Christ Rules His Trial And Mine

Christ Rules! Gospel of Mark Series (Part 30)

A Sermon By Jim Hammond from Mark 14:32-72

BROKENNESS isn’t unusual

"Going once, going twice, sold for $7,000.00!" The auctioneer said right before his gavel hit the table. Rita Coors was elated. She'd just purchased a porcelain mask, hand painted by John Denver. She couldn't wait to hold it in her hands. As the auctioneer at the 1997 Charity Celebrity Ball for Hospice of Metropolitan Denver handed her the mask, it slipped through her fingers and shattered into a million pieces on the floor. She didn't demand her money back or abandon the broken piece of art. Instead, Mrs. Coors picked up the pieces and took them home with her. Later she decided to place the broken pieces around a collection of John Denver photographs. She made something beautiful out of the accident. Now she not only had a souvenir from a celebrity, but a story to tell too. Brokenness isn't unusual. Life often slips through our fingers and shatters at our feet. When it does, the best thing we can do is pick up the pieces and make something beautiful out of it, and then be willing to share the story with others who've been shattered too. [i]

Focus: Sometimes we fail miserably even though we are trying to follow Jesus, but if we let Him, God will make beautiful things out of the broken pieces of our failure.

The narrative we are about to study today shows us how Peter’s pride shattered at his feet in a tragic way. Out of Peter’s tragedy something even more beautiful and encouraging emerged, what God can do with broken pieces. Today we study a story of tragedy and redemption. God made something beautiful out of the broken pieces of Peter’s life.

Mark 14:32-72 (NIV)
³²They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ³⁴“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”	Come Sit and Pray
³⁵Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. ³⁶“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
³⁷Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? ³⁸Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”	Warning 1
³⁹Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. ⁴⁰When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.	Warning 2
⁴¹Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴²Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”	Warning 3
⁴³Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.	The Crisis
⁴⁴Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” ⁴⁵Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. ⁴⁶The men seized Jesus and arrested him. ⁴⁷Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.	The Chaos
⁴⁸“Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? ⁴⁹Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” ⁵⁰Then everyone deserted him and fled.	The Calm Christ
⁵¹A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, ⁵²he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.	All the disciples fled. They were all stripped of their empty promises and left naked!.
⁵³They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together. ⁵⁴Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.	Ask yourself Who's on Trial here? Peter warms up by the fire OUTSIDE, while the fire is put to Jesus INSIDE
⁵⁵The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. ⁵⁶Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.
⁵⁷Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: ⁵⁸“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.’” ⁵⁹Yet even then their testimony did not agree.
⁶⁰Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” ⁶¹But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”
⁶²“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”	Confession in the face of Death. Also a vindication predicted (“you will see”)
⁶³The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. ⁶⁴“You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
They all condemned him as worthy of death. ⁶⁵Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.	Ask yourself who’s blind here? They are blind to the prophecies! They are precisely fulfilling what He prophesied.
⁶⁶While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. ⁶⁷When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him.
“You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said.
⁶⁸But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway.	Strike 1
⁶⁹When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, “This fellow is one of them.” ⁷⁰Again he denied it.	Strike 2
After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”
⁷¹He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.”	Strike 3
⁷²Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept.	The rooster crowed the second time. What was Peter thinking when it crowed the first time? It finally strikes home only after the second time.

I. Jesus Shows Me how to avoid Failure

Jesus doesn’t want me to fail even when he knows I will. He keeps working for my success. He prays for my success. He gave the disciples, warnings, and encouragement, and help.

A. Sins of Omission precede sins of Commission

· 3 Times Peter failed to understand Jesus’ prediction of his sufferings (Mark 8:29-33; 10:32-34; 14:24-28)

· 3 Times Peter did not heed Jesus’ urgent appeal to watch and pray (14:32-42)

· 3 Times Peter denied Jesus (14:67-72)

The failure of the disciples is a dominating theme in this section. Just as the mad dash of the young man exposed his nakedness, all the disciples’ mad dash to safety exposed the nakedness of their empty promises. Their panicked flight contrasts sharply with Jesus’ calm quiet dignity. The young man’s escape reflects the “save your own neck, every man for himself” mentality. This became the mentality of all the followers of Jesus.

The disciples failed miserably. Mark has already told us why.

B. The Trial Before the Trial is the Trial of Prayer (14:32-42)

Here’s another way to put it. The pre-determining test, before the test of crisis, is the test of prayer.

When my alarm goes off in the morning, I face the trial before the trials of the day. Here’s the trial: Will I win the battle of the blankets? Will I get up to spend time with the Lord before the trials of the day begin? It is often how I fare in this battle that determines how I will face the other battles of the day. Before you face any difficulty make sure you win the trial of prayer. Take it to the Lord first before you attempt to face anything with your own strength.

C. A Simple Solution: Don’t Follow at a Distance (14:54)

Mark 14:53-54 (NIV) ⁵³They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together. ⁵⁴Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.

To Jesus, Peter said in effect, “I’m behind you all the way.” And he was—way behind.

II. The Irony of Jesus’ Trial—He isn’t the one on trial

The Blindfolded Jesus is the only one who sees, while his tormentors are blinded by hatred (14:65)

Mark 14:65 (NIV) Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.

Little did they know, they were fulfilling prophecies Jesus had already stated. They were the blind ones.

While Jesus was under fire inside, Peter warmed himself by a fire outside

Mark 14:54 (NIV) Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.

Mark 14:66-68 (NIV) ⁶⁶While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. ⁶⁷When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him.

“You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said.

⁶⁸But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway.

While Jesus boldly confesses before the high priest, Peter bold facedly denies that he knew Jesus before a mere servant girl. The contrasts are sharp. Jesus openly declares he is the messiah only when there is no possibility that people will rise up to crown him, and it will mean his own death. Peter openly denies that he knows anything about Christ in order to avoid personal danger.

Mark tells us that the rooster crowed a second time (14:72). I wonder what Peter thought when he heard it the first time? Mark doesn’t tell us. Peter simply continued, at that point still convinced he would never deny Jesus. Even after being warned, Peter persisted in his denial. Have you ever ignored the warning signals that come your way? I have. Sin makes us stupid. Pride makes us blind. The cocky rooster crow was an appropriate sign.

“The king of the chicken coop rules the roost and struts around, thinking that he is king of the world. The rooster fits perfectly Peter’s cocky boastfulness in 14:29, but it is the crowing of the rooster that snaps him to awareness of what he has just done.”[ii]

Can you identify with Peter? I can. When we read this account we need to look honestly into ourselves and see how easily we can be like Peter. But let’s not stop there. He’s not the only one on trial.

· There is the crafty High Priest supporting his theologically “correct” views,

· the devious Judas who finds something in it for himself,

· the lying false witnesses who slant the truth when they tell their version,

· the wishy washy political ruler,

· the mindless members of the crowd who went along with it,

· and the other disciples who hide away and do nothing. Do you see who is really on trial here? We are.

Have you ever been overconfident, only to find yourself broken, and ashamed later?

Have you ever been sleeping or missing from the everyday praying, the everyday worship, or even the Sunday call to center our lives on God again? Have you ever thought that skipping your prayer time was no big deal? Have you ever thought that missing church was no big deal? Have you ever thought missing your care group because you hade a busy day and you were tired was perfectly justifiable? All by itself these things might in fact seem small. Here’s the solemn warning from scripture today. It is ALWAYS the little failures that set you up for the disastrous fall. You never know when the crisis will hit. The disciples weren’t ready for the hour of crisis. Are you? Scripture warns us to watch and pray. Don’t let crisis hit you while you are unpreprayered (yes that’s spelled wrong on purpose). If you are unpreprayered when crisis hits, or temptation hits, you will run, and it won’t be towards God. You will react, and it won’t be out of faith.

Now lets step into the mindset of the early readers of the Mark’s Gospel. Mark wrote to persecuted Roman Christians. They needed to hear this message and take heart. They needed to hear about Peter’s overconfidence and where that got him. They needed to be warned. But many of them also needed to be consoled. Perhaps some of them felt bad for times they were timid. They saw themselves in Peter, or one of the other characters of this narrative.

Maybe we don’t have to fear for our lives from the Romans. But the pressure is mounting. In the face of the mounting negativity towards Christianity our denials may be in the form of timid silence. We may not want to be identified as Christians. Perhaps we try to blend in with the crowd, we don’t want to stick out, we don’t want to be different, we don’t want people not liking us, so we become silent. Christ calls us to stand out.

Hall of Fame Mickey Mantle was on the verge of death after years of abusing his body with alcohol. Many old friends gathered to say their goodbyes. One former team mate was Bobby Richardson. Earlier Mickey Mantle used to make fun of Bobby Richardson. He called him “the milk drinker.” He was different. He didn’t fit in with the Mickey Mantle party crowd. But when it came time to face eternity. Mickey Mantle wanted most to talk with Bobby Richardson. The testimony of Bobby’s life in the midst of those years of jeers, made it’s impact. Bobby wasn’t a man of the world, but Mickey Mantle needed to talk to someone who knew something about the next world. [iii]

III. He Rules My Trial Even When I Fail

Eric Liddell Got Back Up

Many of you saw the movie Chariots of Fire back about ten years ago. [If you missed it, its in our church library]. It was the true story of Eric Liddell, a man who ran for Scotland, then went on to become a missionary. You may recall that he refused to run on the Sabbath, forfeiting some of the awards he probably would have won in the 1924 Olympics.

Well, there was another scene in that movie that may have appeared like Hollywood fiction, but it was also true. One year before the pivotal event in the movie, Eric Liddell ran in a meet between England, Ireland and Scotland. He ran the 100-, 220-, and 440-yard events.

In the 440, he got off to a bad start. When that gun sounded, there was a lot of shoving to get in front to the inside lane, the advantageous position.

Liddell tangled feet with J. J. Gillies of England and tumbled to the track. He sat there dazed for a moment, not knowing whether he could get up, when the official screamed, "Get up and run!"

He jumped to his feet and took off after the pack, which was now a full twenty yards ahead of him. In a quarter mile, that's a big distance to try to make up. In his unorthodox style of running he took off after the pack. He pulled into fourth place ten yards behind the leader, J. J. Gillies.

With forty yards to go, he pulled into third place, then second. Right at the tape he passed Gillies, stuck his chest out, won the race, and collapsed to the track in total exhaustion. Medical personnel had to assist him off the track that day.

An article appearing the next day in The Scotsman newspaper said, "The circumstances in which Liddell won the race made it a performance bordering on the miraculous. Veterans whose memories take them back thirty-five years and in some cases longer in the history of athletics were unanimous in the opinion that Liddell's win in the quarter mile was the greatest track performance they had ever seen."

There's something glorious about getting up off the track after you've been knocked down and running again. Win or lose, you didn't stay down. [iv]

Peter’s denial is a warning to us, but it is more than that. It is also an encouragement to us because Peter got back up and won his race!

One of the interesting things about this story is highlighted when we ask the question, “Where did Mark get his information?”. The descriptive detail of his failure could have only come from his lips! There are parts of the story only Peter would have known. Mark must have heard Peter tell this story in his preaching. I can imagine Peter told this story many times. And we also know this about Peter; His life did not end in failure. Mark tells us later that he was restored. In fact he was singled out for restoration.

Mark 16:7 (NIV) ⁷But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

Paul tells us the same, that Peter was singled out.

1 Corinthians 15:5 (NIV) ⁵and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.

These two lines (Mark 16:7, & 1 Corinthians 15:5) tell us about an unrecorded interaction between Peter and Jesus that brought about personal restoration. There was also the public restoration of Peter in front of the other disciples that John records in John 21 where Jesus gave Peter the chance 3 times to reaffirm his love for Jesus. Jesus asks him 3 times, and Peter reaffirms his love 3 times. All the failures that came in 3s were made right by Jesus. He rules our trials, if we will let him. If we will let him he will make something beautiful out of the broken pieces of our lives. Peter became stronger through all of this. He eventually gave his life for the cause of the Gospel. He didn’t fail again!

Jesus had told Peter,

Luke 22:31-32 (NIV) ³¹“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. ³²But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

“God uses broken things. Broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever.” [v]

Perhaps this morning is the right time for you to break down and weep before the Lord. If we let Him, God will make beautiful things out of the broken pieces of our failure.

CONFESS your failure. If you will allow God to have his way with you, that very failure might be the biggest asset you can give God in the work of his Kingdom. There are others who struggle with the same thing. If you will give God that area of your brokenness, He will bring healing. After he has brought healing to you, you will become the right person to help someone else in that same area.

If you keep your failure to yourself and never let someone else know, 2 things will happen. 1) You will not know the fullness of the joy of forgiveness, release, and restoration because your pride continues to hold you in bondage. And 2) You will forfeit the joy that comes from becoming an agent of healing for someone else.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you for warning me so well. I have been like Peter. I have failed you. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you. Give me the courage to speak of my failures as you gave Peter the courage to speak of his failures. Thank you Lord for putting some of your servants in my life that I can trust when I need to break the silence of pride. I pray you will provide a trusted servant to each one here who needs someone to talk to about his or her struggles. Lord, completely restore us in the areas of our failures that we can get up and continue the race, that we can strengthen others also who struggle with similar struggles.

Lord, Keep me mindful of my weakness that I might always depend upon you. Help me to succeed in the preliminary trial of prayer. Help me to watch and pray, so that when the trial of crisis hits or the trial of temptation, I am ready to run to you rather than away from you. I am weak Lord. I dump all my pride out before you. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to stand up for you when it gets really tough, so help me to prepare well. I don’t want to be cocky here. Help me to be stronger by your power. Thank you for dying for me. Thank you for strengthening me. Thank you for forgiving me. In you I take comfort and rejoice. It is in the powerful and conquering Name of Jesus, that I pray.

Amen

[i] Leadership Journal, Winter 2001, p. 40

[ii] David E. Garland, The NIV Application Commentary, p. 567-568.

[iii] David E. Garland, The NIV Application Commentary, p. 573-574.

[iv] Craig Brian Larson, "Strong to the Finish," Preaching Today, Tape No. 155.

[v] Vance Havner, Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 1.