Matthew 26:69-75 - A Little Is All Right - March 22, 2023

“How did I ever end up in this situation?” Everyone has asked themselves that question many times. It starts pretty early in life. What’s the whole point of putting a child on a “time-out”? Getting them to ask themselves: “how did I get here?” Students may stare at an “F” on their test (if they still hand out F’s) and wonder how that could have happened. Usually, the answer is pretty straightforward – you didn’t study! How violent criminals and drug dealers wind up spending time in prison (well, at least they used to) is no mystery: “you did the crime, you do the time.” But do you end up broke even though you have a good job? How do children end up having to divide time between mom and dad’s house? How do parents end up abusing their children? How do people end up overdosing on illicit drugs? How do orthodox pastors and churches become heterodox heretics? Ultimately, there will be millions of people wondering how they ended up on Jesus’ left hand and being dismissed from his presence to depart…into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels (Matthew 25:31-46). Tonight we see how another of the devil’s favorite lies wound up with Peter weeping bitterly outside the courtyard of the high priest, asking himself “how did I get here?”  

But Peter certainly wasn’t the first to ask himself that question. Adam and Eve must have been asking it themselves after the Lord evicted them from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24). How did it happen in their case? Certainly not all at once. Eve didn’t brush past Adam after the Lord brought her to him and race to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and take a bite out of the forbidden fruit and then toss it to Adam. Instead, the devil slowly built a fire in Eve’s heart that ended in an out of control wildfire of full-on rebellion. He sparked it with a seemingly innocent question. He kindled it by planting doubt in God’s Word. He fed it with an empty promise of wisdom and pleasure and finally poured on the gasoline of the outright lie that she would not die if she ate the fruit (Genesis 3:1-4). Little by little, bit by bit, the devil drew Adam and Eve into committing the original sin.

Centuries later, we see King David falling for the same lie. David was no murderer – at least not at first. Sure, he had killed many men (1 Samuel 18:7), but he knew the difference between justified and unjustified taking of human life. Even when he was given opportunities to kill Saul, who had been hunting him down, he didn’t take those opportunities (1 Samuel 24:6; 1 Samuel 26:9). And yet, the same David who refused to murder his enemy had no qualms about having his loyal servant, Uriah, killed in order to cover up his affair with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). How did David get himself into that mess? A little laziness, a little lust, a little pleasure, a little guilt, a little deception, a little cover-up. Little by little, bit by bit.

And so it was with Peter. Once John got him in, Peter didn’t storm into the high priest’s courtyard and shout at the top of his lungs, “I deny ever knowing or following that guy on trial, named Jesus.” Far from it. Earlier that evening, he had sworn absolute loyalty to Jesus, boasting that he would remain faithful even if all the other disciples ran away (Matthew 26:35). But in Peter’s arrogance, the devil saw an opening. He saw Peter foolishly place himself in a dangerous situation and pounced – but it was still little by little, bit by bit. A servant girl asks if Peter had spent time with Jesus the Galilean. I don’t know what you’re talking about, Peter responds. Someone else suggests that Peter was well acquainted with Jesus of Nazareth. I do not know the man, Peter claimed. Finally, a group of those standing in the courtyard make the link between Peter’s accent and the fact that almost all of Jesus’ disciples had Galilean accents. It’s then that Peter unleashes a blue streak of oaths, swearing that he had no connection with his Savior.

The crowd in the courtyard seemed to accept his blasphemous denial. But Jesus didn’t. Luke tells us that at that very moment, while he was still speaking, after the rooster crowed, the Lord turned and looked at Peter (Luke 22:60-61). The instant Peter realized what he had done, he ran. Not from the warmth of the fire. Not from the crowd. Not out of fear. And, as we all know, you can’t run away from guilt. No, he was running from his Savior’s piercing gaze. It’s a look he would never forget. And then outside, as he’s sobbing like a child, he asks himself: “How did I ever get into this mess?” The devil knew how to lead Peter to commit an unthinkable sin: disowning and betraying his Lord – little by little; bit by bit.

And he knows that the same method still works today. We see it in our society. How did we ever get to the point where gay marriage, abortion, transgenderism, family friendly drag-shows, and teaching 1st and 2nd graders about sex have become commonplace? It didn’t happen overnight. It happened bit by bit. A little at a time. Consider how tolerance living together and divorce slowly wormed their way into society. How we eventually became numb to the violence and sexuality depicted on the screen. While some were boldly voicing their opposition to this creeping depravity, many were clamoring for tolerance. And what did tolerance become? Acceptance. And what did acceptance become? Celebration. And what did celebration become? Participation – where now it’s not enough that you tolerate these deviant behaviors, but they want to force you to participate in celebrating them. (You’ve probably heard about the NHL player who refused to wear the Pride jersey in warmups.) Little by little. Bit by bit – with the lie that just a little won’t hurt.

The world may not know any better – but we should, because James has exposed this lie for what it is: when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death (James 1:15). Divorce doesn’t happen in a day. It starts with a little lust, a little flirting, a little losing interest in your spouse, in cold and loveless words and actions. I’m pretty sure (at least I pray I can be) that no confirmand stands at before this altar and swears to be faithful to God’s Word to the point of death while fully intending to never again show up for worship – but far too frequently it happens, Sunday by Sunday. I think most parents are sincere when they promise to do everything they can to raise their children in the fear and knowledge of the Lord when they bring them to be baptized – but then sports and vacations and hobbies get in the way. Little by little; bit by bit. What “little” sin has the devil convinced you isn’t that serious – that you’re strong enough, good enough to keep it from resulting in disaster. Take Peter’s example as a clear warning: the devil knows that every “little” sin is a gateway drug by which he can get you addicted and steal your soul. He did it with Judas – and almost succeeded in doing it with Peter.

The devil gets how easy it is for “little” sins to turn into big ones and the reason for us to repent tonight is for all the times we’ve bought into his lie. The good news is that Jesus gets it too. Jesus understands that the devil works little by little – that’s why he didn’t give in to the devil even a little bit (1 Peter 2:21-22). When the devil tempted him to turn some stones into bread to fill his aching stomach, Jesus refused (Matthew 4:4). When he tempted Jesus to test God’s promise to care for him – even if he did something as reckless as throwing himself off of the temple, he responded you shall not test the Lord your God (Matthew 4:7). When the devil promised Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he would just bow down and worship him, Jesus sent him packing (Matthew 4:10). When the crowd of thousands wanted to make him their bread-king, Jesus didn’t say, “Well, maybe just for a day, that couldn’t hurt, right?” (John 6:15). When Peter himself tempted him to avoid the suffering and death that lay in his future, Jesus didn’t let that Satanic lie to dwell in his mind for even a moment (Matthew 16:23). Even on the cross, when the Roman soldiers first offered him wine…mixed with gall to dull the pain – not only of crucifixion, but of suffering for the sins of the world – he refused (Matthew 27:34). Jesus rejected the devil’s little-by-little lies every minute of every day of his life – to cover up with his righteousness all of the times we’ve given in to the devil’s lie that a little is alright.

And yet, while Jesus never gave in to the devil’s lie – not even a little – he suffered completely. His head was crowned with thorns. Blood and spit ran down his face. He was stripped and whipped and then clothed with a shameful robe. His hands and feet were punctured with nails. His tongue blistered from thirst. His heart and mind and soul were crushed by God’s wrath and hell’s fury. Why? Because of us. But more importantly – for us. And in stark contrast to the way the devil works, he didn’t just do a little to redeem our souls – leaving us with work to do – but with one mighty shout it is finished (John 19:30). And the salvation he purchased with his blood isn’t a little thing either – he didn’t die just to pay your bills or cure your cancer or fix your family – no, he died to kick death in the teeth so that you may live with him forever in the glory of heaven. And, he doesn’t offer this all to you little by little, either. He hand delivers free and full salvation to you through Baptism, the Absolution and Holy Communion, so that the glory of a heaven brimming with joy is fully, completely, eternally yours right here and now!

We’ve all had situations in life where we asked ourselves, “How did I get here?” As we learn from Peter’s example, it’s deviously simple: little by little, bit by bit, sin by sin. Remember that when you are making your daily decisions regarding your “little” words, thoughts and actions. But more importantly, remember that one day, after the last little bit of your life in this world is over and you open your eyes in the glory of heaven, you won’t have to wonder how you got there – just look to the cross and you already know. Amen.