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The Weakness of Peter's Flesh

Why did Peter deny Jesus?
Because he was weak

The Bible tells us that when Peter was confronted by the servants of Caiaphas, the high priest, and was accused of being one of the followers of Jesus, he denied it twice, saying, "No, I do not know the Man." Then, he cursed and swore it for the third time.

Let us read the passage from Matthew 26:69. "Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, 'You also were with Jesus of Galilee.' But he denied it before them all, saying, 'I do not know what you are saying.' And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, 'This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.'

But again he denied with an oath, 'I do not know the Man!' And after a while those who stood by came to him and said to Peter, 'Surely you also are one of them, because your speech betrays you.' Then he began to curse and swear, saying, 'I do not know the Man!' And immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, 'Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.' Then he went out and wept bitterly" (Matthew 26:69-75).

Peter really believed in Jesus and followed Him faithfully. He believed that the Lord Jesus was his Saviour and 'the Prophet' to come. But when Jesus was taken to the court of Pilate and it became dangerous for him to disclose his relationship with Jesus to the authorities, he denied and cursed Him before them.

Peter didn't know that he would deny Jesus, but Jesus knew that he would. Jesus knew Peter's weakness thoroughly. Therefore, Jesus washed Peter's feet and engraved the gospel of salvation on his memory, as written in John 13, "You will sin in the future, but I have already washed away even all your future sins."

Peter did indeed deny Jesus when his life was in danger, but it was due to the weakness of his flesh that made him do this. Therefore, to save His disciples from all their future iniquities, Jesus washed their feet in advance.

"I shall expiate all your future sins, too. I am to be crucified because I was baptized and took away all your sins, and I shall pay them all off to become the true Saviour for all of you. I am your God, your Saviour. I shall pay in full for all your sins, and I shall become your Shepherd through My baptism and blood. I am the Shepherd of your salvation."

To plant this truth firmly in their hearts, Jesus washed their feet after the feast of the Passover. This is the truth of the gospel.

Because our flesh is weak even after being born again, we will sin again. Of course, we shouldn't sin, but when we are faced with severe crises as Peter was, we tend to sin without really intending to do so. We live in the flesh, so sometimes we are led to destruction by our sins. The flesh will sin as long as we live in this secular world, but Jesus remitted all those sins with His baptism and blood on the Cross.

We do not deny that Jesus is our Saviour, but when we live in the flesh, we keep on committing sins against God's will. It is because we are born of the flesh.

Jesus knew well that we would commit sins while living in the flesh, so He became our Saviour by paying off our sins with His baptism and blood. He has rid the sins of all those who believe in His salvation and resurrection.

That is why all the four Gospels start with the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. The purpose of His human life was to fulfil the gospel of being born again, the gospel of salvation.


How long do we sin in the flesh?
We sin all our lives until the day we die.

When Peter denied Him not once, nor twice, but three times before the rooster crowed, how it must have broken his heart! How ashamed must he have felt? He had sworn before Jesus that he would never betray Him. He sinned because of the weakness of his flesh, but how miserable he must have felt when he succumbed to his weakness and denied Jesus not only once, but three times? How embarrassed he must have felt when Jesus looked at him with compassion once again?

But Jesus knew all of these things and more. Therefore, He said, "I know that you will sin again and again. But I have already taken away all those sins with My baptism, lest your sins make you stumble and turn you back into a sinner, lest you find it impossible to come back to Me. I have become the complete Saviour for you by being baptized and judged for all your sins. I have become your God, your Shepherd. Believe in the gospel of the remission of your sins. I will keep on loving you even if you continuously commit the sins of the flesh. I have already washed away all your iniquities. The gospel of the remission of sins is effective forever. My love for you is also everlasting."

Jesus told Peter and the disciples, "If I do not wash your feet, you have no part with Me." The reason He spoke of this gospel in John 13 was that it was important for people to be born again of water and the Spirit. Do you believe in this?

In verse 9, "Simon Peter said to Him, 'Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!' Jesus said to him, 'He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean.'"

Dear friends, will you commit sins 'of the flesh' in the future, or will you not? You surely will. But Jesus said that He had already washed away even the sins of the future, all the iniquities of our flesh with His baptism and blood, and He clearly told His disciples the word of truth, of the gospel of atonement, before He was crucified.

Because we live in our flesh with all our weaknesses, we cannot help but sin. Jesus washed away all the sins of the world with His baptism. He has not only washed our heads and bodies, but also our feet, that is, all our sins of the future. This is the gospel of being born again, of the baptism of Jesus.

After Jesus was baptized, John the Baptist testified, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) We ought to believe that all the sins of the world were washed away by being passed onto Jesus during His baptism.

While living in this sinful world, we cannot help but sin. That is an obvious fact. Whenever our weaknesses of the flesh surface, we have to remind ourselves that Jesus washed away all our sins and all the sins of the world through the gospel of remission and paid for them with His blood. We should give thanks to Him from the bottom of our hearts. Let us confess with faith that Jesus is our Saviour and God. Praise the Lord.

Everyone in this world cannot help but to commit sins with the flesh. People continuously sin with their flesh and die of their lifelong sins.


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