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IF JESUS LIVED TODAY
HOW WOULD HE HANDLE FAILURE?
(Mark 14:66-72; I John 1:8-9)
(Delivered 11-17-02)

A Sunday School teacher asked her children, "Now, boys and
girls, what do we have to do before we can be forgiven of our
sins?" "Well," one little boy said, "first, we gotta sin."

We all sin and Peter was no exception. The terrible night began
when Judas betrayed Jesus. "Judas Iscariot, who was one of the
twelve, went off to the chief priests, in order to betray Him to
them" (Mark 14:10).

After Jesus and his disciples shared the last supper, they left
Jerusalem. The Scripture says, "After singing a hymn, they went
out to the Mount of Olives" (Mark 14:26).

Jesus cautioned them that they would all fail. He said, "You
will all fall away, because it is written, 'I will strike down
the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered' " (Mark 14:27).

Of course, Peter didn't believe a word of this warning. He
boasted, "Even though all may fall away, yet I will not" (Mark
14:29).

But Jesus replied. "Truly I say to you, that you yourself this
very night, before a cock crows twice, shall three times deny
Me' " (Mark 14:30).

Peter was adamant in his response. He kept insisting, " 'Even
if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!' And they all
were saying the same thing, too" (Mark 14:31).

Later, after Jesus had prayed and the disciples had slept, the
soldiers appeared. The Scriptures say, "And immediately while
He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, came up,
accompanied by a multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief
priests and the scribes and the elders. Now he who was
betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, 'Whomever I
shall kiss, He is the one; seize Him, and lead Him away under
guard.' And after coming, he immediately went to Him, saying,
'Rabbi!' and kissed Him. And they laid hands on Him, and seized
Him. And they all left Him and fled" (Mark 14:43-46,50).

It's interesting to note that Peter did make an effort. The
Scripture says, "And Peter had followed Him at a distance, right
into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with
the officers, and warming himself at the fire" (Mark 14:54).

But, as Jesus was being condemned, Peter became more and more
uncomfortable. The scripture says, As he stood "below in the
courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came, and
seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him, and said, 'You,
too, were with Jesus the Nazarene.' But he denied it, saying,
'I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.' And
he went out onto the porch. And the maid saw him, and began
once more to say to the bystanders, 'This is one of them!' But
again he was denying it. And after a little while the bystanders
were again saying to Peter, 'Surely you are one of them, for you
are a Galilean (your accent gives you away).' But he began to
curse and swear, 'I do not know this man you are talking about!'
And immediately a cock crowed a second time. And Peter
remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, 'Before a cock
crows twice, you will deny Me three times.' And he began to
weep" (Mark 14:66-72).

Peter probably remembered another warning Jesus had given months
before. In preparing the disciples for these hard times he had
said, "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands
firm to the end will be saved. Whoever acknowledges me before
men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.
But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my
Father in heaven" (Matt. 10:22,32-33).

These words must have run through his head and heart like a
haunting refrain.

Why do you suppose Peter broke his promise and denied Jesus?
What lessons can we learn from this incident? What point does
it make about failure?

I. FIRST, PETER WAS OVERLY CONFIDENT AND COCKY.

Peter tended toward arrogance. He often compared himself to
others. Here he had publicly boasted that even if every one
else deserted, he certainly wouldn't. Now, Peter was probably
being honest. At that moment, he sincerely believed that he
would be loyal. It's easy to have confidence before the crisis.
Jesus had specifically instructed him to pray for strength, but
instead he slept. Jesus said to them, " 'Pray that you will not
fall into temptation'; (But) When he rose from prayer and went
back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from
sorrow" (Luke 22:40,45).

Peter didn't think he needed to pray. He was strong, but,
Solomon said, "Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty
spirit before stumbling" (Prov. 16:18).

Paul said, "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that
you don't fall!" (I Cor. 10:12).

In other words, too much false confidence can set us up for
failure.

II. NEXT, PETER WAS NOT FOLLOWING JESUS CLOSELY ENOUGH.
The Scripture says, "And Peter had followed Him at a distance,
right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting
with the officers, and warming himself at the fire" (Mark 14:54).

When we follow at a distance, it becomes easier and easier to
fall away. Many Scriptures admonish us to stay close to the
Lord. "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full
assurance of faith . . ." (Heb. 10:22).

When people begin to miss church and neglect Bible reading,
their priorities gradually change and the world takes over.
Those who follow at a distance soon backslide and lose their
spiritual influence. Jeremiah said, "Your wickedness will
punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you . . ." (Jer. 2:19).

The writer of Revelation puts it this way: "Yet I hold this
against you: You have forsaken your first love" (Rev. 2:4).

As Peter distanced himself from the danger, he got farther and
farther away from the Lord. That made denial much easier.

III. FINALLY, PETER GOT WITH THE WRONG CROWD.

He was separated from his support group and succumbed to
negative peer pressure. The Psalmist said, "Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the
way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers" (Psa. 1:1).

Peter and the other disciples were scattered. Each looked out
for himself. All those around Peter, now, were unbelievers and
we do tend to become like the people we associate with. Paul
said, "Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what
partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what
fellowship has light with darkness?" (II Cor. 6:14).

Moses said, "You shall not follow a multitude in doing evil . .
." (Exo. 23:2).

Now, what if this were today? Would Jesus' followers tell
accusers that they didn't agree with his unpopular teachings?
Would they distance themselves from his extreme beliefs about
social outcasts? Would they testify for the prosecution?

We don't know for sure. Even the arrest and denials would be
quite different if Jesus lived in America today instead of in
Palestine 2000 years ago. But, there would be some basic
similarities.

1. FIRST, CHRISTIANS TODAY CAN STILL BECOME OVERLY-CONFIDENT.

No new Christian ever thinks he's going to be a backslider.
When we hear about sinners and traitors, we believe it will
never happen to us. But, until we actually face a crisis we
don't know what we'd do. We must realize that we are all human
beings---vulnerable to temptation. An Italian peasant girl who
met a monk one day. The holy man lived in a monastery high upon
the hill. She said to him, "Father, I have always wondered what
you men of God do up there in that place that is so close to
God?" The monk was wise and humble and replied softly, "What do
we men of God do up there on the mountain? I'll tell you: We
fall down, and we get up. We fall down, and we get up. We fall
down, and we get up."

That's true of everyone. Peter fell down, but he got up again.
He learned his lesson, and later warned his fellow believers,
"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls
around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Resist him, standing firm in the faith . . ." (I Peter 5:8-9).

2. NEXT, CHRISTIANS TODAY STILL TRY TO FOLLOW FROM A DISTANCE.

All of us have social obligations and business deals and jobs
that encourage compromise. Financial problems and family duties
sometimes crowd out our spiritual commitments and we gradually
lose our dedication. Most "falling way" or backsliding is
gradual-a fire gradually burns out; a cake of yeast gradually
loses its strength. A driver, listening to a local radio
station will gradually lose contact as he travels away from the
source. It's the same with us. Jesus warned against this:
"Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will
grow cold" (Matt. 24:12).

3. FINALLY, CHRISTIANS TODAY STILL GET WITH THE WRONG CROWD.

We neglect our church and go places and do things that make it
easier to backslide. The writer of Hebrews spoke to this: "Let
us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of
doing, but let us encourage one another . . ." (Heb. 10:25a).

Solomon said, "He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the
companion of fools will suffer harm" (Prov. 13:20).

We tell ourselves that wicked associations really won't harm us;
but we inevitably get soiled in the process. If you put on a
pair of clean white gloves on a rainy day and then go out into
the backyard to the flowerbed and pick up a glob of mud, trust
me, your gloves will definitely get muddy.

Now, if we're to take the Gospel seriously, what does this mean
for us?

Remember the Scripture says, "Whoever claims to live in him must
walk as Jesus did" (I John 2:6).

If Jesus lived today, he would still deal with imperfect people.
If Peter had kept a diary, one dark page might read this way:

"I'm a wretched man! How miserably I have failed. I'm sick at
heart. As we walked toward the Mount of Olives tonight, Jesus
told me that I would deny him three times before dawn. I didn't
believe him. I bragged, 'Oh, no! Even if I have to die, I will
never disown you.' I really meant it! But then I went to sleep
when he asked me to watch while he prayed.
"I'm so ashamed! Even worse, I ran away when men came to arrest
him. Why do I always do the wrong thing? I did try to find out
what was happening while Caiaphas questioned Jesus. I was
warming my hands by a fire in the courtyard below when I noticed
a servant girl staring at me. Suddenly she said, 'Aren't you
one of that man's disciples?'

"I was terrified. 'No! I'm not!' I exploded. I went over into
a dark corner to avoid further questions. I huddled there too
scared to breathe. But another girl said, 'This fellow is one
of them?' Again I denied it. The third time it happened, I
began to swear curses, saying, 'I don't know that man.' Just
then I heard a rooster crow again."

Yes, Peter failed and all of us are at risk. Do you avoid pride
and over-confidence? Jesus warned against that.

Do you avoid following at a distance? Jesus warned us about
that.

Do you avoid the wrong associates. Jesus warned us against that
too.

St. Augustine said, "Pride turned angels into devils. Humility
turns men into angels."

***
(Word Count 1961)

These messages are from an unpublished manuscript © copyrighted
by Miles and Maralene Wesner, Idabel, OK. Please use them in
any way you think appropriate. The only thing we ask is that
you give credit for original material in published works.

My ministry has been blessed immeasurably by reading other
people's sermons. When I started preaching 55 years ago, I
waited for "inspiration" (usually Saturday night, about
midnight) before I began my sermon preparation. Then, I
discovered it wasn't inspiration at all-it was sheer PANIC. I
would have welcomed this service.

Comments are always welcome. (Please indicate if you do not want
your comments to appear in New Perspectives).

Miles E. Wesner