Matthew 26:69-75 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
God’s Zoo Summer Worship Series Sunday, August 22, 2021 “Rooster”
I haven’t heard it in a while, but I used to on a fairly regular basis. At a time when I was in the habit of running some distance early in the morning, I would hear a rooster that apparently lived just a few blocks from me. As I mentioned, it was early in the morning, and the crowing of the rooster would make me wonder whether anyone was annoyed that it was making so much noise, whether it had woken anyone up from sleep. It really was a piercing and loud sound. It was noticeable and attention-getting. It sounded very much like the “cock-adoodle-doo” that we teach children as the sound of a rooster, but with a certain tone and edge that I won’t even try to mimic. Of course, running near a rooster and hearing it crow does not make me an expert on roosters. A very quick bit of research online told me that roosters crow at a wide variety of times, probably for multiple reasons. It also told me that the stereotype that roosters crow at the sunrise held true. Roosters do have a particular affinity for crowing right before, during, or shortly after the sunrise, so the crowing of the rooster for us often makes us think of the early morning. For one of Jesus’ very close disciples, the crowing of the rooster meant much more than just the fact that the early morning had arrived. The sound of that particular rooster for Peter didn’t just pierce his eardrums, it pierced into his very soul. It brought on incredible emotion. It told him, reminded him, in no uncertain terms that he was a miserable sinner. The verses in front of us from Matthew 26 tell us a bit about Peter’s miserable sin. He had followed to the place where men had taken Jesus when they arrested him on Maundy Thursday. He was in the courtyard of the high priest while Jesus was taken to the high priest to be put on trial. Peter was trying to stay aware of what was happening to Jesus, but not to be too close or obvious in a way that might put him in danger, too. And then it happened. Peter was noticed. People around him made the connection. The guy on trial and the guy out here in the courtyard were linked. Peter had been with Jesus. The first accusation came from a servant girl. Peter answered her. He denied that she had it right. Not only did Peter not know Jesus, he claimed he had no idea what this servant girl was talking about. And the servant girl wasn’t the only one to hear this denial from Peter—everyone around heard what he said. Then Peter went to the entryway, where someone else saw him and said the same thing: “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.” Peter’s first denial had apparently not been strong enough. He answered again, this time with an oath. Peter swore that he did not know Jesus. A little while later, people brought it up again. They heard Peter’s accent. I don’t know what a Galilean accent sounds like, but they did. And Peter had it. Peter heard how strong their argument was. He knew his denial needed to be convincing, and so it was. He cursed. He swore. He didn’t know the man that these people were talking about. This was pretty bad. There is no doubt about it. Peter had not only lied, he had lied about his relationship to the most important figure in the world’s history, the man—and more than a man—who had dominated Pater’s life for three years as Peter and the other disciples learned from him and followed him. Peter was not just one of the disciples, either. He was one of the three disciples who had on several occasions been given special access to Jesus and his miracles. Peter was often the one disciple that spoke up on behalf of all the disciples. And now he was cursing and swearing that he didn’t even know this guy. To make it all worse, Peter had been warned. At the last supper, the Passover celebration meal that Jesus shared with his disciples, Jesus had told those disciples that they would all fall away from him. Jesus had told them more than once that he would be killed, but now it was in the immediate future, and he warned what the result would be for his followers. And as he often did, Peter spoke up. He said that he would never fall away. Even if everyone else did, not Peter. Then Jesus gave the most pointed warning possible: “Amen I tell you: Tonight before the rooster crows you will deny me three times” (Matthew 26:34). And Peter’s response was just as certain: “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you” (Matthew 26:35). But the words of Jesus stood firm, and the words of Peter failed.
Then with the crow of the rooster, all of these conversations came streaming back to Peter’s mind. Jesus was right. Peter was wrong. Peter had done exactly what Jesus warned about. Peter could not deny the plain and obvious truth: he was a sinner. He had sinned. He had called down curses and oaths rejecting the one who had done nothing but love him and serve him. He had done the very thing that he couldn’t have possibly imagined doing just hours earlier. So go ahead and try to imagine yourself in Peter’s sandals. Think about how Jesus had been arrested. How you watched and followed to the courtyard of the high priest when someone says, “Weren’t you with Jesus?” And you know that the truth could get you in trouble, it could mean dire consequences. What would you do? We don’t actually need to imagine, though, do we? Haven’t we all had opportunities to stand up for Jesus? Haven’t we all had times that living the way that Jesus would want us to live meant disappointing others, putting ourselves in vulnerable positions, being made fun of, or something similar? Peter was worried that he could be arrested or even killed. I have never been worried that I would be killed for saying the wrong thing, and you probably have not either. Far too often, though, we haven’t even needed those external forces, the threats, the peer pressure, or the embarrassment, to push us toward sinful behavior. We will just do what we want to do, even if Jesus has warned us against it. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors and especially our enemies, and we are harsh toward others, even those close to us. Jesus tells us to honor his gift of marriage and chastity, and we think of it as something to joke about, complain about, and misuse. The list could go on and on of all the many ways we sin, even though we say we don’t want to, and even though at times we are earnestly interested in doing the right thing. Peter heard the rooster crow, and he knew exactly what it meant. How do we hear the rooster crow? How are we reminded to look at our own lives and to admit the enormity of our sin? Hopefully we do it every time we turn to God’s Word in the Bible and hear its message telling us to do all the things we keep failing at and to avoid all the things we keep doing. But sometimes there are external factors that can help drive the point home. Things like the warning signs of the End Times: wars and rumors of wars, famine, earthquakes, and more? Do these things sound familiar? Do they remind us of our own sinfulness? What about a global pandemic with sometimes life-threatening results? Does that force us to look at our own lives, or do we just blame other people who must be the reason for my suffering? So what happens when we realize our sin? What happens when the rooster crows? For Peter, the rooster crow that brought back so many memories and realizations also sent him away to weep. He wept bitterly. He was sorry. He was full of regret. This was Peter’s repentance. Or, at the very least we would say that this was the first part of Peter’s repentance. He turned away from his sin. He regretted it and wanted to change. He was sorry for what he had done, truly sorry. And his repentance had an amazing result. It’s not here in our verses, but just think about what happened after this. Jesus at his trial was condemned to die and he was executed on the cross. That wasn’t because he was actually guilty. It was because he was taking the place of guilty people like you and me and Peter. And he rose from the dead—came back to life. And he talked to Peter again. He forgave Peter. He made sure that Peter understood that Jesus would still use him to call others to repentance and faith. Peter learned repentance—that he couldn’t depend on his own power and strength, but he needed to depend on Jesus. That’s what Jesus wants for us, too. Think back again to our lessons from Scripture in the service today. In Ezekiel 18 we heard how God doesn’t want anyone to perish, but to turn away from their sin. In 2 Corinthians 7 we heard how “godly sorrow produces repentance, which leads to salvation, leaving no regret” (10). God wants us to weep bitterly over what we have done. He wants us to be filled with sorrow for the sin that we have committed. That’s not because he wants us to suffer, but because he wants us to turn to him. He wants us to learn the lesson Peter did: that we can’t depend on ourselves. We have to depend on Jesus who lived and died and rose again for us. He doesn’t want us to make light of sin or try to explain it away. He wants us to repent and believe that he is our Savior. He wants us to enjoy the eternal comfort of salvation. I haven’t heard the neighborhood rooster in some time. Maybe I will hear it again. Maybe it got too loud for everyone. In any case, I need to hear God’s calls to repentance so that I acknowledge my sin and by God’s grace trust in Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. That’s the rooster crow I need to hear.
The Text: Matthew 26:69–75 (EHV) 69Meanwhile
Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl came to him and said, “You were also with Jesus the Galilean.” 70But
he denied it in front of everyone, saying, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
71When
Peter went out to the entryway, someone else saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72Again
Peter denied it with an oath and said, “I do not know the man.”
73After
a little while those who stood by came and said to Peter, “Surely you are also one of them because even your accent gives you away.” 74Then
he began to curse and to swear, “I do not know the man!” Just then the rooster crowed. 75And Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.