In the passage we read from John's
Gospel, chapter 18, we read of how Jesus was apprehended in
the Garden of Gethsemane and brought first to Annas, who was
father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same
year. And in Caiaphas, And we read in verse 15, And Simon Peter
followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. That disciple was known
unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace
of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door without.
Then went out that other disciple which was known unto the high
priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in
Peter. Then saith the damsel that kept
the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He sayeth, I am not. And the
servants and officers stood there who had made a fire of coals,
for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with
them and warmed himself. Then Christ himself is interrogated
by the high priest. And then again outside, we read
in verse 25, And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They
said, therefore, unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it and said, I am not.
One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman, whose
ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden
with him? Peter then denied again, and
immediately the cock crewed. This account of Peter's denial
of Christ, whilst nearby in the palace, the house of the high
priest, as Christ himself is interrogated of the high priest,
is recorded in all four Gospels. So important is this event So
connected is it with the crucifixion of Christ, the offering of Christ
as the Passover lamb, as the offering for sinners. So connected
is it with that account and with the centrality of the truth of
the Gospel that all four Gospels record this. in very similar
manner. They record the setting, the
house, the palace of the high priest. They record how Christ
is before the high priest and questioned, interrogated, accused. They record how Simon is nearby
in the courtyard warming himself by the coals of the fire and
questioned Do you know Jesus Christ? Aren't you one of his? Aren't you a follower of him?
You know him. And Peter says, I do not. Three
times. And the cock cries. And Peter
wept bitterly. Yes, all four Gospels record
this. They also record the events around
it, the setting, the time of the Passover. Jesus had just
had supper, the last supper with his disciples at the time of
the Passover. They prepared the Passover, they'd
eaten it together. He sat and he prayed with them. And it's in this context that
Christ, the Lamb of God, the Passover Lamb of which the Passover
Lamb was but a figure, the true offering for sin, it's in this
context that Christ is taken to the high priest and prepared
as a sacrifice to be slain upon the tree. And it is in this context
that Peter, a sinner, nearby, looks on, knowing his savior, his Passover,
is there to be offered. And yet, as a sinner, denies
him thrice. In the other three Gospels we
read immediately in the same chapter in which they record
this event, Matthew 26, Mark 14 and Luke 22, in the very same
chapter preceding Peter's denial we read the preparation of the
Passover in Matthew 26 verse 17 now the first day of the feast
of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus saying unto him
what wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover
And he said, Go into the city to such a man and say unto him,
The master saith, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover
at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus
had appointed them, and they made ready the Passover. Likewise
in Mark 14, 16. We read the very same words.
And they made ready the Passover and again in Luke 22 13 in the
same circumstances and they made ready the Passover in each case
the disciples made ready the Passover but in truth their Passover
was Christ with them. In John's gospel leading up to
chapter 18. We read from chapter 13 of how
Christ sat at the supper with his disciples and his teaching
and prayer which follows in the following chapters. chapter 13
we read now before the feast of the Passover when Jesus knew
that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world
unto the father having loved his own which were in the world
he loved them unto the end and supper being ended The devil
having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon's son
to betray him, Jesus knowing that the father had given all
things into his hands and that he was come from God and went
to God, he riseth from supper and laid aside his garments and
took a towel and girded himself. After that he poureth water into
a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them
with the towel wherewith he was girded. In John's gospel, we
read of the supper, we read of what Christ did, but there's
no mention of the disciples themselves actually making ready the Passover. Because in John's gospel, John
presents Christ as divine, the Son of God. He is the Passover
lamb. He's the one that comes as the
great high priest of his people, who offers himself as the sacrifice,
the lamb for his people. He prepares the Passover. Earlier in John, John the Baptist
points unto Christ and says, behold the Lamb of God. Here the Lamb of God is with
His disciples. He is their Passover. So there's
no mention of them making ready the Passover. For all is of God
here. Christ makes ready the Passover. He is the Passover. And here
In the house, the palace of the great high priest, that Passover
lamb is brought before the priest and made ready for the sacrifice. Made ready. The lamb of God,
the Passover himself is made ready. And one disciple who knew the
high priest went into the house ahead of Peter. We read that
Simon Peter followed Jesus and so did another disciple. That
disciple was known under the high priest and went in with
Jesus into the palace of the high priest. But Peter stood
at the door without. Then went out that other disciple
which was known under the high priest and spake unto her that
kept the door and brought in Peter. This disciple goes to the damsel
at the door and says, let this man in. Bring him into the house. And Peter entered. But as he
enters, the damsel that kept the door said unto Peter, Art
not thou also one of this man's disciples? And he saith, I am
not. As he enters, the damsel that
kept the door says unto him, You know Christ. You know him. And he says, No, I don't. No,
I don't. And while Christ is interrogated
within, as the sacrifice of the Passover is prepared, there Peter
stands by a fire, a fire of coals in the priest's house by which
Peter and others warmed themselves. He is there in the house. The priest is there with Christ,
the sacrifice, the lamb. A fire is lit, a fire of coals. The disciple has brought Peter
in and the damsel at the door says under Peter, you know him,
you're a follower of him. And he says, no I don't. That is the setting in which
we read of this sinner, Peter, who denies the Lord. A sinner like you and like I. We are all, as Peter, we all
by nature would deny Christ. even when we have heard his gospel,
even when we have been brought to knowledge of the truth, our hearts resist and deny. You may have been brought by
a disciple into the house, you may have been led in by the door,
You may have heard the truth concerning Christ, the Lamb of
God, the Passover. You may have heard the truth
concerning your sin, concerning Christ, concerning why He came,
who He is, what He suffered. You may have heard and you may
know. And the damsel at the door may
say unto you, you know, you've heard. And yet like Peter, you
and I, by nature, will say, I know him not. We deny. And yet Peter looked on. He went
in, he stood by the fire, he warmed himself. He took all the
benefits he could gain to deliver himself from the cold. from the
darkness, he sought warmth, he sought light, he sought as it
were salvation, he took what he could get and yet he denied
the Lord. By nature we're just the same,
the Lord has given us our life, our health, All that we have,
He's given us the world in which we dwell. We take the warmth
from Him. We take all that He gives us.
We may even take the knowledge of the truth and the gospel and
perhaps live our lives according to some moral code. Maybe we
seek to make ourselves presentable unto God, that He might see something
good in us. We will take all we can. And yet when we are asked, do
you believe in Jesus Christ? Are you his disciple? We say no. I know him not. I'm not one of his. We deny. He was close by. Peter was there. He'd heard the gospel. He'd heard
the gospel from Jesus' lips. He knew. He knew Him, He knew
the truth. And yet at this hour when Christ
so needed Him, at this hour when Christ had been taken away, captured
and was facing death, when Christ needed His disciples, Peter denied
Him. My hour has come, Jesus said,
and at that hour He denied Him. And we may see Christ rejected
by all, rejected by all humanity, all the world, all around us.
Everyone we encounter may scoff and mock and deride him. We may
see him trodden underfoot and spat upon. We may spit upon him
ourselves. And yet despite all that we see,
How evilly Christ is treated, even in our day and age, even
by our peers, even when we see him rejected, though innocent,
our hearts are hard and we deny him. Are you like that? Is this you? If one should bring you to the
house, And the damsel at the door of the house says unto you,
don't you know Christ? Do you deny? You've heard, you
know, and yet you say, I know him not. I do not believe. Yes, Peter here is the sinner. He's you. And he's me. We're all Peter
here. Though one should bring us to
the door of the house, though one should lead us in to see
Christ, to hear the gospel, to know the truth. Our hearts rage,
no. I know him not. We'll even curse
in our denial. And yet who do we deny? We deny the Lamb of God, the
Passover Lamb. The offering that God has given
to spare us from judgment and wrath because of our sin. Here
Peter was a sinner, he needed salvation. He knew that in a
natural sense, there in the cold he stood to warm himself by the
fire. There in the dark he saw by the
light of the fire. He knew he was weak by nature. He knew he needed salvation.
And here, God's Passover lamb is prepared as the salvation
of sinners. The very one that Peter needed. The savior, a lamb offered in
his place to take the wrath of God against his sins. The one
he needed, he denied. And if you and I are here, hearing
the gospel, brought in by a disciple into the house, led in by the
door and the damsel says unto us, don't you know him? The very
one of whom we hear. Christ, the Lamb of God, He's
the one we need to deliver us from ourselves, to deliver us
from our wretchedness, our sin, our denial. Without Him, we're
lost in the darkness. Without Him, we'll be thrown
upon the coals of that fire eternally, because of our sins. But here
we read of one Lamb, who was roasted upon the fire for us,
who endured the wrath and judgment of God for sinners, for his people,
for Peter. Was it your Passover? Was it
your Passover? In Exodus, chapter 12, we read
of this Passover, we read of its institution, when that people
of Israel, captive in Egypt, bound by their sin in captivity
in this world, unable to escape, unable to save themselves under
the oppression of the Egyptians. When they were there, God told
them, I will send a destroyer into the land. I will send mine
angel. and he shall destroy. But if
you have a lamb in your house, slain and roasted upon the fire,
and if its blood has been daubed upon the doors, then I will pass
over you, I will spare you. And so the children of Israel
did. Each house they prepared a lamb for the slaughter. They found a perfect, unblemished,
unspotted lamb. It was offered up. It was roasted
upon the fire and eaten, but before that, its blood was daubed
upon the doors of the house. And in the night, in the darkness,
in the cold, the angel of the Lord came by, and where there
was no blood, He judged. He judged the sin within. But
where there was blood upon the house, he passed over. He passed over. Here in this house of the high
priest, a lamb, Jesus Christ, was prepared for the Passover. He was examined of the high priest,
questioned, interrogated. They sought to find a blemish
in him and they could not find one. Oh yes, they found false
accusation to lay to his charge. Oh yes, they decided he was guilty,
but they found no ill in him. They found no guilt in him. Jesus
answered them, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil.
But if well, why smitest thou me? He was a perfect, unblemished
lamb, prepared for the slaughter. And his blood, once shed, was
daubed upon the doors of his house. that all that are found
therein, though in themselves they may be the greatest of sinners,
though they may deny him free fall, though they may be a Peter
who abandoned him in his hour of need, though they may be a
sinner like you and I, all those found in the house under the
blood would be spared. Peter was a sinner a cursing,
denying sinner in that house near Christ and yet Christ's
blood washed him clean. Exodus 12 we read, And they shall
take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and
on the upper doorposts of the houses, wherein they shall eat
it. And they shall eat the flesh
in that night, roast with fire and unleavened bread, and with
bitter herbs they shall eat it. Hear this lamb. Jesus Christ
is prepared. His blood shed. He was roasted
with fire in the darkness of the night upon the cross for
Peter. For Peter's unbelief, for Peter's
denial, for Peter's sin, for Peter's rejection. Was he roasted
under the wrath and the judgment of God for you? Was he your Passover lamb? his
blood that which washes you clean? Has his blood been daubed upon
the door of the house that God has led you into? Has God sent
out his disciple to you to say come in, come in by the door,
the Passover is ready, look unto him and be ye saved
as he come unto you the door there was a damsel at
the door who let peter in who said unto him are you one
of his don't you know him Don't you know him? And Peter said,
I am not. I know not this man. Is that
you? Has God brought you by the gospel
to this door? And does the damsel speak unto
you? Is there blood over the door
to wash away your sin? Yes, the blood of that Lamb was
daubed on the doors of the house. And here at this house, this
palace of the High Priest, that Lamb of God is prepared for the
sacrifice. The one sacrifice for sin of
which the Passover Lamb was but a figure, it's His blood which
must be on the door. Have you seen his blood? Has
God taken that blood and applied it? Is it upon the door of your
heart? Has he washed you with that blood
within? Can you look upon it and say,
though I've denied him, free fall, though I'm utterly guilty,
God's offered up. this blood on my behalf, he's
taken it, he's washed me in it, there's my hope, there's my hope
upon the door, this blood of Christ. Here Peter's been brought
in through this door, he stands by the fire while the lamb is
prepared, prepared for judgment, for wrath, for the fires, prepared
for Peter's sins, prepared to be offered for his unbelief,
prepared to be offered for his freefall denial, prepared to
be offered for his rejection and hatred of Christ, prepared
for Peter's salvation. Was Christ there prepared as
a lamb for the offering, for your sin? your unbelief, your
denial, your rejection, your hatred, your salvation. After this, Christ was taken
out to the hall of judgment. Having been prepared in the priest's
house, he was taken to the hall of judgment. where judgment was declared and
then he was led away to be executed. The Passover lamb spared the
houses of those upon whose doors the blood was daubed from the
judgment and the wrath of God against sin. God said, I will
pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all
the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and
against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord and the blood shall
be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are and when
I see the blood I will pass over you and the plague shall not
be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. God is a God of righteousness,
of judgment. Our sins will be judged. They
will be judged and they will either have been judged in Christ
and washed away by his blood or they will be judged in us,
in our souls for eternity. Oh that we should be under that
blood. Oh that we should have a Passover
offered for us. O that when brought to hear of
this Passover, when a disciple of Christ should come out unto
us in the darkness outside, and by the gospel lead us to the
door of the house of God, lead us to the door of the house of
the high priest, when he should come unto us and bring us through
the door, O that that door should have blood, applied for us. Not only was there a door through
which Simon was brought but there was a damsel at the door who
met him and spake unto him. Who is this damsel a figure of? She is as it were a picture of
the church the Bride of Christ, who stands at the door of his
house, who keeps the door, and says unto those that come by,
do you know the Saviour? You know Him. You know Him. She declares unto the world around,
you know this man. Jesus Christ, you know him. And what is our response as sinners
when we hear this? When we hear the gospel preached,
when we hear the damsel declare Christ unto us and ask us, do
you know him? Are you one of his? What is our
response? When we stand at the door, and
hear the gospel of Christ, how do we respond? How do we respond
when the damsel at the door, that keeps the door, says unto
us through the gospel, don't you know him? We deny. Like Peter, by nature we say,
no, I know him not. I will not believe. I know him not. How we reject the message. How we reject the gospel. Though
it's set before us. Though Christ might be right
there before us. Though the damsel might point
and say, he's inside, you know him. we deny. Despite a threefold witness Peter
denied three times and immediately the cock crew. Matthew records
this like this and Peter remembered the word of Jesus which said
unto him before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice and
he went out and wept bitterly And in Luke's gospel we read,
And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately
while he yet spake, the cock crew and the Lord turned and
looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word
of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow
thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. Before the morning, before the
dawning of the day, before the cock had crowed thrice, Peter
had denied Christ three times, as we all have done. In the darkness
of the night of our sin, we've continually denied Him. I do
not know him. No matter how many times the
gospel's been preached unto us, no matter how close we've been
brought to the truth, we may be there at the house, at the
door of the house. We may be there near unto Christ
himself. The disciples may declare him
unto us. The church preaches him unto
us. The damsel at the door says,
you know him. And despite all of this, we deny. Three times over Peter denied
Him. Our denial of this truth is threefold. Threefold. We deny the Father. We deny the Son. We deny the
Spirit. We deny every declaration and
revelation of the truth. Our unbelief, our darkness is
total. It's total, our blindness is
complete. We can hear as many times as
we like and we deny it. The Father can come unto us and
say, say unto us, this is my son, hear ye him, and we will
not hear. Christ can stand before us and
say, I am the door. I am the water of life. I am
the great shepherd. I am the life. am and we deny
him. The Spirit of God can come in
the gospel and preach him unto us and declare him unto us and
say behold the Lamb of God and we say away with this man crucify
him. Our unbelief is total despite
the free fall witness of Father Son and Holy Spirit we deny There's a threefold witness around
us too. Creation itself witnesses to
God's existence, His almighty power and Godhead, to the person
of Jesus Christ. Every day it witnesses. The sun rises up, the darkness
goes, the light and the heat of the sun shines and we're witness
to and we say no. Every day the Word of God sits
upon the page, there to be read, there to be heard. We may have
read it many times, we may have heard it preached many times,
and we say no. And yet even within our own being,
in our own conscience, God has spoken. He says unto us, you
know I am. You know my son. You know it's
the truth. You know that one day you will
stand before me. We know and yet despite the threefold
witness we carry on denying until the cock crows, until the light
of the sun arises, until the day star springs up, when the
light shines, when the morning comes, When Christ turns and
looks upon us, then we know. Then we know. And then, as Peter
did, we will weep bitterly over our sins. Peter said, Man, I
know not what thou sayest. And immediately while he yet
spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned and looked
upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word
of the Lord, and he went out and wept bitterly. If the sun
should rise, if the light of the gospel should shine, if Christ
should turn and look unto you and I, and we see him with eyes
opened by the Spirit, with the eyes of faith, then we will know. We may deny threefold. We may
deny the threefold witness of God himself to the truth. We
may deny the threefold witness in creation, the word of God
and our own conscience to the truth. We may deny the Father,
the Son and the Spirit themselves, all free as one, declaring the
truth in Christ. We may deny, for we're all Peter's. We all know there's a God and
we deny Him. We all know of Christ and we
deny Him. We all resist the witness of
the Spirit. We may deny, but if Christ should
look, our denial will be brushed aside. It's one gaze. One look from
Christ himself will break our hearts. One look, one ray of
light from the sun of righteousness will take away the darkness.
One drop of his blood applied to the door through which we
enter will wash away all of our sins. One drop of his blood sprinkled
within our hearts will melt us and break us. Oh, that the Lord
would be pleased to send a disciple out from the house unto you and
I to say, come in. Oh, that the damsel at the door
may preach the gospel and say, you know him. and that despite our free-fold
denial, despite our unbelief, O that the Lord himself, our
Passover, the sacrifice, the Saviour, would turn and look
unto us and shine his light into our hearts. May the love of Christ
himself be shed abroad in our hearts. Loving his own, he loved
them to the end. Oh, that he should look upon
us in love, mercy and grace, and that like Peter who denied
him, we might be lifted up to follow him to the end, to know
him, to love him, to preach him, to know the Passover, to be washed
in his blood, to have his life forevermore. Oh that Jesus would
turn and look unto us.