Havasu Christian Church
March 24, 2024
“Peter & John: men who “crashed” but came back.”
INTRO: There are times when we get scared…. It may be something that happens to us once, or it may be something we are frightened of for our whole lives. But we’ve all been scared.
“Courage is the compliment of fear. A man who is fearless cannot be courageous. He is also a fool.” Robert Heinlein.
Sometimes we do things we regret. We wish we had done differently. There are times when we are able to “make up” for what we have done, other times, there is simply no way to make it right.
Peter and John found themselves in this predicament. What did they do about it?
Mark 14:42–50 “Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”
43 Immediately while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, *came up accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs, who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.
44 Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him and lead Him away under guard.”
45 After coming, Judas immediately went to Him, saying, “Rabbi!” and kissed Him.
46 They laid hands on Him and seized Him.
47 But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.
48 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as you would against a robber?
49 “Every day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me; but this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures.”
- And they all left Him and fled.
- What happens to Peter and John before the crucifixion?
- John and Peter run like rabbits!
- They are not alone!
- Every one of the disciples turn and run!
- Even Peter, after cutting off the ear of the slave of the High Priest.
- Why did they all run?
- Fear…. Obviously…
- They are tremendously outnumbered.
- They are way under armed
- But there was more than that.
John 18:7–9 Therefore He again asked them, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He; so if you seek Me, let these go their way,”
9 to fulfill the word which He spoke, “Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.”
- Jesus wanted His disciples to escape.
- They all did, even Peter.
- It appears that John and Peter went together to the house of the High Priest.
- This was an act of bravery.
- The priests and company are in a killing mood!
John 18:15–16 Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest,
16 but Peter was standing at the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter in.
- John never calls himself by name in his gospel.
- It’s about Jesus, not him.
- “The disciple known to the High priest” follows Jesus in and then gets Peter in as well.
- What did John do there besides get Peter in?
- We don’t know!
- But his description of what happened sure sounds like he was there seeing it all happen.
- How did the High Priest know John?
- We don’t know.
- Maybe John was the one who sold the fish that Andrew, Peter, James and John caught.
- Maybe they were his “regular” customers.
- Peter is recognized, and denies Jesus 3 times!
- Perhaps he lied to “protect his cover.”
- “Maybe I can somehow get Jesus out of this?”
- Where are Peter & John during the Crucifixion?
- Peter is nowhere to be found.
- Perhaps he is in hiding.
- Perhaps he is so embarrassed that he can’t show his face.
- “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will!”
- John is at the foot of the cross when Jesus is killed.
John 19:25–27 Therefore the soldiers did these things.
But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
26 When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”
27 Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.
- Jesus asks John to care for His mother.
- John does exactly that.
- “From that hour” he takes care of her, apparently for the rest of her life.
- What are John and Peter doing after the Crucifixion?
- Hiding!
- “If they killed Jesus, what might they do to me?”
- This is a reasonable fear!
- They are told about the Resurrection!
- They run to the tomb.
John 20:1–10 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene *came early to the tomb, while it *was still dark, and *saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.
2 So she *ran and *came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and *said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
3 So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb.
4 The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first;
5 and stooping and looking in, he *saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in.
6 And so Simon Peter also *came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he *saw the linen wrappings lying there,
7 and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.
8 So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.
9 For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.
10 So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
- They hear the words, but they can’t seem to truly understand!
- Perhaps we can blame their skepticism on the trauma they have been through.
- But they don’t believe what they have been told!
- They run to the tomb, but apparently they are looking for a different explanation of what has taken place.
- They are visited in a shut up room by Jesus!
- Not once, but twice!
John 20:19 So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and *said to them, “Peace be with you.”
John 20:26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus *came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
- They are suitably amazed and excited!
- Jesus also meets them at the lake shore.
John 21:12–14 Jesus *said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord.
13 Jesus *came and *took the bread and *gave it to them, and the fish likewise.
14 This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.
- Jesus feeds them, then takes Peter aside.
- Jesus isn’t done with Peter or John!
- Peter needs a talking to!
John 21:15–23 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus *said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Tend My lambs.”
16 He *said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.”
17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep.
18 “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.”
19 Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He *said to him, “Follow Me!”
20 Peter, turning around, *saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?”
21 So Peter seeing him *said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?”
22 Jesus *said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”
23 Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”
- Jesus “re-recruits Peter to follow Him again!
- John is following them a ways behind but doesn’t need the encouragement that Peter did!
- John hadn’t sunk as low as Peter!
- Both John and Peter get back to work!
Acts 4:13–21 Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.
14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.
15 But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another,
16 saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
17 “But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.”
18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge;
20 for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
21 When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened;
- A few weeks later, Peter and John are standing in front of the same people who had Jesus killed!
- They stand firm!!!
- If fact, they are confident!
- In spite of not being as politically powerful as the men they stand before.
- In spite of not being as well trained in the Scripture as the men they stand before.
- They are confident because they know that what they are saying is TRUE!!
- At the end of his life, Mary is long dead, all the other Apostles are long dead, God gives John one last job to do!
Revelation 1:1–3 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,
2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.
- John is faithful and writes the final book of the Bible!
- He describes everything God shows him, to the best of his ability!
Conclusion: What can we learn from Peter and John today?
- We all fail!
- It happens! Get used to it!
- But what do we do with that failure?
- Repent!
- Learn from it!
- Don’t let failure define you!
- When we fail, we cannot give up and quit!
- “Get back up on the horse!”
- Continue to serve.
- Know that even after great failure, we can still be used by God!
- God may use you in a very different way, but He will still use you!
- God will still use you, even when you get old.
- When Jesus describes how Peter will glorify God in his death, it sounds like an old man, being cared for. It doesn’t sound like getting your head lopped off by the Romans. “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.”
- John’s final days are spent writing the book of Revelation!
- Don’t ever say “I’m too old for God to use me!”
What can we learn about Jesus from all of this?
- He doesn’t give up on us!
- He spent 3 years teaching these guys and they still didn’t “get it.”
- He’ll be patient with us too!
- He has the ability to use us to do great things, even in spite of ourselves.
Remember: Jesus has things for you to do with your life! Your personal lack of ability, lack of resources, and lack of skill have already been factored into that equation. So stop making excuses!
- Jesus will use you in ways you never expected if you are open to His leading!
