Spiritual New Year’s Resolutions 2021
John 18:12-27
Pastor Wes
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Welcome to the new year, 2021! If you’re here that means you have survived 2020, the year of perfect vision?!? Is anyone into new year’s resolutions? Whether you’re accustomed or not to making new year’s resolutions, there’s probably some value in each of us doing a bit of evaluation, soul searching, making some personal goals, and looking for ways in which to do things better than we have done in the past. It’s my hope that we, alongside followers of Jesus worldwide, would each be able to say “I want to walk more closely with Jesus this year than I did last year.” I hope that’s your desire- to, this year hear from the Lord more clearly, to learn even more from His word and how to daily apply it, to have more opportunities to encourage others with His truth, to be more bold in offering to pray for others- and then doing it right there in that moment, to share your testimony with others, to invite others to church, to become stronger and more passionate about walking with and serving King Jesus who gave His life for us.
We all hear the stories though, about the New Year’s good intentions, that often crumble away during January and February- the gym membership that was only used a handful of times, the treadmill that now sits in dust, the bad habit that still remains. As you resolve to walk with the Lord more closely this year, I don’t want to see that resolution fail like many other New Year’s resolutions fail. Today as we continue in John 18, we’re going to look at some bad and then good principles for staying strong in the Lord- and as a result, I hope that you will be encouraged, picking the good principles and avoiding the bad ones, so you will be better equipped to succeed spiritually in 2021.
Before we dive into John 18, let me remind you of the bold resolution that Peter made just a little earlier in the narrative. In chapter 13, Peter tells Jesus “I will lay down my life for You.” (John 13:37) That’s a pretty strong statement- that’s a big New Years’ resolution. And shortly thereafter, Peter followed through somewhat on the intent of that commitment, verse 10 of chapter 18, drawing his sword and cutting off Malchus’ ear in defense of Jesus. Though expressed in the wrong manner, at least at this point He was in a way, attempting to follow through with his earlier commitment to lay down his life for Jesus. He showed up at the gym. He bought the treadmill and gave it a whirl. But, that enthusiasm, determination, zeal- like so many others with their resolutions- quickly wore off. Let’s take a look now at John 18, starting in verse 12… (John 18:12-16)
Now let me try to give you a better idea of what it seems like was happening here. From the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is taken under Roman guard to not the current high priest, but the father-in-law of the high priest- Annas, who yet is also still called the “high priest,” even though he was the former high priest, and technically his son-in-law Caiaphas is the new, current high priest. Annas and Caiaphas would have lived in very close proximity to the temple there in Jerusalem, and they and their family were very wealthy, well-educated, powerful, and in cahoots with the Romans. Most likely their house would have been a very large, multi-family compound, with several rooms, verandas, and a large courtyard in the middle- all surrounded by a wall with a doored entrance. Now as the entourage of soldiers and religious leaders led Jesus through the door of the compound wall, it appears only 2 of Jesus’ disciples are following at a close distance. Peter, and then who John here describes as the “other disciple.” Most assume John here to be describing himself- we don’t know for certain- but it would make sense that John is speaking of himself, since he writes as if having first-hand knowledge of these behind the scenes events, and also since in other parts of his book John describes himself in third person- again as “the other disciple” (John 20:8) or as the disciple “whom Jesus loved.” (John 13:23) So let’s assume it’s John and Peter following Jesus, and since John is known by the high priest family, perhaps he is spotted by them and immediately told to come in and witness all the drama unfolding during the late evening. Peter on the other hand, having just cut off the high priest’s servant’s ear, is probably lagging a little behind, and was perhaps stopped by the doorkeeper at the door to the family compound.
So, John, using his connection to the family, goes and has a word with the doorkeeper and persuades her to let Peter in. Peter, hesitantly I’m sure, enters through the door in the wall, and is immediately questioned by the doorkeeper, verse 17…
Notice the wording she uses: “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” In saying the word also it is implied that she knew the other disciple (John) to be a disciple of Jesus. So, John’s identity as being a follower of Jesus wasn’t masked- it was obviously known there at that place that John was associated with the criminalized Jesus- yet Peter (there in front of John) blatantly denies and attempts to hide the fact that he too is a follower of Jesus. We’re going to come back to this detail in a little bit, so I wanted to make sure you noticed it. Verse 18…
It appears that the guards bring Jesus deeper into the family compound, with John still present, while Peter remains in the courtyard with others around the bonfire. It could have been that the room they took Jesus to was open to the courtyard, so that Peter could perhaps still see and maybe even hear the interrogation, that went like this, verse 19 and following… (John 18:19-24)
Now in this passage, I want you to take notice of what Jesus says in verse 21, in response to the interrogation, He says “Question those who have heard what I spoke to them.” (John 18:21) That’s a really interesting thing for Jesus to say, being that most of those who were best equipped to answer questions about Jesus were all scattered and hiding right now in the moment, with the exception of John- who doesn’t speak up on Jesus’ behalf through any of this, though he is right there with Him, and then Peter- who is actually in the present moment receiving questions, but lying about the answers, verse 25… (John 18:25-27)
Now as easy as it would be to beat up on Peter in this passage, we have to realize that John’s not off the hook either- he doesn’t seem to be speaking up, nor does there appear to be any pressure on him that might tempt him to fall into the same traps Peter did. But, to both of their credit, at least they are brave enough and love Jesus enough to have not scattered and hid like the rest of His followers. And, I think we each need to see ourselves in this passage. I’m sure we each have had moments in which we didn’t speak up, or denied Jesus- denied His power in our lives, denied His authority over us, denied Him by our words, actions, thoughts. If we were to get really honest here, any time we choose sin, we are attempting some form of self-preservation or glorification, and we are denying Jesus.
So, the question for us today, is, how do we avoid doing that? What can we learn from this passage, that might help us keep our resolution to walk more closely with the Lord this year? I want to attempt to identify the specific circumstances that led up to Peter denying Jesus, and if we can recognize these circumstances and see them in our own lives, perhaps we will be better equipped to avoid denying Jesus, and make 2021 the best year of our spiritual lives yet.
1. The first contributing factor of Peter’s denial that jumped out to me, was Peter’s proximity to Jesus. For three years, Peter and others had camped out with Jesus, shared every meal with Jesus, traveled with Jesus- they had lived life in super close proximity to Him. This was perhaps the first time in that three-year period that Peter was not within Jesus’ immediate proximity. It would have been much more difficult for Peter to deny his relation to Jesus, had he been determined to remain at His side throughout the entire night, no matter what the cost. It wasn’t that Peter abandoned Jesus altogether and ran away from Him as did Jonah from God in the Old Testament, but Peter conscientiously made the decision to “kind of” follow Jesus- sort of following Him- but not too closely. I have a feeling, that’s what many of us as “followers of Jesus” do. We want to follow Him close enough to consider ourselves Christians- close enough to receive forgiveness, eternal life, a pat on the back from time to time for doing the right thing- but in circumstances of potential negative consequences, we slightly distance ourselves from Him, and end up denying Him just as Peter did. Now sometimes we do this publicly as did Peter, but other times we distance from Him and deny Him, and only He and ourselves are aware of what is taking place.
If we want to walk closely with the Lord this year, we’ll have to do just that- walk closely with Him. Drawing near to Him as we feed ourselves from His word, keeping in step with Him as we wrestle with how to live out what He tells us in His word, being attentive to His voice as we seek to each day “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17)- having a prayerful attitude throughout the day. Our position with Jesus will affect us denying Him or defending Him.
2. I mentioned in verse 17 the doorkeepers use of the word also- implying that it was known that John was associated with Jesus- and yet Peter, in that moment, chose to distance Himself not just from Jesus, but also from other followers of Jesus. There in front of John, Peter basically says, “no I’m not like this guy.” After everything that John and Peter experienced together with the other disciples as they followed Jesus, there in that moment, Peter chose to break fellowship with John, and the others, isolating himself from the strength, unity, and accountability available through the bond of believers.
If your desire is to walk closely with the Lord this year, you will need the love, support, sharpening, and accountability of other believers. Followers of Jesus are not designed to remain healthy functioning as isolated islands. The body of Christ must remain strong- shut down or no shut down, virus or no virus- believers must in some way, shape, or form be meeting together. Our position with other believers will affect us denying Him or defending Him.
3. Now after having distanced himself from Jesus and other followers of Jesus, Peter doesn’t just go sit in a corner by himself- there isn’t true isolation taking place- no, what is he doing? He’s hanging out with, trying to blend in with, the religious leader servants and Roman military officers gathered around the fire. The very people who are against Jesus, are the very people he is attempting to blend in with. That’s interesting. But don’t we as believers often do the same thing? The very people that are against Jesus, who don’t follow His ways, are often the ones, for some reason, whose favor we attempt to gain.
For you and I to walk closely with the Lord, and avoid the temptation to deny Him, we will have to lose the desire to fit in with society at large. Followers of Jesus are not designed to blend in with those who don’t follow Jesus. If we attempt to fit in with those who don’t follow Jesus, we will become all the more susceptible to denying Jesus. Now, I’m not saying avoid friendships with non-Christians. I’m not saying don’t hang out with un-believers. I’m not saying hide out in a Christian bubble to protect yourself from the world. What I am saying, is that we find common ground with non-Christians, we make friends with un-believers, we go out boldly into the world- but we do so knowing that we are different, knowing that people might look at us funny, knowing that we answer to a higher authority- and our hope is that God in His mercy will use us to help others look more like Him, rather than us look more like them. Our position with non-believers will affect us denying Him or defending Him.
4. I mentioned the irony in verse 21 of Jesus saying to “question those who had heard,” and yet Peter is currently being questioned and flailing with his answers. His fear distorted the truth of his answers. It’s obvious from this verse that Jesus wants His followers to be questioned, so that they might have opportunity to share truth with those asking the questions. So, do not fear the questions. See questions as Jesus ordained Kingdom moments in which you have the opportunity to share His truth. Personally wrestle with the answers to questions that the world might end up asking you concerning your faith- why do you believe, why is the Bible to be considered true, why must there be an ultimate standard, why do bad things happen to good people, why do you believe in Heaven and Hell… are you also one of Jesus’ disciples? Wrestle through the questions, and prepare yourself to give answer to those who might ask. Our position on the world’s questions will affect us denying Him or defending Him.
5. In looking through this passage, I couldn’t help but wonder if Peter’s distancing from Jesus, distancing from other followers of Jesus, his attempt to blend in with the world, and fear of questioning- might have all been a snowball effect of something deeper, something that occurred beforehand, that triggered everything else that followed. I mentioned earlier that right before this passage, Peter zealously attempted to defend Jesus by drawing the sword and cutting off the ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant. I commended his enthusiasm, determination, zeal- but, it was obviously expressed in the wrong way, and Jesus corrected Him there on the spot. Now, we don’t know for certain- maybe I’m making an argument from silence- but it seems to me that perhaps Peter might not have afterwards dealt properly with his sin of anger, reactiveness, hate, and violence. If we look at verses 12-27 through the lens of verse 10, perhaps we could attribute much of Peter’s behavior to having been a result of the guilt, shame, disappointment, and embarrassment his actions in verse 10 caused. It could be that Peter realized he had really messed things up there in the garden, and as a result he began to feel disconnected to Jesus and to the other disciples, he began to feel like he no longer fit in with them, he began to feel fearful of any questioning.
The one thing that might ensnare us in our efforts to walk closely with Jesus and with His followers, or that will mask our uniqueness amongst un-believers, or that might hinder our ability to answer the world’s questions, is if our sins/mistakes/failures are not properly dealt with. If we continue to make a habit of sin, if we continue to fixate on our sin, if we don’t make it right and receive forgiveness, if we keep it a secret, if we hold onto the guilt and shame, if we don’t admit it’s there, if we think that we’ve committed an unforgiveable sin- if we do not allow the sin/guilt/shame to be buried with Christ and ourselves risen with Him to walk in newness of life- then we will fail to walk closer to Jesus this year. Our position on sin will affect us denying Him or defending Him.
May this be the year that God’s people rise up to their full potential of walking with Jesus, to their full potential of accomplishing great things together as a unified body of believers, to their full potential of making a difference in this dark world, to their full potential of boldly giving truthful answers to the world. May God’s people rise up to a whole new understanding of His forgiveness and walk in His power, unbound by the chains of past sin, mistakes, regrets, guilt, and shame.
After Jesus’ resurrection, when He later appeared to His followers, He restored their confidence. He equipped them with His Holy Spirit. He had redemptive, healing moments with Peter. And after He departed from them into the heavens, they lived the rest of their lives with a boldness, power, and authority unlike anything they had ever experienced previously. I want to share with you, from Peter’s own mouth, what he learned afterwards, as a result of his gut-wrenching, denial experience. He made some poor choices- but having learned from those choices, he has some advice, some wisdom from experience, to offer other followers of Jesus. He says in 1 Peter 3:13-17 “And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be in dread, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, but with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who disparage your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.”
Peter, during Jesus’ trial, attempted self-preservation, he attempted to avoid suffering. But the inner turmoil suffering that resulted was far worse than any suffering he might have experienced from the religious leaders and soldiers that one dark, cold night. And after that experience, he later writes- no, it is better to “suffer for doing what is right than for doing what is wrong.” That dark, cold night he had been zealous, with a sword, in the wrong way- but now he writes there won’t come any harm to you if you are zealous in the right way. That dark, cold night he distanced himself from Jesus and His followers, but now He says sanctify (set apart for holy) Jesus as Lord- where? The closest distance you could possibly set Him- in your heart. That dark, cold night he was fearful and not ready for questioning, but now he says always be ready to answer with gentleness and reverence (respect).
Peter got a second chance at his resolution to lay down his life for Jesus. He recovered, he turned a corner- through his sin, failures, and mistakes- he learned huge lessons and made significant changes in his life that transformed a potential downward life spiral into a life that rather built up Jesus’ Kingdom and eternally transformed for the good his life and the lives of many. After a life of great impact, he died honorably, laying down his life for Jesus- being crucified on a cross at the hand of the Romans.
May we learn from Peter’s failures. May we learn from the wisdom he gained. And may we be able to move forward into this new year, avoiding the traps that got Peter, and walk in closeness, uniqueness, boldness, and freedom from sin- with Jesus and His people- like never before.