Please do grab your Bibles again and turn to Mark chapter 14, starting verse 66.
We'll be looking at these six verses.
!
Lord God, we pray for Christ to be known this evening.
Would we know his grace and the forgiveness there is in Christ, and would your Spirit work
in us faith to receive that.
And we pray all this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
We are watching a red carpet tonight.
We stand on the sidelines as we watch a red carpet.
So you know when there's a big celebrity event like the Oscars, and they have a red carpet,
and you have all these actors walking down the red carpet toward a fancy building, and
the red carpet tells you about what kind of event they're heading to, doesn't it?
You see the red carpet, and you know that they're heading toward champagne and awards and glamour
and money.
The red carpet tells you about the kind of event coming up.
Well, today, Mark is showing us a red carpet.
It is the red carpet that Jesus walked on toward his death.
We are deep into Jesus' journey to the cross.
It is the night before he dies.
And as we see him walk there, we begin to see exactly what he's heading towards.
The journey there tells you about the main event itself.
This passage, in fact, all these events leading up to Jesus' crucifixion, they all tell us about
what's going to happen at the cross.
And we're going to look at these events, this night before the crucifixion, or the lead up
to the crucifixion.
We're going to look at these over the next few weeks.
And just like a red carpet before the main event, this shows us what's going to happen
on the cross.
But this red carpet, it's not fun.
It's not full of flashing lights.
No, it's dark.
And it's lonely.
And it involves Jesus' closest companion turning his back on Jesus.
So things will be dark this evening.
This red carpet is not leading to anything glamorous, but it is glorious.
Because we're going to see something in particular about the cross tonight.
We're going to see what kind of people Jesus died for.
As Jesus walks this red carpet to the cross, there's a question in the air.
Who is Jesus going to the cross for?
He's already said the Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many.
But who are the many?
What are they like?
Who did Jesus die for?
Well, today, as we see the story of Peter, we see exactly who he's dying for.
It is a very vivid and personal glimpse into the kind of person Jesus saves.
So let's watch Jesus walk the red carpet tonight and see who he died for.
And this is the first thing we see.
Jesus died for very bad sinners.
This story, as Paul read it earlier, it leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth, doesn't it?
And it should.
That is the point.
This is meant to be shocking.
And we need to appreciate how shocking it is.
This is the night before the crucifixion.
Jesus is currently arrested.
He's being tried by the Sanhedrin.
That's the Jewish court.
And tensions are high.
It's not a safe thing to be one of Jesus' disciples.
That is why only a few verses before, Mark writes that as soon as Jesus is arrested,
all his disciples left him and fled.
Jesus had no one.
But in verse 66, we see Peter.
He's below in the courtyard.
He's outside while Jesus is inside being condemned by the Jewish leaders.
Peter, he's kind of still following Jesus at this point.
But he's at a distance.
He's not too close, not too open.
He's laying low, trying not to draw attention to himself.
So he just stays outside, warming himself by the fire.
And why Peter?
Of all the disciples, why Peter?
Well, Peter is Jesus' closest companion.
When you read the Gospels, Peter, he's kind of like the go-to disciple.
We get to hear Jesus' conversations, private conversations with Peter.
For example, we don't hear much about Simon the Zealot.
But Peter is different.
Peter is, he's the loud disciple.
He's the one who shouts about how much he loves Jesus.
Back in verse 25, Jesus tells all his disciples,
you will all fall away.
And Peter, he's the only one to respond.
And he blurts out and he says,
even though they all fall away, I will not.
Peter, he's the big, keen disciple.
So just think of, for a moment, who followed Jesus?
Jesus.
So when we read the Gospels, Jesus had crowds following him.
They were kind of just the mass of people that were interested in Jesus.
And those people came and went.
And then within that big crowd, he had a large group of disciples,
people who really followed him.
Luke mentions the 72 disciples.
And within that larger group, you have the 12 disciples.
They're Jesus' closest group.
And within that, Jesus often picked out three.
It was Peter, James, and John.
He would kind of sometimes take them in just to a room to perform a miracle.
But within those three, Peter stands out.
He's the most eager one.
He's the close one.
Peter is Jesus' closest and most loyal companion.
Which makes what happens next all the more tragic.
Verse 66.
And as Peter was 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 also were with the Nazarene Jesus.
A young girl approaches Peter.
And she says, Hey, you're with that Jesus guy, aren't you?
And how does Peter respond?
Verse 68.
But he denied it.
Saying, I neither know nor understand what you mean.
How the mighty have fallen.
He's happy to follow Jesus from a distance.
But as soon as following Jesus means something,
Peter, the eager one,
he gives up Jesus in an instant.
And did you notice what makes Peter abandon the one he so proudly loved?
Look who makes him fold.
It's not a big bouncer coming along.
It's not a guy with a gun threatening him.
It's not a mob like they had for Jesus.
No, it's a little question from a servant girl
that makes Jesus' closest companion crumble.
He realizes what it means to be associated with Jesus.
It means maybe getting arrested.
It means danger.
It means trouble.
And he makes up his mind.
Jesus is not worth that.
And did you see how slippery his response was?
He doesn't say at first,
oh no, I don't know him.
He's not as blatant as that.
Instead he says,
no, I don't know what you mean.
He's cowardly about it.
He's trying to worm his way out.
He does what he can to kind of dodge
and worm his way out of the situation.
But Mark is clear what he's doing.
He denied knowing Jesus.
And this is just the beginning
because from here on in,
we see a shameful downward spiral of sin.
Peter moves away from the fire
and it says he goes into the gateway.
So away from the fire,
into the shadows.
And that says a lot about the nature of sin.
Sin is shameful.
It doesn't want to be seen.
Sin loves darkness.
Sin loves to stay secret and hide.
Sin loves to stay secret.
Peter heads into the darkness of sin.
But things get more public from here.
In verse 69,
the servant girl saw him
and began saying to the bystanders around,
this man is one of them.
But again,
he denied it.
Now,
Peter doesn't just deny Christ to one girl,
but he denies Christ to a crowd nearby.
His sin is clearer,
more public.
It's sharper.
And then comes the final nail in the coffin.
Maybe Peter was being slippery or vague about Christ before,
but now look in verse 70.
And after a little while,
the bystanders again said to Peter,
certainly you are one of them,
for you are a Galilean.
But he began to invoke a curse on himself
and to swear,
I do not know this man of whom you speak.
Remember who this is.
This is Peter.
This is the keenest of the disciples.
Only a few verses back in verse 31,
Peter said to Jesus,
even if it means dying with you,
I will not deny you.
Now listen again.
I do not know this man.
Peter's sin is on display here.
And it's ugly.
It's really ugly.
He's denied the Lord Jesus.
And it's not just a single slip up.
No, it's repeated,
thoughtful,
willful sin.
And he even does it with such force and aggression,
doesn't he?
He invokes a curse on himself.
He swears.
He says,
I swear on my life.
I don't know him.
I'm not interested in him.
I'm telling you,
I have nothing to do with Jesus.
And actually,
he can't even say his name.
He just calls Jesus this man.
He's a nobody to me.
What we have here are the details of a shocking and appalling sin.
Peter is a very bad sinner.
And it's written down for all of us to see.
And why do we see this?
As Jesus walks to the cross,
why is this on the red carpet?
Well, because it's showing us what Jesus is heading towards.
What the main event is all about.
We see here what kind of people Jesus died for.
Jesus is going to the cross to die for Peter.
To suffer for this very sin.
And he went to the cross for sinners just like Peter.
Jesus died for very bad sinners.
We have on display a particularly terrible sin
to show the sheer depths of sin that Christ died for.
Christ died for blatant, public,
repeated, spiralling down,
caught in the web of it,
painfully shocking sin.
And Jesus is on his way to die for this sin.
So Jesus didn't go to the cross
only just for small sins
or sins that we don't mind people knowing about that much.
No, Jesus went to the cross
even for the most shocking sins.
Sins that make us want to retreat into the shadows.
We have this passage in front of us
so that we know
there is no sin too shocking for Christ to save you.
He forgave Peter and he can forgive you.
So it needs to be said
there is no sin too shocking to confess.
If there's a sin in your life right now
and you're needing to talk about it
and you're wanting to confess it to Paul
or one of the elders
and you're needing help with it
but you're worried that maybe it's too shocking.
Well, whatever it is
and I mean whatever it is
it's not as shocking as this.
You can talk about it with Paul.
You can talk about it with the elders.
They won't be shocked.
They won't be shocked that someone could do
whatever sin that may be
because just look at Peter here.
Jesus died for very bad sinners.
Sinners just like you and me.
And as he walked this red carpet
as he approached the cross
this wasn't a surprise to Jesus either.
He knew how bad our sin was.
And this is my second point.
Jesus knew he would die for very bad sinners.
Just look at verse 72.
Verse 72.
And immediately
the rooster crowed a second time
and Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him
before the rooster crows twice
you will deny me three times.
And he broke down and wept.
Now we need to see a point here.
Not just that
Jesus did die for very bad sinners
but he knew that he was
to die for very bad sinners beforehand.
Did you notice
Jesus predicted this whole event.
You can read it in verse 30.
Jesus knew what Peter was going to do
and yet
Jesus still went to the cross for Peter.
He knew the very sin he was going to carry.
He knew the price that had to be paid.
And he still went there.
As Jesus approached the cross
he knew that he was to pay the penalty
for his people's sins.
And it wasn't vague sin.
It wasn't kind of a mystery punishment
that he was heading towards.
He knew who he was dying for
and he knew that their sin would be shocking.
He knew how bad it was.
He looked at the sin of his people
and he said
that sin
I need to die for that sin.
Jesus knew he would die for very bad sinners.
And just like Peter's sin
he knew it was sin against him.
We don't need to think
Peter's sin is so unique here
because we need to understand
that all our sin
is against Christ
and a denial of him.
We sung Psalm 51 earlier
and it's a prayer of confession to God
and it says
against you
you only
have I sinned.
So yes
we definitely sin against other people
all the time
but ultimately
all our sin
is against God.
All our sin
is a rejection of God.
All our sin
is a denial
of the Son of God.
the Apostle John
says this about Jesus
the world was made through him
yet the world
did not know him.
They rejected him
they denied him.
So even if this is
tonight
the first time
that you've heard about Jesus
all your sin
up to this point
has been a denial of him.
All our sin
is a denial of him.
That is what sin is.
And as Jesus
walked the road
to the cross
he knew
our sin
is shocking
and he knew
it was sin
against him.
So it wasn't just
generally bad things
that he knew
he would pay for
it wasn't just
wrong things
done out there
in the ether
no it was sin
against the Son of God
and the Son of God
came to die for it.
Jesus knew
he would die
for very bad sinners
which means
your sin
is not a shock
to the elders here
and it's not a shock
to Jesus either.
When we commit sin
in our shame
we want to hide
in the shadows
don't we?
We don't want to
come to Christ with it
almost as if
in our minds
we think that Christ
would somehow
be shocked
by it
or he didn't know
that we would do that
but don't think
that your sin
is a surprise
to Jesus.
He knew about it
as he walked
to the cross
and he's already
paid for it.
But let's ask
what about denying
Jesus like Peter did?
Can we say
Jesus died
for those who
deny him?
Well let's look
how this story ends.
This story is ending
it's a bit
ambiguous isn't it?
So end of verse 72
these last few words
and he broke down
and wept.
This short paragraph
it doesn't tell us
about Peter's fate.
We have to read on
to the resurrection
in chapter 16
where we see
that Jesus
he wants to meet
with Peter
and we see
Peter does not
deny him anymore
he's restored to Jesus
and if you come
on a Tuesday lunchtime
you can hear
Peter's own words
of the greatness
of his salvation
as we preach
to one Peter.
So it's looking ahead
that we can know
and we can say
that Christ died
for Peter's sin.
Peter denies Christ
but he doesn't
keep denying Christ.
There is no salvation
for those who deny
Jesus forever.
there needs to be repentance
and we see
this glimmer
of hope
at the end.
And he broke down
and wept.
Peter weeps
over his sin
and he weeps
over the words
of Jesus.
So it's not just
sadness in general
he weeps
over the words
of Jesus.
This is a glimmer
of repentance.
It is a Jesus
centered weeping.
In Matthew's gospel
we hear
about Judas
after Judas
betrayed Jesus
it only says
that he changed
his mind
and he felt
bad about it
but he didn't
weep.
There was no
seeking after Jesus
after his sin.
You know
Judas
hangs himself.
That isn't
seeking Jesus
that's seeking
to escape Jesus.
But Peter
weeps
and that is
the right way
to react to sin.
It's to recall
the words of Jesus
and weep.
Not in despair
not to be
hopelessly crushed
but to hate
our sin
and to turn
to Jesus.
And that is
what happens
with Peter.
There is hope
for this man.
There is hope
for Peter.
And so as we
see the story
of Peter
this very bad
sinner
and as we
as we watch
this red carpet
we see one
final thing.
There is hope
for failed
Christians.
There is hope
for failed
Christians.
Peter
isn't just
a very bad
sinner.
Peter was
a backslider.
A backslider
is someone
who's walked
with Jesus
but who's
fallen away.
So
not completely
just fallen
away for a time
and in this
moment
Peter
is a lapsed
Christian.
Someone who
confessed Jesus
and then denied
Jesus.
Peter was a
backslider
and here
in this passage
we see
that is very
much a possibility
for Christians.
It's a warning
for us.
A sobering
warning.
This moment
of the red
carpet
tells about
what the cross
will be like.
we learn
the cross
is something
we will be
tempted to
be ashamed
of,
to deny,
to walk
away from
and that
might be
like you
this evening.
You might
be like
Peter
and you
grew up
as a Christian
and you
confessed
Jesus as the
Christ
but you've
now walked
away
or you're
living in
sin and
you're not
willing to
return.
People may
ask you
if you
know
Jesus
and you
would
deny
it
even
though
you
might
have
before
but you
are here
tonight
in church
like Peter
you're
still in
the courtyard
and you
can't let
go of
Jesus
entirely.
Well learn
from Peter
tonight
there is
still hope
for you.
There's
forgiveness
for those
who have
denied
Christ
or maybe
you know
someone like
that
and they're
on your
heart
and you
pray for
them
and you
long for
them to
return
this is
all the
more reason
to pray
for them.
We don't
know the
Lord's
will
but we
see even
with someone
like Peter
someone who
has denied
Christ this
publicly
and aggressively
they can
return
and if that
is you
tonight
you can
come back
to Christ
he knows
your sin
and he
wants you
to return
it may
feel shameful
coming back
to church
and you
might be
worried about
what people
think
but we
won't be
shocked
we will
rejoice
forgiveness
was for
Peter
and it
can be
for you
too
but this
also goes
for all
those in
Christ
any
Christian
here today
there is
great
hope
and forgiveness
for the
failed
Christian
for any
believer
here tonight
we can
so easily
feel like
Peter
can't we
we look
at our
sin
we look
how we've
fallen
and maybe
you have
a particular
sin in
mind
when I
say that
and we
think about
it
and we
think
how could
I have
done that
how could
I have
done that
to Christ
and we
weep
over what
we've done
and it
pains us
well there
is astounding
forgiveness
for you
you're not
some sort
of lost
cause
no the
cross
is still
and always
will be
your salvation
the cross
is salvation
for sinners
exactly like
you
as we
stand by
this red
carpet
we see
that Jesus
is heading
to the
cross
for failed
Christians
not perfect
Christians
not sinless
Christians
no Jesus
went to
the cross
for Peter
he went
to the cross
for Christians
like me
and you
failed
Christians
and there
is astounding
forgiveness
for us
Jesus
carried the
weight of
shocking sins
on his
shoulders
even the
sin of
denial
and he
did it
knowing how
bad our
sin is
so yes
this is an
ugly passage
but in so
many ways
it is
beautiful
there is
hope
for
failed
Christians
a few
years after
this scene
in the
courtyard
the apostle
Peter
this man
in the
courtyard
he wrote
these words
he himself
bore our
sins in
his body
on the
tree
what sin
did he
bear on
that tree
it was
this sin
and it
was our
sin
those words
were written
by a very
bad sinner
but praise
God
Jesus died
for very
bad sinners
amen
let me pray
to