Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: ‘Before the cock crows, you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Matthew 26:75 NIVUK
I grew up in the West of Scotland. In the 1980s it was highly sectarian and religiously charged. So much that battles between Catholic and non-denominational schools reached such a level that the police told the head teachers to change the time the school day ended to try and prevent violence.
When you walked through the school gates, no-one asked your name. The first words from any pupil, especially the boys, were, 'Proddy or Catholic? Rangers or Celtic?'
Your acceptance, and in some cases, your physical wellbeing, depended on your answer.
A local tough guy asked me that question very early on when I was in Primary school. I couldn't have been much more than five years old. I didn't really know what either were, so I blurted out, 'Baptist!'.
'Hey, he thinks he's John the Baptist!' he joked with his mates. And that day they left me alone.
At least for a day.
There are many, many Christians who don't have things that easy. The story is told - and I'm unsure if it is an urban legend - of an armed Communist soldier bursting into a church service and yelling that those who wanted to deny Christ could leave the church and live. One by one, most of the people attending the service left, leaving just the pastor, his family, and a few others behind.
The gun-toting Communist ordered them to line up on the platform, before breaking down and begging them, 'Please, tell me how I can be saved?'
Many, many Christians have stood that awful test. Some have passed it. Many have failed it.
This time, even Peter failed it.
So what is the context of these verses?
Jesus has been arrested (Matthew 26:48-50). The disciples have fled for their lives (Matthew 26:56). Peter followed at a distance and managed to get into the courtyard of the guard of the High Priest's residence (Matthew 26:58), where he waited for the outcome of Jesus' interrogation. Mark indicates that he warmed himself at a fire at the gate to stave off the cold (Mark 14:54). John indicates that it was 'another disciple' - likely John himself - who had used his influence to get Peter brought inside (John 18:15-16).
So what do we have here? Two disciples, who were not yet willing to bear their cross, following Jesus at a distance.
Is that not what happens when hard times come and we are asked to bear our cross? Do we want to have the possibility of deniability in our relationship with Christ so we can avoid the discomfort of persecution?
If it is, then just thinking about that should make us feel uncomfortable. These disciples might be in the courtyard, but they are not in the trial room, being interrogated with their Lord.
The courtyard is not close enough.
And it was about to get even further away.
Peter had three opportunities to identify himself with Jesus; to admit that he followed Jesus and was one of His disciples.
He missed every one of them.
I remember when I was a teenager a very challenging question was posed. It's this: 'If being a Christian was illegal, would there be enough evidence to convict you?' The three pieces of evidence levelled against Peter are the same pieces of evidence that other people could use to know that we are Christians, without us having to tell them.
What are they?
Firstly, the way we look:
While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. ‘You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,’ she said. But he denied it. ‘I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,’ he said, and went out into the entrance. When the servant-girl saw him there, she said again to those standing round them, ‘This fellow is one of them.’ Again he denied it.
Mark 14:66-70 NIVUK
You can imagine the scene. Peter is standing by the fire, keeping warm, when the flickering light causes memories to flicker in a servant girl's mind. She's seen that face before. She thinks hard. Then she remembers. He is a follower of Jesus.
She recognises Peter's face.
People should see something in our face that should remind them of Jesus.
I don't mean that we should all grow Middle Eastern beards, or that there should be a Botox clinic under the church so that we should always look thirty-three years old.
No, I mean that our expression and our demeanour should show that we have been with God. Moses' face certainly did:
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterwards all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.
Exodus 34:29-35 NIVUK
Of course, our faces might not glow or be supernaturally radiant. Then people would think that we'd either been in a faulty tanning booth or sat too close to something radioactive. No, they should see peace, love, friendliness, approachability, openness, optimism, joy. We should not permanently look like we've swallowed slices of bitter lemon.
And I have seen that look in churches: the one where we sing of joy and happiness but forget to tell our face.
That has to end.
Jesus' face shone on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:2; Mark 9:2).
Stephen's face shone as his own people falsely accused him (Acts 6:15).
Jesus, as He brought the revelation to John, had a face that shone (Revelation 1:17).
And we, as His followers, ought to reflect His image with ever-increasing glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). We are not called to be vessels of dark bitterness and negativity and pessimism and fear and criticism and complaints. No, we are called to shine (Philippians 2:14-16).
So, tell me, Christian: has your face been dislocated from your heart or does it tell the world you are a Christian before your mouth needs to open?
The same piece of evidence is the way we talk:
About an hour later another asserted, ‘Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.’
Luke 22:59 NIVUK
Peter's accent gave him away. It was distinctive. They could tell he was not a local.
Is your speech distinctive?
I don't mean by your accent. Many places in Scotland have a different accent. A discerning ear can tell apart people from two different towns, even just fifty miles apart.
No, I mean by how you talk:
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Acts 4:13 NIVUK
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Colossians 4:6 NIVUK
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Ephesians 4:29 NIVUK
Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
Ephesians 5:4 NIVUK
It should not even need to be said that cursing, swearing, foul and abusive language should be nowhere near the mouth of a Christian. They are completely unsuitable.
But gossip, slander, cruel and heartless words, insinuations, double-entendre, judgmental slurs, these also have no place among us.
We must, absolutely must, be exemplary in how we speak. Our manner of speaking must be distinctive.
And by that I don't mean that we should sound like fugitives from a Shakespearean play. There is a difference between sounding distinctive and sounding like a confused history professor.
No, I mean we take care of what we say and how we say it. We think before we open our mouths and the words dribble out. Our words say a lot about our religion and our relationship with God (James 1:26, 3:3-12). What does your speech say about yours?
Peter's speech gave him a glorious opportunity to admit to being one of Jesus' disciples. But he was afraid. He blew it.
Will you?
But it wasn't just the way he looked and spoke that was evidence of Peter being a disciple of Jesus. It was also the company he kept:
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 garden?’ Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a cock began to crow.
John 18:26-27 NIVUK
Peter was noticed, not because of who he was - at this point he wasn't an altogether exceptional person - but because of the company he kept. He was recognised because he'd been with Jesus. Being with Jesus made him stand out. It made him one of a very select group of people.
This was not the only time having been with Jesus made Peter stand out, only the next time he was a bit more courageous:
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Acts 4:13 NIVUK
Being with Jesus is something we should seek every day through reading His Word and spending time with Him in prayer. And that ought to make a significant difference in our life - so much that people notice it. If it doesn't, then what's the point of it?
That difference ought to be striking evidence that we are His followers. It ought to lead to questions, which then lead to answers, which then lead to the challenge of the Gospel.
But it won't if our times with Jesus are either inconsequential or non-existent. They must change us. They must make us better.
People ought to know us by the company we keep.
In our churches we often hear that the current generation has turned its back on God and has rejected Him. There is some truth in that. Many people have.
But there is a serious problem with only hearing that message. That message is wholly negative. It writes off any possibility of anyone responding to call of Christ and following Him.
The result of this is that we are actively discouraged from sharing our faith with anyone. Why bother with it if no-one will listen?
We live in a curiously tolerant generation. They will ask questions about what we believe. They are inquisitive.
But if we are discouraged from speaking out and fall silent because we are afraid of the consequences, we will deny Jesus just like Peter did.
Jesus warned us of the consequences of this:
‘Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
Matthew 10:32-33 NIVUK
Perhaps these were the words that burned in Peter's memory after he denied Jesus and were one of the reasons why he turned away from Jesus' gaze and wept bitterly.
The lost of this generation ought to see a striking difference in us that causes questions. We ought to be fundamentally different in the way we look, the way we speak and the company we keep.
But when they see the difference, when they ask us why we are different, we must tell them with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).
We cannot deny Him, like Peter.
We cannot be afraid of the cross.
Questions
1) Have there been times when you had an opportunity to speak out for Jesus and didn't do it? How did you feel?
2) If you were to consider how you look, how you talk and the company you speak, would these be enough to 'convict' you of being a Christian?
3) Do you feel encouraged or discouraged to speak about your faith in Jesus?
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