The Fall of Peter — and Every Disciple
John 18:12-27,
So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. 13 First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14 It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people.
15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, 16 but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. 17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.
19 The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. 21 Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” 22 When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” 24 Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.
Our world loves a rise-and-fall story. History has its Julius Caesars, its Napoleon Bonapartes, its Richard Nixons. In recent years, we’ve watched the great rises and falls of athletes like Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods, of film producers Harvey Weinstein, of comedians Bill Cosby.
In fact, our world loves these fall stories so much that we like to have a hand in making them. In our sin, we have a twisted appetite for accelerating the rise, and then piling on to exacerbate the fall.
The Bible also has its great fall stories. The big one is the Fall of humanity in Genesis 3. But Abraham has his fall. And the people of Israel, fresh off deliverance from Egypt and receiving the law, make a golden calf, led by their first high priest. And we find the rise and various falls of Saul, David, Solomon, and with them the fall of the kingship in Israel and the nation itself.
This morning we come to the fall of Peter.
Four Lessons from Peter’s Fall
Two parallel tracks unfold in this passage as Jesus is arrested and separated from his disciples:
Jesus moves toward the cross, to Annas, to Caiaphas, to Pilate.
In the meantime, the disciples scatter, as Peter, chief among them, denies three times that he knows Jesus.
For the first time, we have the breaking of fellowship between Jesus and his disciples. The shepherd is struck; the sheep scatter. Jesus must go to the cross alone. No sinner can assist him in this work, to rescue sinners.
The heart of this passage is the back-and-forth contrast between Jesus and Peter. John’s point isn’t that we point fingers at Peter but that every disciple is like Peter. The contrasts are stark: Jesus says, I am; Peter says, twice, I am not. Peter stands with bad company warming himself, while Jesus shivers in the cold alone. Peter tries to protect himself; Jesus exposes himself to harm. Peter’s nerve fails, while Jesus is steady and composed under great pressure. Jesus stands; Peter falls.
The point is the contrast. The shame of Peter is a foil to the stunning glory of Jesus. But here’s the angle of approach I’d like for us to take this morning. I want to learn from Peter’s fall.
Humility learns from the failures of others. I think what God has for us this morning, at least in part, is to learn from the fall of Peter as it sits side by side with the shining faithfulness of Jesus.
So, let’s follow the arc of Peter’s fall with four lessons.
1. Stay Awake.
By that, I mean stay awake spiritually. Just this week, with Peter’s fall on my mind, I came across Mark 13:33–37 and was surprised how much this was exactly what Peter needed:
Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or [get this:] when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.
Jesus gave Peter many warnings. We saw in John 13:36, Peter says: “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus says, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.”
Here’s how Jesus warns Peter in the Gospel of Luke, 22:31–34:
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” 33 Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” 34 Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”
This is vintage Peter with these strange ups and downs.
One moment: You are the Christ! Then: Never, Lord!
One moment: Don’t wash my feet! Then: Wash my whole body!
One moment: I will lay down my life for you! Then Jesus says: No, Peter, I’m laying down my life for you — and all the while you’ll be denying me three times.
After so many warnings, what happens in the garden? Peter falls asleep. He’s not alone: James and John do too. Jesus warns them: “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Then, sleeping again, Peter is startled awake as soldiers approach. He’s caught off guard. He draws his sword and cuts off the ear; Jesus rebukes him; the disciples scatter.
So, the first lesson from Peter is to heed Jesus’s warnings to stay awake. That is, no spiritual sleeping. No spiritual vacations. No coasting or autopilot. Satan targets his attacks on us at the times he thinks we’ll be least ready.
So, are you awake this morning? Have you been awake this week? Spiritually awake. Are your eyes open to spiritual reality? Are your ears attuned daily to Jesus’s word? Are your lips whispering prayers? Are you walking arm in arm with Christ’s people? Or are you falling asleep?
2. Beware your perceptions of social pressure.
To be clear, Peter’s denials are sin. Great sin. And his sin comes out in a particular circumstance: the questions of strangers. Peter’s fall is not one of isolation; it’s a failure of nerve in the face of what he’s assuming other people are thinking. (And not just others but strangers.)
Peter wants to protect himself. His master is in grave danger, and Peter assumes the disciples must be in danger too. But the reason I emphasize Peter’s skewed perception is the presence of John.
The best explanation of this enigmatic “other disciple” is that this is the author’s humble way of telling a story he’s in but it’s not about him. Verse 15 mentions “another disciple.” Verse 16:
“Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.”
The key word is “also”:
Verse 17: “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?”
Verse 25: “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?”
What’s the “also”? It assumes this other disciple. The high priest and his people know John, and they know he’s a disciple. Which is why they ask Peter, “Hey, you’re not also a disciple, are you?” And the form of their question helps Peter deny it: “Surely, you’re not with this Jesus too, are you?” The way they ask the question cues Peter up to deny it. But the denials are Peter’s. People will do that, you know: “You’re not one of those Christians, are you?” They’re setting you up to say, Of course not.
The reason we know Peter’s perception was mistaken is it turns out nobody crucified John. The high priest and the people know that John is a disciple. But it’s Jesus they want. So, John’s presence, as a known disciple, shows how Peter’s perception of what the strangers think was off. His fear was misplaced; Peter was off balance and misreading the situation. And even if he had read it right, that’s no excuse for disowning his Master — not once or twice, but three times, and that after being warned so clearly.
Then comes verse 27: the rooster crows. And Peter comes awake to his sin.
What happened next to Peter? John doesn’t tell us; he knows we have the other three Gospels. But before we go there, let’s glean this: beware what thoughts you let dance in your head about what people think, especially strangers you do not know.
Sometimes people, even strangers, catch us off guard at the strangest times with significant questions about our faith, the Bible, Christianity, our church, and they cue you up for the groupthink answer, whatever the context. Be ready for that. Don’t give in. Pushback. Ask a question back. Or just give them the honest, straightforward, wisely worded truth that they need to hear to fry their categories.
One more thing to add here, from one of your pastors: Be so careful with online and social-media impressions of what the masses are thinking. The two-dimensional, algorithmic online environment is highly distortive. It is a hall of mirrors and radicalizing extremes. People who grow more and more highly online do not grow more balanced in their assessment of other people’s perceptions; they begin to lose touch with reality.
So, stay awake, and beware your perceptions of social pressure.
3. When you’ve failed, look Jesus in the eye.
Now we pick up, from the Gospel of Luke, what happens once the rooster crows. This is an awesome moment. Luke 22:60–62:
“Immediately, while [Peter] was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.”
So, the rooster crows. Both Jesus and Peter hear it. Peter reflexively looks at Jesus. And Jesus turns and looks at Peter. They lock eyes. What must this have been like for Peter?
Was it utterly devastating? I don’t think it was. I expect there was a lot in that look. I’m sure it was not an easy moment for Peter. He is startled wide awake. He is humbled. He goes out and weeps bitterly. But Peter doesn’t hang himself. Somehow this is a healing devastation. It’s an empowering humiliation. Yes, his soul is flooded with shame and conviction, but it leads to repentance and life.
Peter’s fall is so different than Judas’s. It was so good for Peter that he looked Jesus in the eye. Imagine how much Jesus communicated in that look, without any words — Jesus’s foreknowledge of Peter’s fall, his clear warnings, his righteous anger, his genuine grief, his profound compassion, and his transforming power.
Jesus not only had said Peter would deny him. He also said,
“I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Not “if you turn,” but “when you have turned.” Peter, you will turn. I have prayed for you. I will see to it, that you will turn; you will rise from this fall, so much so that you will strengthen your brothers.
Yes, Peter had failed Jesus, and that was worth mourning. But now, freshly humbled, he also has a commission from the sovereign Christ. Peter locks eyes with Jesus and finds renewed strength to persevere and even strengthen the brothers.
And oh what courage we’ll come to see in Peter. His story will not be a rise and fall; it is a fall and rise. Which comes not because of his faithfulness but Jesus’s.
Jesus’s Rise to the Cross
So, now we need to put our lessons on hold for a few minutes, and pick up Jesus’s part of the story in verses 19–24. Remember: as Peter falls, Jesus stands.
For me, the big question in verses 19–24 is, Wait, hold on, who is the high priest?
It’s confusing on the surface. Verse 13 says Jesus comes first to Annas, “the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.”
Then we have John’s reminder in verse 14 about Caiaphas’s prophecy (which we saw last fall back in 11:50: “it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish”).
Then the focus shifts to Peter in verses 15–18, then back to Jesus in verse 19: “The high priest (is that Caiaphas?) then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.” Jesus answers,
“I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.”
This high priest is trying to get Jesus to incriminate himself, without any witnesses. So, Jesus asks in verse 21:
“Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.”
In other words, ask my disciples; there are plenty of witnesses. And the irony is that just as Jesus is saying his disciples can witness for him, Peter is failing so miserably by denying him.
At this, Jesus is struck, unjustly, by “one of the officers standing by,” who says, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” Jesus responds with a question, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”
Then comes the surprise in verse 24: “Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.” Wait a minute: Jesus hasn’t gone to Caiaphas yet. He’s been standing before Annas till now? If that’s the case, verses 19 and 22 have called Annas the high priest. But John said in verse 13 that Caiaphas “was high priest that year.”
So, who is the high priest?
Is it Annas, the father-in-law, who’s been high priest before? Five of his sons have served yearlong terms, including now his son-in-law Caiaphas. Annas is the patriarch. He’s the boss high priest; his sons and son-in-law take turns filling the role, but Annas is the one who holds the power. So, is he really the high priest?
Or is it Caiaphas who formally holds the office? The Old Testament had said the high priesthood was to be for life. But the Romans have limited that seat of Jewish power by enforcing these one-year terms. So, technically, Caiaphas is high priest that year. Is he really the high priest?
I don’t think this confusion is by accident. I suspect John wants us to see that yes, Annas is in some sense high priest, and yes, Caiaphas also is in some sense high priest. But when you ask who’s really high priest in John 18, what’s the answer?
It’s not Annas. It’s not Caiaphas. It’s the man who stands before them, bound like a sacrifice. This man has chosen to be here, and he goes willingly to the cross as the true high priest who offers the true and final sacrifice.
And the reason Jesus goes to the cross is not for sins of his own, but for disciples like Peter. Jesus’s work as high priest and his sacrifice makes it so that disciples who have failed can lock eyes with him, and not only feel conviction, and not only grieve their failures, but so that they can see in his eyes, “I’m for you. Yes, you have failed me, but I love you, and I have made provision for your sin by the sacrifice of myself. You need not stay devasted. You too can turn.”
When Jesus locks eyes with you in your sin, it’s appropriate to weep. But not tears of despairs. Tears of repentance. When Jesus looks at you, be like Peter, repent; turn; don’t reject Jesus and make your sin worse with self-sabotage; honor the achievement of his cross; acknowledge that he came to rescue sinners; get over yourself and receive his rescue. Which leads to our final lesson.
So, stay awake; beware your perceptions of social pressure; lock eyes with Jesus when you’ve failed. And finally…
4. Receive his sacrifice and his Spirit.
Peter’s faith didn’t fail. He wept, and he turned. Which meant he received Jesus’s sacrifice — for him, for John, for you, for every disciple.
The work of Jesus as both high priest and sacrifice means he covers and deals with the just payment of our sin. And it is the finishing of his life-work of perfect righteousness which becomes ours in union with him by faith. And Jesus’s sacrifice doesn’t only forgive sins, and give us righteous standing before God, but the risen Christ also pours out his Holy Spirit (as we’ll celebrate next week on Pentecost) to dwell in Peter, and dwell in us.
Which gives us another piece of the complex picture of how Peter fell: he didn’t yet have the Holy Spirit. Not like he would after Pentecost.
When the Spirit comes, Peter will be awesome. He will rise indeed as the chief spokesman to proclaim what God has done in Jesus. And this Peter, and this John with him, will stand before this same Annas and Caiaphas and the whole Jewish council, and full of the Holy Spirit, say,
“there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. . . . Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. (Acts 4:12, 20)
Brothers and sisters, when you fall, know that in Jesus you can rise. Remember Peter. Do not presume on grace when tempted to sin. But when you have sinned, keep company with Peter in the aftermath. Lock eyes with Jesus. Go to him in his word, and in prayer, and through a Christian brother or sister. Own your sin; grieve it; and receive the purifying, empowering grace of his gaze, in his sacrifice and in his Spirit.
Grace for You Also
I don’t know how this sermon is landing on you this morning, whether God is bringing to mind some failure, some fall, in private. Maybe in the past. Maybe it’s a live, unresolved fall right now, and this message is for you, to lock eyes with Jesus, own your sin, and see the purifying grace in his eyes.
Or perhaps you’re thinking of this time in our city, and in our church, and how you’ve responded when someone caught you off guard with, “You’re not also at Cities Church, are you?”
Jonathan has more to say about our moment next Sunday. But Peter’s full story says to those who have been like him, and failed Jesus in some way: there is grace for you in the same place Peter found grace.
Which brings us to the Table.
Did you catch that quick detail in verse 18, that “the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire”? That’s an odd detail: charcoal fire.
The only other charcoal fire in all the Bible is just three chapters later in John 21. Jesus has risen. He appears to his disciples while fishing, gives them a miraculous catch of fish, and when they come ashore, verse 9, “they saw a charcoal fire in place.”
This is the public restoration of Peter. Jesus means to use this flawed man, oh does he. He failed three times by a charcoal fire, and now Jesus gives him three matching opportunities to declare his love, and receive the commission to feed Jesus’s sheep.
However you’ve fallen short of what Jesus is worth, let this Table be your charcoal fire this morning. This is a table of restoration, of fresh grace and fresh resolve and fresh dedication.
