Matthew 26:69–75

Midweek 4

The Wound of Denial

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, "You also were with Jesus the Galilean." But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you mean." And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." And again he denied it with an oath: "I do not know the man." After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you." Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly. (Matthew 26:69–75)

"Even if I must die with You, I will not deny You!" (Matthew 26:35). That is what he said. Peter loved his Lord. He could not imagine the intense love he felt for Jesus ever being insufficient. But the Lord knows what is in man. And in fallen mankind there is fear—fear of death above all. Fear of death, as Hebrews (2:15) puts it, is how the devil keeps us in bondage. So the Lord tells Peter before it ever happens that it will happen. Not once, not twice, but three times Peter will be given opportunity to confess His Lord. And not once, not twice, but three times, Peter will instead deny Him. Among the wounds that afflicted our Lord during His Passion, surely the denial of His beloved disciple Peter was one of the largest. And who among us has not added to that wound? For opportunities to confess our Savior arise every day, yet how often we pass them by in silence. And our silence denies Him. Isn't our fear the same? The fear of the death of others' respect, the fear of the death of their friendship (for who wants to befriend a religious fanatic), the fear of the death of our reputation (for what will others say about us if we are known for speaking up in confession of the Lord)? And so the silence, which is denial just as surely as saying, "I do not know the man."

But see! Jesus goes into His Passion to be wounded for our transgressions. Our denials of Him—they need not result in His denial of us. For He has carried them to death, and where we denied, He made the good confession before the high priest and before Pontius Pilate. Jesus did not let fear of death deter Him, and we do well to ponder that.

For though our Lord hates death—despises it, scorns it—He does not fear it. He came into this world to destroy it. He came among us to let death devour Him, so that by falling into its stinking throat, the One over whom death had no claim would destroy death forever, and so His people would be set free from their slavery, set free from their fear.

Standing before the high priest, Jesus knows what is about to happen. He knows that He will yield His life upon the cross—a fragrant offering and sacrifice to His Father, His blood blotting out forever the guilt of our sin and the sin of the whole world. And Jesus also knows and rejoices that His Father will never abandon Him to the grave. Although death takes Him, death's bands will be burst. The way several Early Church Fathers put it, Jesus was death's poison pill. Having swallowed Him down—the utterly indigestible Divine Son of God—death ended up vomiting all it had swallowed. Jesus does not fear death, because death will never be the end of Him or of anyone who is joined in living faith to Him.

Now Peter has only heard that Jesus will be raised from the dead, but before his eyes he beholds the Master in the hands of those who are beating Him and who will turn Him over to be crucified. Peter's heart cowers, and he trembles and fears. Rather than in peace confessing His Lord, in terror of death Peter denies Him. And as the fateful rooster crows, he recalls how His Lord said it would be so, and Peter goes out and weeps bitterly.

Peter wept bitter tears for his own fear and sin and cowardice, but he did not despair. Here Peter differs from Judas. Did he recall the look in his Lord's eyes when He said, "Remember, I told you that you would deny Me, and I was right, so you have. But remember that I also told you I would rise again, and I will be right about that too! I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith fails not!"

Now think of the man we meet on the other side of the resurrection, on the Day of Pentecost. The man who cowered before the servant girl and her friends, now boldly tells the crowds that day: "This Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree God has raised from the dead, and we are all His witnesses!" (see Acts 5:30–32).

What took place in between these two events? The resurrection of Christ and the coming of the Spirit. And so it is with you and your Baptism. There in the waters you are placed into the tomb with Christ and raised with Him as the guarantee of a life that will never end. In those waters, the Holy Spirit descended on you even as He descended on Peter and the other apostles on Pentecost, transforming them from quivering cowards to bold confessors.

What changed was the conviction of faith that Jesus truly has destroyed death's power by enduring it, and He has atoned for all our denials by His confession and suffering for us.

Years later Peter was told that he had to sacrifice to the emperor and deny this Jesus or else die. In the grace of God he refused. He refused, and Peter went the way of his Lord. He, too, was crucified, though, according to Church tradition, upside down, because he did not feel himself worthy to die in the same manner as the Christ. In the end, Peter looked the fear of death in the face and laughed at it. "You cannot scare me this time! I know who lives forevermore, and I know you have no power over Him. And I am in Him, and His body and His blood are in me. My sins are forgiven, blotted out. My life is secure. You lose, Death, even as you take me. I am not afraid of you—not anymore."

Well might Peter's prayer have been that day what we sing in our hymn O Sacred Head Now Wounded:

My Shepherd, now receive me;

My Guardian, own me Thine.

Great blessings Thou didst give me,

O Source of gifts divine.

Thy lips have often fed me

With words of truth and love;

Thy Spirit oft hath led me

To heav'nly joys above. (LSB 450:4)

Amen.