetic, quivering cowards to bold, brash, and confident confessors.
What changed was the conviction of faith that Jesus truly has destroyed death’s power by enduring it, and that He has atoned for all our denials by His confession and suffering for us.
Years later Peter was told that he had to sacrifice to the emperor and deny Jesus or die, and by God’s grace alone, he refused. He refused, and Peter went the way of his Lord. For he too, was crucified, though, according to Church tradition, he was crucified upside down, because he did not feel himself worthy to die in the same manner as the Christ his Lord and Savior.
In the end, Peter looked the fear of death in the face and laughed at it. “You cannot scare me this time! I know who lives forevermore, and I know you have no power over Him. And I am in Him, and His body and His blood are in me. My sins are forgiven, blotted out. My life is secure. You lose, Death, even as you take me. I am not afraid of you, not anymore.”
Well might Peter’s prayer have been that day what we sang tonight: My Shepherd, now receive me; My Guardian, own me Thine. Great blessings Thou didst give me, O Source of gifts divine. Thy lips have often fed me with words of truth and love; Thy Spirit oft hath led me To heav’nly joys above. (TLH 172:5)
In Christ there is no fear of death, for Christ has defeated that enemy. You are baptized into Christ. Therefore, His baptism into death is your baptism into His death. And His resurrection to life is your resurrection. Christ for you and in you means you have everything He has.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
