Mark 14 Bible Study: The impact of silence

Lieutenant Joel Watson considers how fear and failure do not need to define us.

Key texts

Mark 14:66–72

Perhaps this hay fever season, you might consider what your sneeze says about you. Yes, you read that right! Are you a silent, internal sneezer who attempts to suppress the sound? You might be a quick sneezer who carries on like nothing happened. Are you a polite sneezer, covering your nose with a ready prepared tissue? Are you an apologetic sneezer who repeatedly says sorry before, during and after? Surely, you’re not a spray-gun sneezer – no description needed!

In the middle of a supermarket, my dad decided to let everyone else know what my brother and I have known all our lives: he is a deliberately loud, big, booming sneezer, who snatches the moment of a sacred sneeze for a flash of humour. In fear of embarrassment, as teenage brothers, we darted off in different directions, yet we couldn’t have been more united in our urgency to show that we did not know this man!

Pause and reflect

When are you tempted to distance yourself from Jesus to avoid discomfort or attention?
What fears most often tempt you to stay silent about your faith?

As Jesus stood alone facing false accusation, Peter was seeking warmth and safety among strangers. Mark’s account reveals he was nearby – close but not too close. Spiritually speaking, perhaps not close enough.

Peter positioned himself well enough to see and hear what was happening, yet far away enough to hope no one would notice him. Verse 54 tells us that he followed at a distance. That distance can feel familiar. Present, but cautious. Near, but guarded.

This physical distance might hint towards a spiritual one, reflecting the gap that can exist between what we know in our heads and what we live from our hearts. Only through obedience to Jesus are they drawn together.

Despite having insisted emphatically that he would never disown Jesus just hours earlier (see Mark 14:31), Peter’s sincere intentions were disintegrated through fear.

Pause and reflect

Have you ever done something you said you wouldn’t do, or let someone down badly?
How did you feel?
How did they feel?

God has always longed for a relationship with his people. We can trace this truth throughout the Old Testament. We find it embodied in the incarnation of Jesus. Today, that longing still remains.

Suffering has a way of exposing our need for others. Even Jesus, fully aware of what lay ahead, desired the nearness of his friends as he faced the cross. In Gethsemane, he welcomed them into his struggle, asking them: ‘Stay here and keep watch’ (Mark 14:34). Again, we glimpse the heart of God, who desires relationship, not distance.

It is interesting how Mark’s account recalls how Peter, along with James and John, conceded the request of Jesus by falling asleep, not once but three times (see Mark 14:32–42). Furthermore, Peter’s trifold denial of knowing Jesus allows us to grasp how God maintains a longing for closeness with his people, despite our inclination to be consumed with ourselves.

In verse 67, Peter is called out: ‘You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus.’ This general observation is not from a powerful authority but a servant-girl with low status, yet Peter denies it. Our greatest failures are not always due to extreme pressures. They can occur in the casual moments of life when we are tired, caught offguard or simply trying to blend in.

Peter then moves away in hope of escaping recognition (see v68). However, avoidance does not bring peace. He is called out again as one of Jesus’ followers and his denials intensify. Sin can do this in us, as one lie or wrongdoing can require another to sustain it.

Peter denies knowing Jesus for a second time. Before long, he makes his third dismissal of any association with Jesus and enforces a false identity as his accent is noticed as being from Galilee. Part of Peter’s identity that marks him as belonging to Jesus becomes a source of shame. Peter, who once promised devotion unto death, sought to erase any association with his Lord with a great outburst: ‘I don’t know this man!’ (v71).

What begins with avoidance becomes self-preservation, and truth is gradually sacrificed for safety.

Pause and reflect

What parts of your identity as a follower of Christ are hardest to embrace publicly?

Grace proves failure is not the end of our identity in Christ our Saviour, but an opportunity for a new beginning.

As immediate as the cock crowing following Peter’s third denial, Peter’s realisation of Jesus’ words being fulfilled dawns. Remembering Jesus’ words – ‘Before the cock crows twice you will disown me three times’ (Mark 14:3) – would not condemn Peter, but awaken him.

Perhaps Peter’s declaration of ‘I don’t know this man’ was not just regarding his association with Jesus. It might point to his continuing journey of understanding exactly who Jesus is.

Jesus knew Peter’s weaknesses from the very beginning and still chose him. As Jesus’ words convict Peter’s heart, tears of repentance fall down his face as he realises what was true – true of himself and true of his friend.

Grace proves failure is not the end of our identity in Christ our Saviour, but an opportunity for a new beginning. This proved so in the life of Peter, as it can for you and for me. In the hands of Jesus, repentance always leads to restoration. His redemption and grace send us out with living hope.

If we are asked, ‘Surely you are a disciple of Jesus?’, may our first denial be that of ourselves (see Mark 8:34) and not of Jesus. As we declare that not only do we know Jesus, but we also belong to him, may we be even louder than a big, booming sneeze in a supermarket!