In our study of Mark we are in Mark 14:68; where Peter denies Jesus the first time after being identified by one of the High Priest's servant girls as he is warming himself by the fire in the courtyard.
We noted that there were some textual discrepancies at the end of the verse 68 regarding the phrase "and the rooster crowed" because it is omitted in the parallel passages.
But Mark who was working with Peter on his book was in this case, more specific than the other Gospel writers, probably because of Peter's vivid recollection of the details of his denials of Jesus that were painfully seared into his memory.
Mark 14:69-71; The same servant girl along with others (Matt 26:71; Luke 22:58) saw Peter in the entry passageway and again identified him to the bystanders as one of Jesus' disciples.
He again he denied it; (the imperfect tense means he kept on repeatedly denying it.)
About an hour later (Luke 22:59;) the bystanders again confronted Peter with the charge; surely (despite your vociferate denials) you are one of them (the disciples), because you are a Galilean.
Galileans spoke an Aramaic dialect with noticeable differences in pronunciation (Matt. 26:73) NET note 96. So they were certain that he was a follower of that heretic Galilean, Jesus.
The fact that Peter began to call down curses on himself and that he "swore" does not mean he used profanity.
It means that he placed himself under God's curse if he were lying to them and put himself under oath, as in a courtroom, in an effort to confirm the truth of his denials.
Carefully avoiding the use of Jesus' name Peter emphatically denied or "swore" that he had no knowledge of "this Man" that they were talking about.
Mark 14:72; Peter's third denial in less than two hours was immediately followed by the rooster's second crowing and he suddenly remembered Jesus' prediction of his denial earlier that night (Mark 14:29-31);
Peter must have been in a position in the courtyard where he could look up and see Jesus through a window in the upper room when he did he saw Jesus looking down at him (Luke 22:61;). and he became so overwhelmed by his failure that, he broke down and cried right there in the courtyard where he was.
This is a clear demonstration that good intentions and sincerity when functioning under the energy of the flesh are insufficient to handle the pressures of the spiritual life. The ministry of God the Holy Spirit is required for believers to overcome the pressure to cave in.
We see the new Peter exhibit this power of the Spirit 53 days later on Pentecost in Acts 2:14;
So far in our narrative we have Peter and Judas who have both manufactured their own misery by their failure to believe Jesus' words. They believed in Jesus' identity as Messiah but not His Word.
This is just like many believers today who are saved and going to heaven because they believe that Jesus is the Son of God but they have rejected His Word so they live in unbelief. This is the enigma of far too many believers.
The disciples' problem with Jesus' Word occurred when from their perspective Jesus' mission abruptly changed and the political restoration of the Jewish kingdom and the Millennium was delayed because of the Jews' negative volition to Jesus as their Messiah.
Peter opposed the change, confronted Jesus went negative and ended up denying Jesus three times.
Judas tried to manipulate Jesus by betraying Him in order to force Jesus into a corner in an attempt to get Him use His Messianic power to deliver Himself from being arrested and killed.
Neither one of them understood that Jesus had to be arrested because He to had go to the cross because that was God's major objective for His mission to redeem mankind through the sacrifice of His unglorified humanity. Heb 10:10;
In the end Judas' arrogance that he expressed in guilt and self-recrimination caused him to commit suicide so he never recovers.
Peter's self-induced misery leads him to a maximum bitterness, but he has enough humility to rebound and recover and eventually becomes one of the greatest believers of all time.
Neither one of them lost their salvation. Both were disciplined. Peter rebounded and God used Him, Judas didn't rebound and he killed himself with the sin unto death thereby terminating his opportunity to serve God after his failure.
Both are presently in heaven because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Peter is a perfect example of a "winner" believer and Judas is a perfect example of a "loser" believer.
There are too many Judas's in our country today.
Rebound, (1John 1:9;) gives every believer the privilege to continue to serve God during their physical life in the devil's world. no matter how bad they fail. Peter failed miserably but he was still alive. Judas had failed miserably but he killed himself. Peter accepted God's grace and survived, Judas did not.
If you are still alive when the smoke clears then God still has a plan for your life because God's plan for your life continues as long as you are alive. 2Tim 2:11-13;
Principle: Never give up. Never quit advancing. Always rebound and keep moving until God's sovereign will permits you to be taken out in His time not yours by expressing humility with the attitude of "not what I will but what You will. Mark 14:36c; just like Jesus did.
Mark 15:1a; Early in the morning the chief priests and elders of the people held counsel against Jesus.
This is summary statement of Jesus' third trial. The morning is mentioned and specifically emphasized because this was their attempt to make the Jewish trial legal by convening it in the daytime with everyone present.
Under Jewish law It was illegal to hold a trial at night. It was also illegal to pass a sentence the same day as the trial and as we have already seen they not only held the trial the night before but they also illegally passed sentence at the same time.
So in the morning, with this third trial the Jewish leaders are trying to whitewash their errors and cover up their legal problem and still get Jesus Christ to the cross that day. The Jewish political religious party bosses were more determined than ever to have Him killed.
The chief priests are the religious leaders, who were generally Sadducees; the elders referred to the members of the Sanhedrin that was the supreme court of the land. The two terms together along with the scribes were the political- religious leadership of Judah.
Religion always persecutes truth. When religion combines with politics satan is given the greatest opportunity to oppose God by advancing his do-gooder evil.
An important principle we get from this is that it is impossible for religion or religious people to be fair and objective in their evaluation of anyone or anything.
Remember that it was religion that put Jesus Christ on the cross. This is why we saw in Mark 12:38-40; that Jesus severely condemned religion and those who practice it.
Religious zealots are not developed overnight, they are developed through a process of self-righteousness, legalism and activities connected with arrogant self-absorption and self-justification that under pressure becomes denial and projection. They blame others for their own failures rather than acknowledging them.
Religion conspires to put Jesus on the cross; religion combined with politics is the devil's ace in the hole but in spite of this always remember the principle that "the wrath of man will praise God" Psa 76:10; because 2Cor 13:8;
They "held a consultation", which means they called a meeting in order to obscure the illegal trial of the previous night and whitewash it in order to cover their evil. The only purpose for the third trial was to try to make the second one legal.
The judges were not objective In fact as we have seen, they had already condemned Jesus before they had arrested Him. They hated and despised Him as only satanic religion can hate and despise God's grace and the truth.
Mark 15:1b;After getting the rubber stamp on the illegal conviction of Jesus they bound him they led him away to Pilate." The binding and the leading away has to do with delivering Him over to the Romans for trial; "and they delivered him to Pontius Pilate."