And Lord, as we now come to your word. We remember, O Lord, that your word is sufficient, that it is inerrant, inspired, infallible, unassailable, and that it never returns to you void. And so we ask, O Lord, that you would use this time, use the preaching of your word to draw us closer to Christ, to strengthen our faith, to show us our weakness, to show us our need for Christ, and to teach us O Lord, teach us to trust more fully in Him. Use this time and bless this time for Your glory and for our growth in Christ's likeness, we pray. In Christ's name, amen. Well, if you have your Bibles with you, please turn to John chapter 18. We'll be continuing our study in John chapter 18 by looking at the biggest passage since, I don't even know when. When was the last time we covered 15 verses? I don't know. But these verses definitely, this passage is definitely one unit as we'll see. It looks like a passage of two trials just interwoven kind of randomly together. There is a method to the madness we'll see by the time we finish today. There's a reason that these two trials are woven together. What we're looking at today is the greatest injustice of all time. And anyone who has studied even a little bit of world history knows that history has been plagued by one injustice after another. Just incredible injustices are scattered throughout history. If you want to know what the greatest injustice in history is, and you went to a secular source, well you might look at the Bosnian War of the 1990s. which was recognized as a war that was filled with war crimes, just gruesome, gruesome things, one atrocity after another, ultimately resulting in millions of lives either lost or displaced or just ruined. When the UN was asked to intervene, it was estimated that there would need to be 35,000 peacekeepers who would have to go in and maintain the peace. 7,000 were sent. That's 20%. 20% of what was required were sent and many if not most of the most gruesome war crimes ever committed in history went unpunished in that war. Justice was not rendered for the most part. in that war. Or you might look at Nazi Germany and how they were responsible for the deaths of over six million Jews. Perhaps worse than the deaths of the six million Jews were some of those six million, among those six million, the experiments that took place on Jewish citizens in the concentration camps. There was specifically one doctor who was known as the angel of death, Joseph Mengele, He alone was personally responsible for the incredibly cruel and inhumane deaths of over 400,000 experiment subjects. One man responsible for 400,000 deaths, and yet even though he was briefly captured by American forces at the end of World War II, he shortly thereafter escaped and fled to South Africa. Justice was never rendered to him. Now you might say that the transatlantic slave trade was perhaps one of the greatest injustices of all time. I mean, who can deny that it was incredibly evil? What was stolen from the slaves could never be returned. And most people who owned slaves never faced any type of real consequences for the atrocities for the part that they played in the slave trade and once again justice was never adequately rendered. These things are all indeed instances and examples of times in which injustice seemed to prevail. Even a very brief inspection of history teaches us that injustice is, historically speaking, extremely common. But the single greatest injustice in all of history took place 2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ, the only innocent man who's ever lived, the only sinless man who's ever lived, was put on trial. And the thing that makes it the greatest single instance of injustice in history is not just all the conspiring and all the scheming that took place around his trial, but the fact that the man whose life was taken was the only human being in all of history to be without sin. So we're going to be continuing our study of the 18th chapter of John's Gospel today. And as we continue our study, we're going to see Jesus go on trial. We'll see one incredible injustice after another as He's tried by the Jewish religious leaders. But Jesus won't be the only one on trial in this passage. Woven in with John's testimony of Jesus' trial before the Jewish leaders is the story also of Simon Peter's faith going on trial. And when all is said and done, We'll see that the point of this passage is that while you have failed the Lord more times than any of you can possibly count, and while it's virtually undeniable that you will fail Him again, if you have believed on Jesus, you have a Savior who never fails. Let me say that again. When all is said and done, we'll see that the point of this passage is that while you failed the Lord more times than you can count, and while it's virtually undeniable that you will fail Him again and again, if you have believed on the Lord Jesus, you have a Savior who never fails. We've seen Jesus prevail in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane when He was tempted to leave the work of atonement, reconciliation between God and Christ's people unfinished. And we've seen Him demonstrate His sovereign supremacy when the Roman guards and the Jewish leaders came to arrest Him at night. Not only did He force them to fall to the ground when He claimed that He was God, but He also instructed them to let His people go, to let the disciples go free. Then when Peter proceeds to cut off the ear of the priest's slave, Jesus demonstrates again His sovereign supremacy by not allowing the Roman guard or the religious leaders to retaliate. In fact, they don't say a word. Why? Because Jesus had not ordered or ordained that trial for Peter. That was not the trial that Jesus had ordained for Peter. But our passage today includes the trial that Jesus did ordain and order for Peter. So our passage picks up right where it left off. Starting in verse 12. Intertwining the trial of Jesus with the trial of Peter. Let's look at verses 12 to 14. So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him and led him to Annas first for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year. Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people. Now, as we start this passage, we are immediately confronted with the reality that Jesus has willfully, and that's a key word here, he has willfully yielded himself to the Roman cohort, which again, if you remember from our lesson a couple weeks ago, a cohort is 60 people. 60 men, Jesus has yielded himself to these Roman guards, this cohort of Roman guards, and to the Jewish religious leaders. This is the first time in John's Gospel that Jesus has yielded himself to his enemies. He's no longer technically, at least by appearances, he's no longer technically free, a free agent. Although based on the ways that Jesus has already demonstrated his sovereign supremacy, we can be sure that the only reason that they were able to take him into custody is because it was his will that they take him into custody. If it was not his will, there's no way that it would have happened. And that's why The verse that we're starting here with, verse 12, that's why verse 12 begins with the word so. The word so. The Greek word there is actually the same word that usually gets translated therefore. And therefore is a word that shows a cause and effect. It shows a relationship between before and after. So based on what Jesus said to Peter in the previous verse, that he had come to drink this cup given to him by the Father, we understand why this takes place. It's because it was Jesus' sovereign will. Now, if we were to translate that word, therefore, it would sound like this. So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus. Sorry, let's start with verse 11. So Jesus said to Peter, put the sword into the sheath, the cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it? Therefore, the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. When you hear it like that, you see that there's a cause and effect. The only reason this is happening is because it is Jesus' sovereign will. Jesus was not bound against His will, but because it was His will to do the work that the Father had given to Him. He was only bound because He knew that it was necessary in order that all who believe on Him would be set free. So He's bound. so that we can be free. In J.C. Ryle's words, he says this, he says, quote, surely if there is any doctrine of the gospel which needs to be clearly known, it is the doctrine of Christ's voluntary substitution. He suffered and died willingly and unresistingly because he knew that he had come to be our substitute and by substitution to purchase our salvation, end quote. Now maybe at this point we would be tempted to feel a little bit surprised that all these soldiers, I mean these are brave warriors, that all of them continued with the arrest of Christ. After all they had just witnessed just the slightest glimpse of Christ's divine power, as every one of them was forced to the ground when Jesus spoke the words, I am. Which again was a claim to be God. But this is the same thing that we have seen over and over and over again throughout John's gospel, isn't it? Jesus did how many miracles? I mean, well, obviously John didn't record all of them, and he acknowledges that much toward the end of his testimony. But even throughout John's gospel, even the greatest miracles did absolutely zilch. Absolutely nothing to soften the hardened hearts of the people who witnessed those miracles. Thus we shouldn't be surprised that not a single man in the Roman cohort or among the Jewish religious leaders stepped in and said, wait a minute, do you guys not realize what just happened? This man clearly is the Son of God. No. They remained hardened in their disbelief and in fact by continuing with the arrest all that miracle did was harden their hearts further. There's been some discussion throughout history about who was responsible for the arrest and the death of Jesus. There have been Gentiles who have blamed the Jews. There have been people who try to insist that it was the Gentiles, since after all Pontius Pilate did have the ability to just bring an end to this whole thing. But what we see here in this arrest of Jesus, is that it was both the Jews and the Gentiles who arrested Jesus. In fact, nobody gets off the hook on this one. This is surely, this is certainly a picture of all of humanity and the way that they feel about Jesus. This represents all of fallen humanity, both Jew and Gentile alike. This arrest shows the universal hardness of hearts of those who are unregenerate. The Jews and the Gentiles alike were unmoved by Jesus' display of divine power in the garden against them. If anything, it only served to harden their hearts. What this does What this does is it proves for us that there is absolutely nothing, absolutely nothing that we can do to convince anyone of the truth of Christianity apart from the work of the Holy Spirit working within a person. Apart from the Holy Spirit drawing a person to Christ in faith. The greatest arguments in the world aren't going to do anything to change somebody's mind because it doesn't change their hearts. Our job, however, is not to convince. Our job is not to convert. Those are the jobs of the Holy Spirit. They're not ours. They're not our responsibility. Our responsibility, our job, our role is simply to present the truths of Scripture faithfully, trusting that God will do with that seed what He will. And until that seed starts producing a harvest, we must scatter as many seeds of the gospel as we possibly can. You and I have to remember scenes like this when we share the Gospel. Because the nature of unregenerate man is no different today than it was in Jesus' time. The nature is still the same. The nature of man is still the same. It's still fallen. It's still spiritually dead. It still rebels against God continually and hates God. How foolish is the person who says, I'll believe when I have proof. Oh no you won't. No you won't. You could have all the proof in the world. In fact, with the internet today, it is at your fingertips at any given moment. No, all the proof in the world will not convince you, will not convert you, just like these men who arrested Jesus were not convinced or converted because they saw this great miracle. The heart of stone has no power to soften itself. The heart of stone has no power to soften itself. So John tells us that these men bring Jesus to a man named Annas. And John tells us that this is the man whose son-in-law Caiaphas famously argued that it was better for one man, Jesus, to die than for a whole nation to die. Annas had been Israel's high priest from the years 6 to 15 AD, and according to Jewish law the office of high priest was an office that a man would hold for life, but the Romans insisted on a yearly changing of the guard so to speak. And so that year Caiaphas was the high priest. Now, the text isn't exactly clear about why Jesus was brought before Annas first, although it seems most likely that it was because, A, in the minds of many of the Jews, they still recognized Annas as the real high priest. And B, he was probably brought before Annas in order for Annas' son-in-law Caiaphas to buy some time to gather together some witnesses and the members of the Sanhedrin to gather for a trial. But what takes place before Annas is really something of a preliminary trial, but it's indicative of the whole thing. It's a picture, a glimpse of the whole thing, the injustice of the whole thing. But now we read that Jesus wasn't actually entirely alone at this stage of the trial. Let's continue with verses 15 to 18. Simon Peter was following Jesus. And so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest. But Peter was standing at the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper and brought Peter in. Then the slave girl, who kept the door, said to Peter, You are not also one of this man's disciples, are you? He said, I am not. Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold, and they were warming themselves, and Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself. So Jesus wasn't alone at this preliminary trial. Following behind him at a distance were Simon Peter and someone who is only identified very vaguely here as another disciple. Now, of course, we want to know who that disciple is. Who's the other disciple? And there's been actually a surprising amount of discussion on that throughout the centuries. Some have actually argued that it was Judas and that John just simply refused to name his name because he was just so disgusted with Judas' betrayal of Jesus. And I would say that doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense because John, throughout this gospel, knew what Judas had done, and John has referred to Judas multiple times throughout this book. The person who is most widely believed to have been this other disciple is John himself. The argument against it being him is that while he doesn't ever refer to himself by name, he usually refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. However it does make the most sense that it would be him in this passage as well since John records some of the things that were said behind closed doors on this night. R.C. Sproul notes that quote there is much evidence to suggest that John was a member of a priestly group within the Sanhedrin end quote. That would explain how John had access to at least some of these proceedings. Further, we also know that John was the one disciple who really didn't abandon Jesus. We know that he was the disciple who stood at the cross with Jesus' mother, Mary. Peter, on the other hand, didn't enter into the chambers of the high priest. Instead, we're told that he stood at the door outside, but that John, who was apparently known by these people, goes to the doorkeeper and brought Peter inside. And as Peter enters in, a young girl who was a slave casually asks Peter, you're not also one of this man's disciples are you? Wow, what a question. Putting him on the spot. He's sweating profusely, right? What's he going to do? You know, there's actually an important implication here. It's very subtle, but it's very important. That implication is found in the word also. Also. That is a huge word in this question because it tells us that she was apparently very well aware of the fact that John was one of Jesus' disciples. Now we couldn't draw that conclusion if she had only said, you're not one of this man's disciples are you? The word also makes a huge difference because it shows us that she wasn't a threat in any way, shape, or sense. It shows us that she knew John to be a disciple, and yet she didn't pose any threat to him. So why would she pose any threat to Peter? It's such a simple, innocent, harmless question. Little did Peter realize as he walked through this door that the Lord Jesus wasn't the only one on trial that night. His faith, Peter's faith, was also on trial. And he completely failed as he responded, I am not. I am not. Note the contrast between Peter's cowardness, cowardice, the fact that he says I am not. Compare that with Jesus when he was asked by the Roman cohort and Jesus said I am. Jesus says I am, Peter says I'm not. This forces us to remember a couple things. First of all it forces us to recall that Peter had pridefully and foolishly boasted just earlier that night, just a few hours prior to this, of how he would never, ever leave Christ's side. Back in chapter 13, verse 37 of John's Gospel, Peter vowed this. He said, Lord, I will lay down my life for you. Luke's Gospel tells us that Jesus warned Peter that Satan had requested permission to sift Peter like wheat, and that permission had been granted. John tells us what that would look like immediately after Peter made this boast. Back again in chapter 13 verse 38, Jesus replied to Peter, will you lay down your life? for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny me three times. That's the first thing it forces us to remember is this prideful boast that Peter had made earlier in the night. Secondly it forces us to confess that like Peter all of our trials are ordered and ordained by God. The only reason that this happened is because God ordained that it would happen. Think about this. If Peter would have been retaliated against for drawing his sword and cutting off the ear of the high priest's slave, he would not have gone through this trial, and Jesus' prophecy of this happening wouldn't have taken place. But this is the trial that God has ordained for Peter. Why? Why did God ordain this specific trial for Peter? Because it was for Peter's good. It would grow him in the likeness of Christ. How? Because it would humble him. It would humble him. Like us, Peter was always inclined to think so highly of himself and so little of God. And those things are really just two sides of the same coin. Calvin notes of Peter's sudden change of tone. He writes, Now at the voice of a single maid, and that voice unaccompanied by threatening, he is confounded and throws down his arms. Such is a demonstration of the power of man." Now, here's what we're tempted to do. We're tempted to say, oh, Peter, you are so foolish. You're always putting your foot in your mouth. You're always boasting. You're always so prideful. And well, look where it ended. Look where you ended up. And the thing is, we can't do that. You and I have no room and no right to look down our noses at Peter, because apart from God's grace, we would have joined the cohort and the religious leaders who arrested Jesus. But even as recipients of God's grace, we can undoubtedly relate to Simon Peter's failure here, because in one way or another, every single one of us has failed the Lord Jesus. And we've done so in countless ways. Now, you might not have always failed the Lord in such a profound manner as Peter did, but we've all failed. We've all denied the Lord Jesus, either by our words, or by our thoughts, or by our actions, or most likely all three, all of the above. And Calvin agreed. He continued by saying, quote, Do we not continually tremble at the rustling of a falling leaf? A false appearance of danger which was still distant made Peter tremble. And are we not every day led away from Christ by childish absurdities? End quote. If Peter, Peter was not a small frail man. Peter was a fisherman. Peter was big. He was strong. If Peter, who was not only strong, but also Jesus' most outspoken disciple, if not one of Jesus' closest companions among the disciples, if he could fall in this kind of a circumstance, how foolish would we have to be to think that we aren't capable of the exact same thing if we were in his shoes, if not worse? Peter was a big guy. Peter could handle himself. If you had asked him earlier on that night, hey are you afraid of a little girl? He would have laughed at you. No way am I afraid of a little girl. But one little innocent question showed how weak and how frail his faith was. How puny his devotion to Christ was. We should be reminded by Paul's advice to the Corinthians when he said, therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. It's from 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 12. How quickly and how easily every single one of us is capable of abandoning all faithfulness to Christ. So what should Peter have said? seems like an easy enough question to answer. He should have told the truth. He should have answered in the affirmative because when we conceal the truth it just becomes that much easier to conceal the truth again in the future which is exactly what Peter is going to do before our passage today is over. But first, Peter, ironically, comes in the gate and joins Jesus' accusers where he warms himself at the fire of Christ's enemies. Wow! So many Christians do essentially the exact same thing even today. Christians listen to the same music that the world listens to. They dress the way that the world dresses, as if there were no standards for modesty that a Christian should adhere to. They speak like the world. They think like the world. They value like the world. And they watch the same things that the world watches for entertainment. How many Christians give their weekly Sabbath away to an idol that we call sports? A few years ago, there was even much discussion in Christian circles about whether or not Christians should be watching a semi-pornographic television show. As if God never warned us about the dangers of looking lustfully at someone who is not our spouse. How often you and I tend to be just like Peter, warming ourselves at the fire of the enemy, blending in with the world around us to the point that we are essentially indistinguishable from them. It's a cold and dark night, we get that. He's frigid, he's freezing, we get that. The world is a cold and dark place, spiritually speaking. The enemy's fire is no place for the Christian to be finding a fleeting moment of comfort. Can we just agree on that much? that the enemy's fire is no place for the Christian to blend in and to seek comfort. Peter shows us his utter foolishness, the utter foolishness of doing this by neglecting every single principle of blessedness that we find in Psalm 1. where we're told how blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners. And here's Peter, he can't even get out of verse one of the Psalm, nevermind verses two to six. Friends, it is the height of pridefulness and of foolishness to surround yourselves and trying to blend in. with God's enemies. You are only setting yourself up for failure. The temptation to blend in will be eventually, it will eventually be stronger than any of us can consistently withstand. So what do we learn here? How do we avoid falling and failing the way that Peter did? First of all, we have to remember how incredibly prideful Peter was. Peter claimed to have greater faithfulness to Christ than any of the other disciples. He even boasted of how even if they fall away, even if they were to run away from him, ultimately he would not, even if it meant dying by Jesus' side. Who's Peter confident in? himself, ultimately, rather than being confident in the Lord. He needed to learn how to be humble. By God's grace, he did. If you ever read Peter's epistles, he did. He learned a good lesson. And so too, friends, will we see that maintaining an attitude of humility leads to depending and leaning more fully on God. And depending and leaning more fully on God will result in a decrease of sin in our lives. If you're struggling with sin, the first thing that you need to do is be humble. is be humble. Not counting on yourself, but leaning on the Lord. Because the greater our pride, the more we have to learn about the frailty of our faith. But further, secondly, consider that Peter was so confident that when the Lord had instructed him to pray earlier that night in the Garden of Gethsemane, what did Peter do? He decided to take a nap instead. He felt like he needed a nap more than he needed to pray. Richard Phillips says this in his commentary of this, he says, quote, an overconfident, self-reliant spirit will never be active in prayer, end quote. So the reason that we don't pray as much as we should is because we underestimate our need for God's help. And we underestimate our need for God's help, why? because we overestimate our own ability to remain faithful. The solution is to be humble. It's to humble ourselves, first of all, but also to avoid following Christ at a distance. Luke tells us in Luke 22, verse 54, having arrested him, Jesus that is, they led him away and brought him to the house of the high priest. But Peter was following at a distance. No Christian should be comfortable following Christ at a distance, and doing so will invariably put the weakness of our flesh and our faith on display. And yet, that's often exactly what we do. We try to figure out what's comfortable for me. Okay, I'm comfortable following at a distance. I'm not an extremist. I'm not a radical or anything like that. I'm not going to be one of those people. People won't mistake me for that, but I still believe in Jesus. I'm still following just at a distance. We can't do that. It's so foolish. Maybe it's because we want people to like us. Maybe it's because we don't want to be labeled as the fundamentalist or the extremist or whatever. By the way, in our day and age, how many of you guys know that if you hold the line on the Bible's views of gender and sexuality, the government and the media, they will all view you as an extremist. which is really kind of a badge of honor. Wear that with humility, right? I was going to say with pride. Wear it knowing that it's the mark of a Christian. Get used to that title because it's where we are right now. And be concerned, by the way, if those who deny the Bible's views of gender and sexuality don't view you as an extremist. Stay close to Christ. Stay close enough to cling to the edge of His robe when the flames of hell threaten to consume you. The closer you stay to Christ, the closer you are to the grace and the strength that you need to persevere in your faith in Christ. What great lessons we learn vicariously through Peter. Let's not learn them the hard way for ourselves. There are so many lessons that we can learn just by looking at his story here at the enemy's fire. But the fire also reminds us that This took place at night, which, if we know our Bibles, reminds us that Jesus' trial is completely unlawful. Let's continue. John brings us back to Jesus' trial in verses 19 to 24. The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. Jesus answered him, I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple where all the Jews come together and I spoke nothing in secret. Why do you question me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them. They know what I said. When he had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus, saying, Is that the way you answer the high priest? Jesus answered him, If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong. But if rightly, why do you strike me? So Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. So John now brings us back inside to Jesus' trial, the preliminary part of this trial, where the high priest questioned Jesus about two things. He asks Him about His disciples and He asks Him about His teachings. And as always, he was always one step ahead of his enemies. Jesus stays one step ahead of his enemies here by avoiding the question about his disciples and by, you know, he's continuing to protect them and by instead responding only to the questions about his teachings. That was really the only question that mattered. He points out that he never taught privately. He never taught secretly. That it wouldn't be difficult to find people who could verify what he had said and what he hadn't said, because he always taught in very public places. Now, very quickly as a side note, let's focus our attention on one thing just for a second that Jesus says. He says, I have spoken openly to the world. Do you see the contrast with Peter there? If only Peter had done the same thing, spoken openly to the world. And the same is true for us, by the way, as Christians. We are to speak openly to the world about the gospel, about our faith in Christ, and so on and so forth. But back to our text. With this response, in which Jesus challenges his accusers, these priests, these Jewish religious leaders, to answer their own questions by talking to witnesses. Jesus is actually demanding, by doing this, he's demanding that this trial be conducted in a lawful manner in accordance with Jewish law which required that any conviction of guilt be determined not by a person's confession, because a person's confession can be easily coerced, but by the testimony of multiple eyewitnesses. Even one eyewitness wouldn't be enough. They would need multiple eyewitnesses. So Jesus is, by saying this, he's demanding that they repent and do this in a lawful way. The fact that Annas and those present understood exactly what Jesus was demanding is evidenced by their reaction. One of the officers turns to Jesus and strikes him. But Jesus isn't deterred by this act of violence or by the threat of more violence. He doesn't fold under pressure. He remains resolved. to follow Jewish law, demanding that if he has done wrong, they are the ones who have the obligation to find witnesses who can bear testimony to his wrongdoing. And Anna seems to realize that they are getting absolutely nowhere with Jesus, and so he sends Jesus to stand before Caiaphas, the high priest, his son-in-law. Now, while time doesn't really allow for a full examination of all the illegalities of these proceedings, after all, we want to get out of here before it gets dark, James Montgomery Boyce actually devotes several chapters in his commentary to that subject, of all the things that are illegal in this trial. But he summarizes kind of briefly by noting that, quote, the trial itself was illegal on numerous grounds. One, it was conducted at night. Two, it was conducted on the day before a Jewish Sabbath. Three, it was completed in one 24-hour period. Four, it secured a conviction on the basis of the defendant's own confession. And five, it concluded with a unanimous and therefore invalid verdict, end quote. And that, friends, is just the tip of the iceberg. This doesn't even include the fact that the witnesses who were brought against Jesus were false witnesses. Matthew tells us in Matthew 26, verse 60, that many false witnesses came forward. So that was illegal. Also illegal is the fact that Jesus was arrested because of the witness of an accomplice who had been bribed. That was also illegal. Also illegal is the fact that under Jewish law the job of the priests overseeing the proceedings is to attempt to find any reason to defend and to exonerate the person on trial, unlike our own system. But here they are actually assuming the role of the prosecutor when their job is to be defenders, which is blatantly, blatantly contrary to Jewish law. And so ultimately Ultimately, what we see here is that it's not just Jesus who's on trial. It's not just Peter's faith that's on trial. It's also Israel's faithfulness on trial. And what's revealed, the verdict is, that they were apostates. The verdict is guilty as they end up sending Jesus to stand ultimately before Pontius Pilate where he would be charged with blasphemy and what was unquestionably and undoubtedly the greatest injustice ever carried out in all of human history. Here's what we need to know though. Here's what we need to know. Annas and Caiaphas, and all the Roman cohort, and all the Jewish religious leaders, they did not escape justice. It looks like they did. But one day, one day, they would stand before Christ in His judgment seat, and they would be sentenced to drink the cup of God's holy wrath against every one of their sins, including all of the sins that were committed this night against Jesus. And they would drink that cup for all of eternity in hell. And here we find the Christians answer to injustice that seems to go unanswered in our day and age too. We don't join the mob mentality that says, you know, it's consuming American culture right now, that basically says we demand that this person be given a guilty verdict or else. We don't do that. We trust the justice system. We trust that justice will be delivered. If it's not delivered here on earth, it will be when a person stands before Christ. We know that even if justice isn't rendered before judges on earth, it will be rendered by the judge who sits in heaven. No judicial system on earth can right the wrongs that were committed generations ago. And no true justice system on earth punishes the sons for the sins of their fathers. And yet the social justice movement is demanding these things. Things that no justice system in history was ever designed to do. And it's being done by mob rule. We don't join with that. We go against that. We trust that Jesus will render true justice to those who somehow or in some way escape justice in this world. And which is worse? The justice that they could receive in this world or the justice that they'll receive when they stand before Jesus who knows everything that they have done. Either they will bear the guilt of their sin before Him or if they put their trust for salvation in him he will bear that guilt and pay the debt for them. At this point John brings us back outside to Peter as his trial continues outside verses 25 to 27. Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself so they said to him You are not also one of his disciples, are you? He denied it and said, I am not. One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, Did I not see you in the garden with him? Peter denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed. We see that word also again in their question indicating they knew that John was a disciple and yet they pose no threat to him. If Peter's faith was frail before a girl who couldn't harm him, and who had no intention of doing so, how much more frail is it shown to be as he warms himself at the enemy's fire? Matthew tells us that they even recognized that he had the accent of a Galilean, and for that reason suspected that he was a disciple of Jesus. They ask the same question that the girl asked. He gives them the same answer. I am not. But based on his accent, they knew that he was from Galilee. So they figured that he had to be associated with Christ. By the way, what an honor and what an opportunity it is when we as Christ's people clearly stand out from among the crowd. What a great distinction that the world around us would say that we resemble Christ in any way. And we should. We should, by the way we speak, sure, but also by the way we act, by the things that we value, by the way that we dress even. We who belong to Christ should never be able to just blend into the world around us. in the shadows of the night and the flickering of the flame. One of the relatives of Malchus, whose ear Peter had cut off earlier that night, thought he recognized Peter, asking him, did I not see you in the garden with him? And again, here's his third denial. Peter denies everything. And his vulnerability just increases with every denial, especially since he was standing in the counsel of the wicked and the path of sinners. So John, as we consider this entire passage, John has shown us two primary trials and he's put them side by side for us in order that we may see something. There's a reason that they're woven together the way that they are. in a culture enamored with celebrity and having thousands upon thousands of followers on social media, you need to know that the strongest disciple's faith can be so frail. That's me. That's you. That's famous Christians. That's unknown Christians. That's pastors. That is all of us. We all fail the Lord. If Peter can fail the Lord, than we all can. So, the question that we're faced with then, as we see these two trials woven together, the question that we're faced with is, who are you going to trust for your greatest need? Which is salvation. Are you going to trust yourself? Are you going to become a fan of a pastor? No, John puts these two trials side by side so that we can clearly see that only Jesus is worthy of our highest and our greatest devotion. Not only have you and I failed the Lord more times than we can possibly count, but if the Lord sees fit to give us tomorrow, there will undoubtedly be ways in which we fail Him again and again and again. of all the betrayals, and of all the accusations and lies and physical assaults that Jesus endured that night, I don't think there's any question that the wounds that hurt Him the most were Peter's denials of Him. But as surely as Jesus knew that Peter would deny Him three times before a rooster crowed, He also made provision for Peter to repent and to be restored by another fire. A fire on the shores of Galilee, one made by the Lord, which we'll read about when we come to the conclusion of John's Gospel. But the provision is seen in the second half of Jesus' warning to Peter earlier that night. He said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat. Here's the provision, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. He's made provision for all of His people with the promise that He will cleanse us of our sin when we confess our sin to Him. He hates our sin, but He calls us home to Himself, and He's promised that none of those who have been given to Him by the Father will be lost. Friends, if you have never savingly believed on Jesus, you must be warned. You must know that you stand with the scoffers and the fools and the cohort and the Jewish religious leaders and all of Christ's enemies against Him. And like them, you will stand before Him one day and you will give an account for your life. You will give an account for your rebellion against Him. And there will be no mercy shown to those who deny Him and continue to rebel against Him until their final breath. But for those who believe in Him, you will be able to stand not with the fools, not with the scoffers, not with the cohort, not with the Jewish religious leaders, but with Christ's own people, of whom Peter would ultimately say in 1 Peter 2, verses 24 and 25, He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. For by His wounds, you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. Yes, friends, you have failed Christ. Yes, you will fail Him again if the Lord gives you tomorrow. But if you have come home to Him by believing in Him, you need to know this. You can trust in and you can stand on this. You have a Savior who never fails. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our Father, we thank You again for Your Word. And as we see the frailty of Peter's faith, all we can do is confess our own the frailty of our faith. We confess, Lord, that we have failed you more times than we can count. We confess that were it not for your grace, all we could do is stand with this Roman cohort and Jesus' accusers that night. But because of your grace, you have bore our sins You gave our sins to Christ and You gave us in exchange His perfect righteousness. That He would be buried in a pile of our sins, too great for us to count, but that we would be clothed in the robes of His own perfect righteousness. A gift too great to value, too great to put a price on. We thank You for that gift. And we ask, O Lord, that as we consider the frailty of our faith and the greatness of your grace, we ask, O Lord, that you would teach us to be humble, that our faith may stand when it's put under pressure, when it's put on trial. Teach us, O Lord, to be a people who speak openly to the world of your goodness, that we may share the gospel with those who are still lost in darkness. We pray, O Lord, that You would give us courage as we recognize how the fear of man would dissuade us from being faithful. Teach us, O Lord, not to be fearful of men, but to be fearful of You. to live our lives not for the accolades of men and the approval of men, but that you might be pleased. And we ask that that would be a testimony to the world of your goodness and your grace that reached down and changed our hearts, changed who we are, in order that we may glorify Christ and yield ourselves willingly in submission. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.