Amy C Walters

Peter Denies Jesus | Luke 22:54-62

Peter was one of Jesus’ most trusted disciples. So Jesus’ prediction of Peter’s denial must have come as a huge shock. Peter had a choice to make: listen to Jesus or listen to his own preferred reality. His sad story shows us that we need to believe what God says about us. 

Peter and Jesus had a very close relationship. Peter was one of Jesus’ most trusted disciples. Jesus chose him and John to go prepare the Passover in the secret location (Luke 22:8). Peter is one of the three disciples that was chosen to go and see the transfiguration (Luke 9:28). And Peter is also one of the first disciples that Jesus called (Luke 5:3). So when we get to the first part of this story, after the Passover meal, Jesus’ words to Peter must have hit really hard. 

First, Jesus calls him Simon. That is Peter’s given name, what he was named as a baby. And the first time we meet him in Luke 4, that’s how he’s introduced. Then a couple of chapters later in Luke 6, we find out that Jesus has renamed him Peter. 

Luke doesn’t explain why, but Matthew does in Matthew 16:17-18. Simon Peter has just confessed that Jesus is the Messiah sent from God. And Jesus says, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Peter’s declaration of Jesus as Messiah prompts Jesus to change his name from Simon to Peter, which means rock. 

So if Jesus has changed Simon’s name to Peter way back in Luke 6, why return to calling him Simon here in chapter 22? I think there might be some wordplay happening here. Simon’s name in Hebrew means to hear or to listen. Jesus is encouraging Simon to listen to what he’s saying.

Simon Peter needs that reminder because he doesn’t listen. Instead, he contradicts Jesus, saying that he would go with Jesus even to the death. 

Jesus goes on to say that “Satan has asked to sift you all as wheat.” “You” here is plural. This refers actually to all of the disciples. They will all be sifted as wheat. 

Notice that Satan has to get permission for that sifting. This is another reminder that God is in control, even in the ugliness of the situation. 

“Sift as wheat” refers to winnowing, tossing wheat into the air so that the wind blows away the useless parts, but the valuable kernel of wheat falls to the ground. It’s a separation of good from bad. The idea also implies a struggle. Winnowing involves wind and tossing, two things that can be metaphors for pain and struggle. 

But sifting is not the end of the story. Jesus goes on to tell Simon, “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail, and when you return, strengthen your brothers.” Peter’s experience will not be a total failure of faith, but it will require a return. 

How do you think it felt for Peter to hear that from Jesus? He was probably offended. How could Jesus say that about me? I have been with him since the beginning. I’m not going to quit now. 

Peter’s probably also hurt. Jesus, after all we’ve been through together, that’s all you think of me? 

So even though Jesus has told Peter to listen, Peter tells Jesus how it’s going to go. He says he is ready to go with Jesus to prison and even to death.

Peter is pretty bold to say, Jesus, you’re wrong. Let me tell you how it’s going to be. Why do you think Peter disagrees with Jesus like that?

There’s certainly some arrogance there–the arrogance to think that he knows better than Jesus.  And part of that arrogance is that he doesn’t want to believe this about himself. He wants to think that he’s better than that, that what Jesus is saying doesn’t match up with his own view of himself. So Peter denies that it’s going to happen. 

But Jesus doesn’t relent. He gets even more specific as to what this denial will look like. “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” 

We don’t hear another response from Peter on this. But we do see him in the next story pulling out a sword to defend Jesus, cutting off the ear of the servant of the high priest (John 18:10).

Maybe in light of Jesus’ words, Peter is desperate to try to prove himself. But instead of cheering on Peter’s bravery, Jesus says, “No more of this,” and he heals the servant’s ear. 

If I were Peter in this moment, I’d be confused. Whose side are you on, Jesus? I was helping, I was defending you. Instead, Peter just watches as the crowd takes Jesus off to stand trial.

We’re told that Peter does follow them, but at a distance. In fact, distance seems to be the key word for his attitude here. He seems to be waiting on the fringes to see how things play out before he throws in his lot with Jesus.

And things are not looking good. He is not among friends there in the high priest’s courtyard. So when people see his face in the firelight and recognize him, or realize that he is from Galilee like Jesus is, he’s got a decision to make. Will he remain loyal to Jesus or will he give in to fear? 

Fear can have a powerful hold over us. It can make us do things that we had never imagined doing before. It could make you start to wonder, what will they think of me if they know I follow Jesus? Will they reject me? Will they make fun of me? Will they exclude me? Will they hurt me? 

Peter gives in to that fear. And even though just hours before this he declared his loyalty to the death, in this moment, all of his courage seems to fail. 

Peter wanted to do all the right things, but wanting was not enough. He needed to listen to what Jesus said about him, even though it was hard to hear. Because that listening might have led him to pray on the Mount of Olives, like Jesus told them. “Pray so that you don’t fall into temptation.” 

Our key truth for today is that we need to believe what God says about us.

Peter dismissed what Jesus revealed to him because he didn’t like it. But Jesus was right. Peter denied him exactly as Jesus had predicted. And the result was that Peter went out and wept bitterly. 

It is a harsh reality to discover such a gap between what we think of ourselves and reality. And yet we can have the same wrong-headed views of ourselves.

We can have the same arrogance or inflated idea of who we are. There’s a lot of talk today about being our authentic true self, that we should desire and pursue being true to that identity, no matter what it runs contrary to. It’s always talked about in a positive light that only good can come from such authenticity.

But what do we see with Peter? His true authentic self was actually not pretty. And we are not better than Peter.

In the Bible, God tells us that we are stuck in our sin. Romans 3:23 says that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 

Psalm 14 talks about how there is no one who does good, no one who seeks God.

Romans 6 tells us that we are slaves to sin, forced to do what sin desires. 

These are not things that we want to hear, and yet they are realities that we need to understand in order to also embrace the goodness of God’s message. 

God’s Word also says that we are deeply loved. Romans 5:8 says, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were sinners, he loved us enough to die for us. That’s not ignoring the ugly reality of our sin. That’s saying even in the sin, God’s love was greater. 

Or Romans 8:38-39 that says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

These are two realities that we need to hold onto. Because yes, it hurts to realize the depth of our sin and depravity and wickedness, but there is such freedom in knowing that even at our very worst, God still loves us. That’s where confidence comes from, not in the idea that we will never fail, but in knowing that God’s love will never fail us.