Wednesday Lent 3 - March 18th, 2020

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you, from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

You may be seated.

At the very heart of denial is a lie.

The more you know something, the greater the denial is.

When you act as though you do not.

And especially the more and better you know someone, and lie that you do not,

the worse the denial is, the more it hurts.

We said two weeks ago in our sermon on the sin of betrayal,

that the greatest betrayer in human history arguably was Judas Iscariot.

And one could make a similar argument that the greatest denier,

of any other human being, was Judas' fellow disciple, Peter.

As the unofficial spokesman and leader of the disciples,

and as one of Jesus' inner circle of close disciples,

and as perhaps one of Jesus' oldest disciples,

Peter may have known Jesus better than any of the other apostles.

And according to Matthew,

Mark, and Luke, Peter was one of the first disciples to be called by Jesus,

to follow after him.

Also known as Simon, he was a fisherman.

It was into Simon's boat that the Lord Jesus entered,

to go out a ways from the shore, to speak unto the crowds.

And upon concluding that message,

Jesus instructed Simon Peter to let out his nets,

for a catch, in the middle of the day.

And Peter responded,

At the sight of this miraculously huge catch of fish,

Peter cried out,

But depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

Simon Peter knew his sinfulness,

his many years of life that were not lived in faithfulness to God's holy word.

Simon, Jesus said,

Do not be afraid.

From now on, you will be catching men.

And so the bond between Jesus and Peter was forged.

One of Jesus' earliest miracles was the healing of Simon's own mother-in-law,

also indicating a close personal bond, a relationship.

Peter was that disciple who answered Jesus' question about his identity,

Who do you say that I am?

And Peter was right, correctly stating what God the Father had made known to him,

You are the Christ, the Messiah,

Son,

of the living God.

Following Jesus' instruction then,

that as that Christ, he must suffer,

he must die, and he must be raised from the dead,

Simon Peter quickly yanked Jesus aside,

rebuking him, saying,

You've got it all wrong.

Such things should never be for God's anointed one.

Jesus was not then rightly understanding his role, but he said,

oriented some his role as Israel's proper Christ, according to Peter.

Jesus responds in kind,

Get behind me Satan, for you do not have in mind the things of God,

but the things of man.

Such was the stinging rebuke from the teacher to his student.

A few days Jesus would take His disciples a high mountain,

simple for the youth,

He left nine of them down below at the base of the mountain,

but he took Peter, James, and John along with him farther up the mountain.

And it was upon that great mountaintop experience that Jesus made known to those men

his eternal glory as the only Son of God, begotten from all eternity.

Utterly thrilled and bedazzled by this sight,

Peter suggested that he build there three tents,

because Moses and Elijah had also joined Jesus on the mountain.

However, Peter really did not understand at all what he was talking about.

And it was then at that time that the Heavenly Father broke forth from the clouds above,

overshadowing that mountaintop with His own glory,

and interrupting and silencing Peter,

adding,

further to his stupor.

Peter then heard the words from the Father Himself announced regarding Jesus,

This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

Listen to Him.

And during Holy Week, it was Peter who first refused to let Jesus wash his feet.

But it was Peter then to whom Jesus said,

Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.

And it was Peter who outwardly rejected this prophecy,

announcing,

Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.

And when Jesus was betrayed by Judas just a short time later,

and when they were surrounded by those who were to arrest Jesus with physical force,

Peter acted upon that promise.

He unsheathed.

He unsheathed his small sword and struck,

slicing off the high priest's servant's ear.

Peter showed that he was certainly willing to fight for Jesus,

and perhaps even to kill for Him.

But would Peter be able and willing to die for Jesus?

Which was more powerful, more influential,

Peter's anger or his love?

Not far from where Jesus was being beaten,

falsely put to trial for his crime of blasphemy,

Peter suffered an informal trial of his own.

A servant girl, no real threat to a grown fisherman like Peter,

confronted him nonetheless.

You also were with Jesus.

The Galilean.

Peter,

This one so loved by Jesus,

the one who so loved Jesus,

flat out lied.

Fully denied knowing Jesus.

Not once.

Not twice.

But three times.

The dreaded number of Jesus' prophecy

and the holy,

number of completion. In his three denials of Jesus, Peter fully removed himself, distanced

himself from Jesus, from his company, from his fellowship. This is very likely the reason

and Peter is added on by the angel in Mark's gospel following the resurrection of Jesus when

he refers to Jesus' disciples and Peter. And it is reason enough for Jesus to ask Peter three

times following his resurrection, do you love me? Three times the denial, three times the question.

And just as you and I could see ourselves as Judas, betraying Jesus,

by every sinful thought, word, and deed that we commit, we see ourselves as Peter.

Just like the disciples who could not stay awake in their apathy toward Jesus' situation, we find

ourselves in difficult situations where we deny knowing Jesus. But it is not an active denial or

rejection of Jesus we plead. No.

But our silence in the face of persecution, in the opportunity to confess Jesus before the world,

that is our denial. For you and I have been given Jesus' name, his identity, and holy baptism. He has

grafted you in and to himself in baptism. You are one with him. And when you and I sin,

we deny our Savior.

We live counter to his identity and to our own as his people. How could we?

Like Peter, we weep bitterly over our rejection of Jesus. However, we do not, thankfully,

go the path of Judas and reject Christ's mercy. Rather, we confess our sin, and we trust,

in Christ, to forgive. And that he does. He graciously and he richly forgives you and the

sins of all those who believe in him. Your confession and your absolution, that is your

daily reinstatement as the disciples of Jesus, just like it happened for Peter.

You are washed clean of your sin. Again, in the word of absolution, I forgive you all your sin.

Jesus' death on the cross, that was the payment made for Peter's denial of Jesus. His death upon

the cross, that was the payment for your denial and mine as well. And certainly, we get to see a

different Peter following Jesus' resurrection. Upon receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit at

Pentecost, Peter did not back down to those who questioned him about Jesus, who persecuted him,

for his faith. And yes, Peter would go on to sin each and every day of his life after that, but he

never again publicly denied knowing Jesus, but was truly willing to die for him. Of course, this was

not his own doing. It was a gift of God, not by Peter's own merit or works, so that certainly he

could not boast.

On the last day, when Jesus returns again, all people will confess Jesus Christ as Lord,

to the glory of the Father, all people. Paul prophesied this in Philippians chapter 2.

Every knee will bow in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue will confess

Jesus Christ as Lord.

There will be no denials of Jesus on that day. And from that day forward, then, there will never

again be a denial of Jesus as Lord. And you who now believe in Him will always see Him as your

Lord, as your Savior, from all sin, from all death, from the power of the devil.

You will not ever again back down. And you will not ever again have fear. For united with Christ Jesus,

nothing will ever harm you, and nothing will ever frighten you again. For Jesus Christ is Lord, to the

glory of God the Father. Amen.

Amen.