Peter Denies Jesus -- A Message for March 8, 2026

 

This year, as we journey through the season of Lent, we are focusing on several passages of scripture that describe events that occurred during Jesus' last days on earth. Last week, we recalled Jesus washing his friend’s feet in the middle of the last supper – Jesus wanted his friends to take care of each other and to serve each other…Jesus wants us to care for each other and to remember acting kindly or charitably is never “beneath us.”

This morning, we are focusing on two events that occurred a few hours after the foot washing. After the last supper, Jesus and a few of his disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. While they were there, Judas came to the garden with a detachment of soldiers and some of the Chief Priests. The group approached Jesus to arrest him. In the confusion, Simon Peter thought he could defend Jesus. He pulled out a sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the chief priest. Jesus told Simon Peter to put his weapon away. According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus reattached the ear. And, then Jesus was arrested. There is no explanation why Simon Peter wasn’t arrested for attacking the servant – the gospel of Matthew just says Jesus' disciples ran away as Jesus was arrested. In our reading from John, it says that Simon Peter and another disciple followed the group who arrested Jesus to Annas’ house.

We pick up the story in John, chapter 18, verses 12 through 27:

The Scripture John 18:12-27

Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 

and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 

Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people.

Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, 

but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.

“You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.

He replied, “I am not.”

It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.

“I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 

Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.”

When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.

“If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” 

Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?”

He denied it, saying, “I am not.”

One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” 

Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray….

The Message Peter Denies Jesus

It is much easier to be brave when you are part of a group of like-minded people. Most of us are more comfortable being part of a group, the in-crowd, than we are to break from the norm. We don’t see very many people wearing Cowboys jerseys at Eagles games or Mets caps at Phillies games. It is easier to be open about your political views if you are in a group of people who agree with you. It is easier to eat vegetarian food at a vegetarian restaurant than at a barbeque joint. It is much easier to be brave when you are part of a group of like-minded people.

Today, our scripture reading focuses on the back-and-forth story of Jesus and Simon Peter. Jesus was arrested, dragged to Annas’ house, and was questioned. Annas was the former High Priest and was the father of the current High Priest. Simon Peter and another unnamed disciple followed the group of soldiers and officials who arrested Jesus. They waited in the courtyard of Annas’ house for news about Jesus.  

Both Simon Peter and Jesus were questioned – questioned in different ways.

This was Jesus’ first interrogation after his arrest – each gospel account is slightly different – but Jesus was possibly interrogated by Annas, Caiaphas, Herod, and Pilate. He was questioned again and again. Annas was the former chief priest, but he still probably held power within the priestly community. He did not have the official role of high priest, but it has been suggested he was making an informal assessment of the “Jesus problem” so he could advise Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin – the 71 member Jewish Council that held the power to adjudicate legal and religious matters. 

Since Jesus was arrested in the middle of the night, we can assume this interrogation was taking place during the night and in an unofficial capacity. The text suggests Annas was fishing for valuable information that could be taken to the Roman governor, to Pilate.

But, Jesus, standing alone without an attorney or a friendly Sanhedrin member to represent him, refused to play Annas’ game. He didn’t give away any incriminating information. He told the truth. And, he was so blunt that one guard was provoked to hit Jesus after he answered one of Annas’ questions. 

Jesus didn’t cower in fear. Jesus didn’t make an incriminating confession. Jesus was unwavering. 

Simon Peter, on the other hand, reacted in a very human way. Just a few hours earlier, at the last supper, Jesus said that Simon Peter was going to deny Jesus. When Jesus said this, Simon couldn’t believe it – he didn’t accept Jesus’ words. But, Jesus was correct – Simon Peter denied Jesus three times.

Simon Peter was recognized by other people outside of Annas’ house. A female servant questioned Simon Peter: “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” A group of people warming themselves around a fire asked him: “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” A relative of the man whose ear Simon Peter cut off “challenged him” and asked him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” 

Every time Simon Peter was asked if he was a follower of Jesus, he lied and said he was not. A few hours earlier, Simon Peter was sitting at the table with Jesus and his friends. When Jesus told Simon Peter he would soon deny his connection to Jesus, Simon Peter couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe he would ever not feel brave and unafraid to proclaim his relationship with Jesus. But, things changed quickly. Simon Peter was no longer with a group of believers; he was alone outside of Annas’ house. And, all of the bluster and love and confidence he felt a few hours earlier had quickly cooled. Now, Simon Peter was alone and afraid. And, he was scared that he was next – that he would be arrested and tried and have his own life on the line.

What a human response! It is much easier to be brave when you are part of a group of like-minded people.

Fortunately, we know the rest of the story – Simon Peter eventually got over his fear. He became the “rock” upon which Jesus built his church. On Pentecost, Simon Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to boldly preach and proclaim the Good News. He became the leader of the Christian community of Jerusalem and eventually was martyred for his faith.

We all have chicken-out moments. We all have lived through situations we regret – moments when we should speak out about our faith and are afraid…moments when we should stand up for vulnerable people and don’t…moments when we should help people in need and fail.  

But, God gives us more and more opportunities to get things right. We may make mistakes – but we are forgiven by the grace of God. Every day, we have opportunities to do what is right, to help our neighbors in need, to speak up about our faith, to take actions modeled on Jesus’ actions, and to do the right thing even when the other people do not. We shouldn’t get stuck focusing on what we “should” have done in the past. Instead, we must work to do what is right in the here and now. We are Jesus’ hands on earth. We are Jesus’ feet on earth. We are Jesus’ eyes on earth. We are Jesus’ ears on earth. We are given daily opportunities to serve God. 

So, let’s do it. Let’s proclaim our faith in Jesus. Let us put our faith in action now. Amen.

Jesus Serves -- A Message for March 1, 2026

    This year, as we journey through the season of Lent, we are spending each week focused on one of the many events, or situations, that occurred during Jesus’ final week on earth. Last week, we looked at Lazarus’ death – Jesus traveled to Bethany to console Lazarus’ sisters and then invited Lazarus to rise from the dead. Although we don’t always recognize this when we celebrate Holy Week, the rising of Lazarus occurs just before Palm Sunday. 

This morning, we are going to skip over the Palm Sunday story and save it to focus-on on March 29 – during our remembrance of Holy Week. Today, we turn to one of the occurrences that happened as part of the Last Supper. Listen now to the story unfolds as we turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 13, verses one through seventeen:

The Scripture John 13:1-17

13 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 

3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 

4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 

5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 

11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 

13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 

14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 

15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 

16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 

17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Amen.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.  

LEt us pray…

The Message Jesus Serves

When I was in seminary, every year during one of the Holy Week worship services, the professors would wash the feet of the students. The professors were typically very formal – the men wore suits and the women were also usually dressed up – wearing high-heals and make-up. But, when the time came for the foot washing, the teachers would take off their jackets, beckon the students forward, have us sit down, and then the professors would kneel down before us and wash our feet. It was very moving, and also very weird. 

In my mind, it didn’t seem right for our professors–who were brilliant theologians and leaders of the church–to debase themselves by washing our feet.

But that is what they did. They were demonstrating servant-leadership.

As we read through this morning’s passage, I can relate to Peter – it didn’t seem right to him to have Jesus – their leader, their teacher, their pastor, their messiah – it didn’t seem right to have Jesus wash their feet. Washing feet was the job of a servant…washing feet was the job of a slave. The students were supposed to care for their rabbi – not the other way around. This was a topsy-turvy event for the disciples – the one they served was serving them.

It was probably deeply uncomfortable for the disciples, and weird, to have Jesus wash their feet.

But, as was true with many of his choices, Jesus was teaching his disciples – even as the pressure was on and Jesus knew his lifetime was coming to an end and his betrayer was in the room with them – even then, Jesus was teaching his disciples.

Jesus told them: “ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”  

Do you think Jesus was telling his followers that we need to wash each others’ feet? A third sacrament to go along with Baptism and Communion??  

Some churches and denominations embrace foot washing….they believe it is important to literally do as Jesus said, and wash each other’s feet. But, churches like ours are not jumping in “feet first.” We are more focused on the lesson behind Jesus’ words.

Jesus wanted his followers to humble themselves and serve other people. He was egalitarian – everyone needed to be treated equally and kindly. No one was better than anyone else, and Jesus mandated that we call love our neighbors as we loved ourselves. No one was to think of themselves as superior compared to other people. No servant is greater than his master – and no master is greater than his servant.

In our regular-lives, we are used to hierarchies. Little Aida is in preschool – the teachers are in charge of the students. They have to be in charge, since 2-year olds are risk takers who don’t understand cause-and-effect.

This carries through our lives – in school the teachers are in charge of the students and the principals are in charge of the teachers and the superintendent is in charge of the principals.  Most of our work-places are set up where there are bosses in charge of employees – corporate structures have the owners and Chief Executive Officers at the top of the hierarchy and various levels of employees down to the entry level folks….layer upon layer of hierarchies.

In our work lives, we are encouraged to strive for the top – to work towards moving up in the chain-of-command until we have higher salaries and possibly supervise other people and have more and more responsibilities. Even when I worked in bookstores and fast food restaurants, the promise of a managerial position in the future and the possibility of supervising the other workers was the goal we all strived towards.

But, Jesus wanted his people, Christians, to look at each other and their fellow-men (and women) with compassion, grace, love and equality. The Christian world and our work as the faithful must operate differently than the rest of the world. And, our work as Christians must take priority over all of our other work. We cannot think of ourselves as “above” helping others. We can’t think of ourselves as “too-good” to do the work of compassion Jesus inspires us to embody – in our faith, there is no hierarchy – we are all called to clean the bathrooms or sweep the floors or wipe the snot off of a kid’s runny nose or heat up a frozen meal so that a homeless person has a bite to eat. We are all called to be workers for God, worker-bees for Christianity. 

Sometimes, we have trouble seeing the needs of other people. We are busy and are caught up in doing what is right in front of us. But, part of our work is to have our eyes open and work to see the needs others have. Sometimes, other people are too afraid to ask for help. Sometimes, other people are too embarrassed to ask for help. So, we must pay attention…and keep our ears and eyes open…so that we can recognize what others may be afraid to say or ask for.

And, when we discover what people are struggling with, we must do our part to help them find solutions…solutions that support them with dignity and grace. 

Even at the end of Jesus’ life, he was still teaching his disciples lessons. He wanted them to remember they served him by serving other people. He wanted them to remember that there is no job that is beneath us. And, we are called to work for the good of other people every chance we get.

So let us work to live out our faith by recognizing the needs of other people and doing all we can to help them..

Amen. 

Jesus Raises Lazarus -- A Message for February 22, 2026

  This is the first Sunday in the season of Lent….On Wednesday we met to remember our mortality with the mark of ashes on our foreheads – from dust you have come and to dust you shall return. 

This morning, our focus is on a dramatic story of death and grief.  The resurrection of Lazarus was the final sign in the Gospel of John that Jesus was the Messiah. This incident convinced the leading Jewish authorities that Jesus needed to be arrested. After Lazarus was raised, they wanted to kill both Jesus and Lazarus – to eliminate the threat and evidence of his greatness. 

Listen to the story of loss and resurrection in John, chapter 11 verse one through forty-four:

The Scripture John 11:1-44

11 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 

2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 

3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 

6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 

7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 

10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 

13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 

15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 

18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 

19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 

20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 

22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 

26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 

29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 

30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 

31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 

34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

35 Jesus wept.

36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 

39 “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 

42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 

44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray….

The Message Jesus Raises Lazarus

A few months ago, there started to be more and more media coverage of Bryan Johnson, a tech entrepreneur who is sponsoring research and participating in experiments to prolong his own life by “staying young.” Mr. Johnson spends millions of dollars each year on “Project Blueprint” a medically supervised regimen that is attempting to slow or reverse aging. He famously undergoes regular transfusions of plasma from young donors including his own son. He is committed to living forever, and if not forever then to slow aging as much as possible.

But, there is one certainty in life. And, that certainty is that in order to live, we at some point will die.

In the scripture we read this morning, Jesus received word that his friend Lazarus was very sick….Lazarus was dying. Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha were ardent followers of Jesus. They believed he was the living Messiah. They believed he had the power to perform miracles. They believed that if he had been present, Jesus would have been able to heal Lazarus from his illness…. If Jesus had been there, they believed Lazarus would not have died. But, he did die. 

When Jesus and his Disciples arrived, Jesus witnessed the sisters’ grief…. their brother had been dead for 4 days. In response to the sister’s grief, Jesus was moved. We read the shortest verse in the Bible…..some translations say “Jesus wept.” Others say: “Jesus began to shed tears.” Others say, “Jesus sobbed.” Jesus felt empathy for his very sad friends, and in response to the death of their beloved brother, Jesus cried tears of sadness 

Jesus then did something amazing. He told Lazarus, a man who had been dead in the tomb for 4 days, to come out. And, Lazarus resurrected from the dead….he walked out of the tomb still swaddled in grave cloths. The Disciples, and Mary and Martha, and the on-lookers were amazed.

This act was the catalyst for the Temple Authorities to diligently seek out a way to arrest Jesus – they wanted to rid themselves of the threat poised by Jesus. In the next chapter, it also says they were searching for a way to arrest and kill Lazarus – he was a living example of Jesus’ power. And his “aliveness” was a threat to their power.

They were horribly uncomfortable with the reality that Jesus was the messiah. They wanted to destroy him, and destroy his message. 

Over the next few weeks, as we journey through the 40 days and nights of Lent, we will remember many of the events that led to Jesus’ death. We will remember that despite the best efforts of Jesus’ enemies, Jesus’ death did not lead to the destruction of his message. And, despite all of the wounds they could inflict upon Jesus: betrayal by his dear friend, arrest, trials, physical assaults, being nailed on a cross, death….despite all of the wounds they could inflict upon Jesus, Jesus had the last word: nothing they could do could keep Jesus down. Nothing they could do would silence Jesus’ message.

This season of Lent is the period each year we are called to deepen our faith – to deepen our faith in Jesus’ message. For Jesus’ earliest disciples and witnesses of Jesus’ life, Jesus showed them he was the messiah because of the actions he took and the words he said: Jesus preached riveting sermons, Jesus taught, Jesus’ parables helped his followers understand God’s grace and God’s desires for us, Jesus miracles cured the sick and restored sight to the blind and cast out demons and raised the dead. Jesus’ words echo down to us through the centuries – Jesus wanted us to live lives focused on God, focused on our shared faith, and to do our part to live out the commandments: to love God and to love each other.

Although Jesus was able to restore Lazarus to life, and temporarily soothe Mary and Marth’s grief, our faith in Jesus doesn’t free us from the cycle of life. Despite the efforts of rich men like Bryan Johnson, we will all die. We all experience times of joy and times of sorrow. We all experience wonderful things and terrible things. We all experience grief, and job losses, and broken friendships, and failed relationships. Other people disappoint us. We disappoint ourselves. 

Human beings and human bodies are fragile and imperfect. And we are constantly surprised by unexpected challenges. But, there is one thing we can trust:  “Our only comfort in life and in death. Is that I am not my own, but belong— body and soul, in life and in death–to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.” These first sentences of the Heidelberg Catechism remind us that we can trust God and that we belong to God…we belong to Jesus. 

Lazarus and his sisters belonged to Jesus. And, the people who watched Jesus raise Lazarus also believed in Jesus and committed their lives to him. When we belong to Jesus, when we believe in Jesus, we are comforted that no matter what challenges we face, we are assured that we belong to Jesus during this life, and that our salvation will lie with Jesus eternally. So, even if we don’t live forever in the manner Bryan Johnson wants, we will live forever with Jesus eternally. 

This is the Good News of the Gospel. That nothing that we can do is so horrible it will separate us from the love of God – and our lives will extend from this life to the next. We belong to our Savior forever.

Thanks be to God. Amen.