StopLearnStopLearnPeter Disowns Jesus
54 Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55 And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56 A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”
57 But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.
58 A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
59 About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
60 Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.
The death of Jesus was to fulfill the prophecy in the book of Isaiah 53:5-12
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgement he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:5-12, NIV).
The burial of the Savior’s body conformed to neither Jewish nor Roman custom, in terms of how the remains of criminals were dispatched. Why was this the case?
The immediate explanation lies in the fact that Joseph was an influential Jew of “honorable estate” (Mk. 15:43), who “asked for the body of Jesus.” And Pilate, the Roman governor, for reasons not explained in the biblical text, “commanded it to be given up” (Mt. 27:58).
The ultimate explanation, however, is to be found in the fact that divine prophecy foretold that though Jehovah’s suffering Servant would be “assigned a grave with the wicked” (NIV), nonetheless he would be buried “with a rich man in his death” (Isa. 53:9). Divine providence clearly was at work in the fulfillment of this prophecy.
By means of His death, Jesus fulfilled prophecy and bought man’s freedom from slavery to sin. By means of His burial, Jesus removed any doubt that He had really died. By means of His resurrection, Jesus proved He had power over death. This assures us that if we truly trust and obey Jesus, He will one day raise us from the dead also. In fact the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest proof that He is indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16-18; Romans 1:4). The death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord are the very foundation of the Gospel by which we are saved (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for our sins by dying on the cross. He went to the cross perfect and sinless. He did not deserve death. He was the only person that could make atonement for our sins. In order to make atonement, the sacrifice had to be without blemish – without sin. This is why we cannot atone for our own sins. We are born into sin. Jesus was not born into sin because God was his father.
We have to identify with his death by dying to sin. We die to sin, put off the old man, by repenting of our sins and turning away from sin. We can’t kill the sinful nature. What we put to death is the control the sinful nature has over us.
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