Summary
Two Kinds of Confidence
On the night of the Passover, after washing His disciples' feet and instituting the Supper of His body and blood, Jesus walked with the Twelve to the Mount of Olives and told them plainly, "You will all become deserters" Mark 14:27. He spoke with the same calm certainty He had used to foretell His death, because the words of the prophets cannot fail: "I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered." And yet, in the same breath, He gave them a promise just as certain — "After I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee" Mark 14:28.
Peter answered with a confidence of his own. "Even though all become deserters, I will not." When Jesus pressed him — that this very night, before the cock crowed twice, Peter would deny Him three times — Peter only doubled down: "Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you." Chin up, shoulders back, looking his Lord squarely in the eye. And all the disciples said the same. As Hilary observed, Peter was so carried away by the fervor of his zeal and love for Christ that he regarded neither the weakness of his own flesh nor the truth of his Master's word.
Within hours that confidence collapsed. While Jesus prayed in such anguish that His sweat became like great drops of blood Luke 22:44, Peter slept. When a servant girl recognized him in the courtyard, the denials escalated — first feigned ignorance, then flat denial, finally cursing and swearing he did not know "this man." He could not even speak the name Jesus. The cock crowed, Peter remembered, and he broke down and wept Mark 14:72. Chin no longer high, shoulders heaving with sobs, he was laid to waste.
This is the pattern of every sinner's self-confidence. We imagine we can sweet-talk our way before God, point to our good deeds, and quietly cover the rest. But "before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account" Hebrews 4:13. Every sin — known and unknown, done and left undone, in thought and word — is a denial of Christ. When that truth lands, it lays us to waste, just as it laid Peter to waste.
And yet there is a second kind of confidence — one that is not ours by nature but is given to us. "We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God… one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin" Hebrews 4:14-15. The Son of God entered our flesh, was tested as we are tested, and did not fall. He suffered the law's penalty though He had not broken it — for you, in your place. Because of Him, and never apart from Him, "let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" Hebrews 4:16.
This is why Maundy Thursday matters so deeply. The same Lord who foretold both Peter's denial and His own resurrection still gives Himself in tangible grace — His body and blood in the Supper — saying again and again, "You are forgiven. I am the covenant of your righteousness." A baptized child of God does not approach the Father trusting in zeal, sincerity, or willpower; all of those failed Peter, and they will fail us. We approach through the blood of the spotless Lamb, and on that ground alone we can stand chin up, shoulders back, and say with confidence: thank You, Jesus, for redeeming a poor sinner and making me a child of the Most High God.
Video citations
- "Confident" 4-14-22 — Get up, shoulders back, look me square in the eye and tell me the truth. Have you ever denied Christ? It was Passover. Jesus and His disciples had gathered together to share this celebration, this…