Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Dial In - John 18:15-27 (Ep. 47)

Episode Date: July 1, 2020

Dial In is a devotional series with the intention of helping followers of Christ understand God’s word and love Him more. Jonny seeks to communicate the profound depth of scripture in a digestible and condensed format each weekday. The goal of the podcast is that our “minds would be renewed” as we behold who God is in His word. In this series, Jonny is walking sequentially through the Gospel of John.In this episode, Jonny covers John 18:15-27Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artivanis, and this is Dial In. In this episode, we cover the denial of Peter and the trial of Jesus. Our passage is John chapter 18, verses 15 through 27. Let's dial in. John chapter 18, verses 15 through 27. Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, 18 verses 15 through 27. and brought Peter in. The servant girl at the door said to Peter, you also are not one of the man's disciples, are you? He said, I am not. 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. The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 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. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them. They know what I said. 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? 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? Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, You are also not one of his disciples, are you? He denied it and said, I am not. One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, Did I not see 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? Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed. Now if you recall, chapters 13 through 17 of John are all in one long evening

on the night before Jesus's crucifixion. Jesus is with his disciples and he knows that his hour has come. He knows of the betrayal of Judas and he knows of his looming death. He then tells his disciples in chapter 13 that he is going to leave them and that he is going to the Father. And in verse 36 of chapter 13, remember this with me,

Peter asks Jesus, where are you going? And Jesus answered Peter and said, where I am going, Peter, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterward. Then Peter responds in chapter 13, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. And Jesus responds and says, will you lay down your life for me, Peter? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow until you have

denied me three times. Now fast forward with me to chapter 18, where just hours after Jesus had prophesied of Peter's denial, Jesus is being bound by soldiers and being taken away to trial. But Peter won't have it. He grabs his sword and cuts off a guy's ear. He's ready to fight. But Jesus shuts him down. He restores the man's ear. And Jesus goes voluntarily. He is not bullied into submission. He tells the band of soldiers, take me. I'm your guy.

Let the others go. Jesus will not be defended by Peter or by anyone else for that matter. His kingdom is not of this world. He says later, if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight. And in Matthew, it tells us that Jesus said, do you not think that I cannot ask my father right now and he will send me more than 12 legions of angels to defend me. If I needed to be rescued, Jesus says, if I needed to be defended, I can ask my father and he will send me 12 legions of angels. Now, what can 12 legions of angels do? We don't even know that type of power, but we know the power of one angel. We see that in the Old Testament.

One angel wiped out 185,000 Assyrians alone. This is massive, incalculable, divine power at his disposal. But Jesus doesn't use it. He was born to die, and so he goes voluntarily. Now, as we continue in John chapter 18, we see that John is writing this narrative like a novel. He is bringing us into simultaneously occurring scenes that are happening at the exact same time. Two different dramas are happening here.

One being Jesus' trial and the other being Peter's denial. John is showing us, think about this, that at the exact moment Jesus is going to his death, the reason that he is going to his death is to pay for the sins that are being at that very moment committed by the one who would have been considered his most devout follower. Jesus is on his way to the cross to pay for the sins of Peter that Peter is committing at the exact same time. The punishment for all of Peter's denial is about to be borne by Jesus within a matter of hours. We see in verse 15 that Peter is following Jesus as Jesus is being led away to trial.

Now, Matthew tells us that when Jesus was arrested, all of the disciples scattered. But Peter finds him again and begins to follow him. Not closely, because Mark 14, 54 tells us that Peter is following from a distance. He's not anywhere near Jesus. He's following Jesus in the night, but he doesn't want anybody to know it. Imagine this with me. Jesus is being led away by hundreds of soldiers with weapons and with torches. But Peter's following, ducking behind trees and branches and people and walls.

He loves Jesus too much to just leave him, but he's too much of a coward to come anywhere near Jesus. So he's following him secretly. Now, Peter in verse 16 is listening outside the door where Jesus is being tried. And then he is brought in by a servant girl. And in verse 17, this servant girl says something alarming. She says, wait, aren't you one of Jesus's disciples? Aren't you? Yes, you are one of his disciples. Now, this is a servant girl. This isn't someone to be afraid of, right? But Peter responds immediately. No, not me. I'm not him. Peter lowers his head, looks side to side, and then warms his hands over the fire as he attempts to blend in

with everyone else. Now we'll pick up at this scene in a moment because the text takes us inside of the trial of Jesus. John is going to show us what is happening at that exact same moment. Now in verse 19, the high priest is questioning Jesus, asking him about his disciples and about his teaching. And Jesus responds and says, I've spoken openly to the world. I've always taught in synagogues and in temples. When all of the Jews were together, I have said nothing in secret. Jesus says, why are you asking me about my teaching? Jesus is alluding to an obvious reality. He is saying, why are you trying to figure out what my message has been? You know all of my teachings because I taught them in front of you. I love what Paul says in Acts 26 verse 26. He says that the words and works

of Jesus were not done in a corner. No one was confused about Jesus' claim to deity. No one was confused about his condemnation of the self-righteous, nor of his love and grace to sinners. After Jesus responds, he is then hit by an officer nearby. Imagine this with me. The creator of the universe is being clubbed by a young man. He's getting mocked by someone he created. We will see more of this to come. This is the fulfillment of Micah 5.1. They shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod on the face, on the cheek. Jesus responds and says, why do you hit me? Have I done anything wrong? What's the answer? No, Jesus had done nothing wrong. And because he had done nothing wrong, he was uniquely qualified to be our sacrifice. Now we pick back up in verse 25, where Peter is warming

his hands over the fire. He's trying to blend in with everyone else, but he also wants to listen in on the conversation that's happening with Jesus. But for a second time, someone looks at him and says, wait, I know you. You're one of Jesus's followers. You're one of Jesus's disciples. And for a second time, Peter says, no, no, no, no. You've got the wrong guy. You've mistaken me with someone else. I don't know Jesus. And he goes back to warming his hands over the fire. But for a third time, a servant says, no, you are one of Jesus's disciples. In fact, I saw you in the garden. You're the guy that cut off my cousin's ear. And then Peter denies Jesus for a third time. And he does so emphatically. And the

other gospels will tell us that he does so with cursing. He says, I don't bleep and bleep and know the guy. Would you get this through your bleeping head? I don't bleeping know him. And at that moment, the rooster would crow. This is amazing. This is a guy who weeks later would be preaching the sermons that inaugurated the church. And in verse 27, it tells us that as Peter denied Jesus, the rooster crows. And in Luke 22, it tells us that immediately following the rooster crowing, Jesus makes eye contact with Peter. He makes eye contact with his disciple that he loves in the moment of Peter's denial. Wow. Now, what does this tell us? What does this passage show us? Well, first of all, it reveals to us the darkness of the human heart,

your heart and my heart. It shows us what every single Christ follower is capable of. Even after making great confessions of conviction and allegiance, Peter is quick to deny Jesus. This is the guy who made the great confession. You are the Christ, the son of the living God, and the one who had told Jesus, I will die for you. And here he is telling others, I don't bleeping know the guy. It also shows us something else.

It shows us that this is the type of person that Jesus dies for and the type of person that Jesus gives his ministry to. This is the type of person that Jesus saves, but not only that, the type of person that he restores and loves and cares for and the type of person that Jesus is preparing a home in heaven for right now. Jesus didn't come for sinless people. He came for sinners like Peter and like you and I, and he forgives us through the cross. I'm thankful for that. Stay dialed in..