The Beginning of the End for the Great King

Things move from unjust to shameful. (1) They begin to spit on Him, an act as insulting then as it is today (cf. Num 12:14; Deut 25:9; 30:10; Isa 50:6). (2) They cover His face, blindfolding Him for further mockery and abuse. (3) They begin to strike Him with their fists, taunting Him to “prophesy” as to who His attackers are (cf. Isa 11:2-4), and once more our Lord remains silent (cf. Isa 53:7). (4) “The temple police also took Him and slapped Him.” They join the party and beat and slap the innocent, kind, loving man who, as Acts 10:38 says, “went about doing good and healing all341 who were under the tyranny of the Devil, because God was with Him.” It is hard to put into words the severity of this miscarriage of justice. And it will get much worse.

Mark 14:66-72

“I’ve got your back” is a popular saying. Basically the idea is, “I am your friend, and I am watching out for what’s behind you as you are busy looking ahead. You can trust me to look out for you, to even ‘take a bullet for you’ if necessary.” It is a pledge of devotion, loyalty, and true friendship. Such friends are few and should be cherished as precious gifts.

Just a few hours earlier Peter had pledged, “Even if all the other disciples fall away, I won’t” (v. 29). And in verse 31 he said, “If I have to die with You, I will never deny You.” Well, in verse 50 Peter had run away just like everyone else when Jesus was arrested. Now, however, we find him, and only him, drawing close to the place where our Lord is being held. Maybe he does have Jesus’ back.

Peter is said to be “in the courtyard below,” indicating Jesus was in a large upper room in the substantial home of the high priest, a man who had profited through religion. A servant girl noticed Peter and said, “You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus” (v. 67). Given his earlier promise of fidelity, we are confident Peter will step up and declare his loyalty. We and, more importantly, Jesus are sadly disappointed.

Peter blatantly rejected her accusation: “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about” (v. 68). To avoid further scrutiny, Peter moved out into the entryway, “and a rooster crowed” (see v. 30)! Apparently, this had no impact on Peter. He was too busy claiming ignorance and trying to go undetected. This “rock” is beginning to crack!

This servant girl was persistent and unrelenting in her (or God’s!) pursuit of Peter. She, along with others (cf. Matt 28:71; Luke 22:58), began to say, “This man is one of them” (Mark 14:69). James Edwards well says, “A change in place is no substitute for a change of heart. Like a guilty conscience, the servant girl accuses Peter a second time” (Mark, 450).

342Peter is now on the spot, in the hot seat, in front of others. Here is his chance to “man up,” regain his courage, and take a stand for the Jesus for whom he had expressed undying loyalty. Unfortunately, “again he denied it” (v. 70). The tense of the verb he used means he kept on denying that he belonged to Jesus. It was not a one-time slip of the tongue. The fracture of this rock is growing.

Peter failed the Lord three times in the garden of Gethsemane (vv. 37-42). Now he fails Him three times in the courtyard of the high priest. Initially, he failed Him by sleeping when he should have been praying. Now he fails Him by denying Him when he should have confessed Him. The rock named Peter crumbles and is pulverized under the pressure.

Again the bystanders call to Peter, “You certainly are one of them, since you’re also a Galilean” (v. 70). This was all Peter could take. He puts himself under a divine curse. “If I am lying may God strike me dead” is a modern idiom that captures Peter’s sentiment. “I don’t know this man you’re talking about!” Peter will not even mention Jesus’ name, thereby distancing himself even further from this now convicted capital criminal.

“Immediately, a rooster crowed a second time” (v. 72). Peter then “remembered” that Jesus had predicted his denial. This broke him, and he, overwhelmed by this betrayal and cowardice, “began to weep.” At the very moment he was voicing his third denial, Jesus “turned and looked at Peter” (Luke 22:61). Sinclair Ferguson says, “That look was to be his salvation, for he saw in those eyes not condemnation but compassion. That was the turning point in his life.... Now, in this most painful and memorable of ways, Peter saw himself as he really was, repented, and was remade into the great apostle” (Mark, 252).

Peter would repent, turn to Christ for forgiveness, and receive a full pardon. By contrast Judas would only feel regret, run to the religious leaders to try to make amends, and go out and hang himself (Matt 27:5). If only he had turned again to the Lord Jesus like Peter. Though his sin was great, he would have discovered that God’s grace was even greater.

Balthasar Hubmaier has been called “the Simon Peter” of the evangelical Anabaptists of the sixteenth century. The movement’s greatest theologian, he would see six thousand believers baptized at Nikolsburg in 1526-27. And because of severe persecution, he would compromise and deny his commitment to Christ on at least two different occasions. Yet, like Peter, he would343 be brought by God to deep repentance. In a work titled Short Apology, he would write, “O God, pardon me my weakness. It is good for me that you have humbled me” (Estep, Anabaptist, 63).

On what appears to be a third occasion of torture, Hubmaier, with uncompromising fortitude, remained true to Jesus. One week later, on March 10, 1528, Hubmaier was burned at the stake. As he faced the fire, he shouted loud for the onlooking crowd to hear, “O my gracious God, grant me grace in my great suffering.” As the flames engulfed his beard and hair, his last words were simple: “O my heavenly Father! O my gracious God! ... O Jesus!” Witnesses said that in his death “he appeared to feel more joy than pain.” Such is the grace of God poured out on any sinner, no matter what the sin, who flees to Jesus in repentance, who flees to God in his hour of need. The great King in His passion has made it possible. Praise His name!