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I want to welcome you to day four of our look together through John chapter 18.
We've seen this week Jesus before the Roman army showing his power and yesterday
Jesus before the religious courts showing his purity. Today we're going to look
at Jesus before Peter.

The fascinating thing about Peter is what happens to him in just a few hours. In
the garden, the garden of Gethsemane, Peter defends Jesus before soldiers and
leaders who have weapons in their hands. And a few hours later in a courtyard,
Peter denies Jesus before servants and slaves who are no threat to him at all.

How did this happen? And what can we learn from what happened to Peter? Peter's
story is woven throughout this chapter.

I'd like to put it together and read it to you all together. First beginning in
verses 10 to 11. And then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the
high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear.

The servant's name was Malchus. Jesus commanded Peter, "Put your sword away.
Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?

" That's where the story starts. And then after Jesus' arrest, Peter and John
follow at a distance. And here's what happens in verses 15 to 18.

Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was
known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard.
But Peter had to wait outside at the door.

The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the
girl on duty there and brought Peter in. "You are not one of his disciples, are
you? " The girl at the door asked Peter.

He replied, "I am not. " It was cold, and the servants and officials stood
around a fire they had made to keep warm. And he also was standing with them,
warming himself.

Now remember in these verses, the disciple whom Jesus loved is John's
designation for himself. So John had connections, connections with the high
priest. And he was able to get himself and Peter into the courtyard to be close
outside while Jesus is on trial inside.

And then listen to what happened in verses 25 to 27. As Simon Peter stood
warming himself, he was asked, "You are not one of his disciples, are you? "
Peter denied it, saying, "I am not.

" One of the high priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had
cut off, challenged him, "Didn't I see you with him in the olive grove? " Again,
Peter denied it. And at that moment, a rooster began to crow.

In the garden, Peter defends Jesus before soldiers and leaders. In the
courtyard, Peter denies Jesus before servants and slaves. And this is a story
that hits every one of our hearts, because every one of us can see ourselves in
the actions of Peter.

And the question is, what made the difference? What happened to this man who was
willing to attack an army? He was this swashbuckling saint, and now he's a
coward.

What happened? Well, a closer look shows he faced three things we all face,
doubt, fear, and pride. He faced doubt.

Doubt had come into his life that just wasn't there before. He had thought
earlier when he leaped out at that army in the garden that Jesus would do
something. He had seen Jesus disappear before when crowds had tried to arrest
him, just sort of fade away into the crowd somehow.

Or maybe Peter thought this time Jesus would bring lightning bolts and destroy
the army. I'm sure he thought, "I'll make the first move, and Jesus is going to
be right behind me. It's going to be great.

He's going to do something. " But instead, Jesus says, "No, Peter, that is not
what we're doing. " And Peter watches them bind Jesus' arms, and he watches this
army march him off like a sheep that's being led to slaughter.

Peter didn't know what was happening. He had doubts because all of a sudden his
plan and God's plan didn't match. Has that ever happened to you?

Your plan and God's plan don't match, and the doubts come in? It happens to all
of us. That's a time when we can fall prey to the denial that happened in
Peter's life, doubt.

He also had fear. He had a fear of the unknown. For three years, he knew what he
was doing.

He'd been following Jesus. He knew what it was like to be with Jesus. He knew
what it was like to follow Jesus, to be confident in Jesus' presence.

But now all of a sudden he's separated from Jesus. Jesus is in this room with
the trial going on, and he's out in the courtyard, and he doesn't know what's
going to happen next, and he's afraid. This fear of the unknown, it can be a
terrible thing, and it caused him to deny Christ.

When you and I are afraid, and we all face fears, we can fall prey to the denial
that happened in Peter's life. He had doubt, and he had fear, but I don't think
that just these two were enough. I think the denial was driven by a third thing.

You don't see it as clearly here. It really began in the upper room when Jesus
and Peter were talking, and Peter had said, "I will never deny you. " The third
thing is his pride.

Peter thought he said he would never falter. He was sure that he would be the
one that was willing to die with Jesus, and his greatest weakness was his
inability to recognize his weakness. He failed because he couldn't admit to
himself that he might fall, and because of that he found himself denying Jesus.

His greatest weakness is the weakness a lot of us have, our inability to
recognize our greatest weakness. If only he could have seen, if only he would
have listened when Jesus said, "You're going to deny me," but he wouldn't hear
it. He couldn't recognize it.

Jesus had warned him, but he couldn't hear it, and so he fell. He failed because
he couldn't admit to himself that he might fall. If you and I read the story of
Peter and we don't see ourselves in it, we're missing something extremely
important.

We're missing the whole point. If you can read the story of Peter and say, "That
would never happen to me," you've missed it because this story is there to
remind us that any of us, given the right circumstances can allow doubt and fear
and pride to blind us into a denial of what we know and love best. You see, it
takes great pride to believe that you would never falter when some of God's
greatest saints have faltered.

It takes great pride to think that Moses, the gentlest man of his day, could
fall prey to anger, but not me. It takes great pride to think that David, a man
after God's own heart, could fall to lust, but never me. It takes great pride to
think that Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, could stray from his faith,
but no, that could never happen to me.

It takes great pride to think that Abraham, the father of our faith, could doubt
God's word, but I never would. It takes great pride to think that Peter, whom
Jesus called the Rock, could deny Jesus in this courtyard in fear, but it would
never happen to me. These stories are in the Bible for a purpose, to remind us
that we're human, that we need every circumstance of life, every moment of life,
and that if we rely on ourselves and our power, we're going to fall.

The healthy thing to say is this, without God, anger could destroy my life. Lust
could destroy my life. I could stray away from Jesus and never see the doors of
a church for 20 years.

Without Jesus and trust in him daily, I could doubt God's word and miss his
best, his blessing in my life. Or even at the moment of my greatest success, I
would find the moment of my greatest humiliation because of my pride. But when I
recognize that these truths are here to remind me that I'm human, that I need
Christ, when I recognize my weakness, guess what happens?

Then I turn to him in that moment of weakness, and instead of denying him, I
follow him. Instead of turning from him, I trust him. The book of Proverbs says
pride does come before a fall, guaranteed.

Peter teaches us that. We've all learned that. And Jesus teaches us something
else.

We're going to see this in the rest of the Gospel of John. Pride comes before a
fall, forgiveness and restoration come after a fall. If only I'll turn to him.

Remember that it was after these denials that Peter became the leader of the new
church. It was after these denials that Peter was used of God to write two of
the books of the New Testament. And if you feel like you've fallen and God has
finished with you, Jesus teaches us forgiveness and restoration come after a
fall.

If only I'll turn to him. God is not finished with you. Where does it start?

Returning to him. Where does it start? Admitting my weakness in need of him.

It starts with admitting my pride. I encourage you to pray with me this simple
prayer. Just say, "God, I admit that I am proud.

Help me to be humble. I admit that I am proud. Help me to be humble.

I need your help. In Jesus' name, Amen. " Join us tomorrow as we end our look at
John chapter 18.

We're going to look at Jesus before the Roman governor Pilate.