APR 2 - Peter Denies Jesus
69 All this time, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard. One servant girl came up to him and said, “You were with Jesus the Galilean.”
70 In front of everybody there, he denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
71 As he moved over toward the gate, someone else said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.”
72 Again he denied it, salting his denial with an oath: “I swear, I never laid eyes on the man.”
73 Shortly after that, some bystanders approached Peter. “You’ve got to be one of them. Your accent gives you away.”
74-75 Then he got really nervous and swore. “I don’t know the man!”
Just then a rooster crowed. Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and cried and cried and cried.
Matthew 26:69-75 MSG
While Jesus was being arrested and judged something’s happening to Peter and all the disciples. They’re dispersed, afraid, and not many are recognized except Peter.
This is a powerful moment that highlights what happens to us when our faith is shaken.
The enemy wants to attack your identity!
Your identity comes from who you are, but also who you’re with.
Show me your closest friends and I’ll show you who you are and where you’re going. If you have good influences, the first thing the enemy wants to do is remove them. Remove your leaders, remove the church, add bad influences. That’s the way he works!
The enemy wants to cancel out all the good things God has done for you! Including Jesus dying on the cross for your sins.
If he can make you forget who you are, he can make you forget how good God is.
Many times, young people leave church and say, “I left because of the people.“ But their actions will almost always prove the opposite. Little by little, their words and actions will deny Jesus. That’s exactly what the enemy wants.
Be alert!
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV
Have you seen this to be true in your life?
What are some ways we deny Jesus with our lives?
Has your identity been attacked lately?