Thank God for the Rooster!

Bro. Mark and I were talking after his sermon last week about Peter denying Christ, a failure that altered Peter’s life forever and informed his entire ministry. I got to thinking, what if Peter hadn’t come back from that? What if he’d abandoned ship and never been restored? There’d be no dynamic leader of the early Church as seen in the book of Acts. There’d have been no source for John Mark to write his gospel, which is commonly believed to be the first and a source for Matthew and Luke in their gospels. There would have been no letters from Peter to Asia Minor, where being doers of the Word and not just hearers is a major imperative of the Church. But when he heard the crowing of the rooster as prophesied by Christ, he repented and turned back. The thought I had was, “thank God for the rooster!” And the more I thought of it, the more I thought of it as an interesting point to study. And here we are!

***While studying for this message, I heard a joke about a simple man who called his friend for help. He said he had gotten a jigsaw puzzle but just couldn’t make heads or tails of it. So the friend asked him what the puzzle was supposed to be once finished, and he said there was a rooster on the box. So the friend went over to help him out, and when he got there he finds that he has emptied the box on the table and was thoroughly confused. The friend smiled and said, “go on and relax while I put the Corn Flakes back in the box.”***

Roosters and chickens in general have been one of the most important animals God gave to mankind. Due to their role in the human food chain they are a part of most cultures world-wide despite having only being introduced into the Western Hemisphere for the last few centuries. Some of you even raise chickens for various dietary purposes, and you know as well as anyone how they happen to be the most curious creatures. The sheer number of euphemisms and idioms derived from the ubiquitous chicken are astounding…what are some that you like to use?

• chicken crossing the road
• don’t count your chickens
• early bird gets the worm
• nobody here but us chickens
• hen-pecked
• mad as a wet hen
• eggs in one basket
• hen’s teeth
• Henny Penny/Chicken Little
• banty roosters
• flew the coop
• walk on eggshells
• hard-boiled
• chicken-out
• spring chicken
• And so on

Once you think about it, chickens are a big part of every day life!

You may find it odd, but roosters in particular have a place in Christian history as they are historically a symbol used by the Church like the fish, dove, lamb, and cross. They can be found in ancient Christian grave sites and in very old churches. It was so popular in the Middle Ages that they would often put them on the top of steeples and eventually on weathervanes (which then were sometimes referred to as weathercocks), a practice that continues today. The reason is because roosters have come to symbolize things such as courage, loyalty, and the coming of a new day. Particularly they represent the resurrected Christ as well as His Church in the proclamation of a new day of grace to the world. But there are other things it represents, and we’re going to look into them as we examine Peter’s rooster encounter.

It bears mentioning that God in His absolute authority has often used animals to intervene on His behalf in the middle of human circumstances. Remember Balaam’s donkey who prevented him from running afoul of an armed and dangerous angel? Balaam didn’t see it, but the donkey did, and when he beat the donkey God opened its mount to reprimand him! What about Elisha’s she-bears who tore up a crowd of disrespectful, threatening youths? Of course you know about Jonah’s fish who rescued him from a watery grave! Daniel’s lions had a lot to say despite their mouths being closed. Then there are the Prodigal’s pigs, who brought him back to himself. So we see God making free use of the animal kingdom to accomplish His will for mankind.

Here we will examine what was going on with Peter, and we will see not only what the rooster meant to him, but to us today.

Matthew 26:31-35, 58, 68-75 – ³¹Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. ³²But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. ³³Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. ³⁴Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. ³⁵Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

⁵⁸But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.

⁶⁹Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. ⁷⁰But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. ⁷¹And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. ⁷²And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. ⁷³And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech betrayeth thee. ⁷⁴Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. ⁷⁵And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

First of all, the rooster revealed to Peter that he wasn’t as strong as he thought he was. Peter said, “Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.” Remember: Peter was the spokesman for the disciples because he was the strong one. As a fisherman he was used to tough times and hard labor and as such was physically powerful and mentally tough. He was more bold than the others and more than a little bit brash. Simply put, when it came to getting his hands dirty, Peter was never one to back away. Peter figured there wasn’t anything that he couldn’t handle as a man.

Not only was he physically strong and mentally tough, he was strong in faith. Peter was the one who, when Jesus asked who they thought He was, stood on his two feet and boldly proclaimed, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!” (Mt 16:16). This was quite the strong and bold statement, and Jesus even called him blessed for it, because that truth had to be revealed to him by the Father Himself.

So what happened to Peter and his power? Peter had a problem with pride. We see when Jesus first mentioned His coming passion that Peter responded incredulously: Mt 16:22 – “’Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.’” He was most likely hoping like other disciples (James, John, Judas, etc.) that Jesus would overthrow the Romans and start an earthly kingdom, and he wanted to be in on that. Peter knew he was on the winning team, and when Jesus said He would have to suffer and die, well, Peter couldn’t believe it. And when he called Jesus out on it, what was the Lord’s response? Mt 16:23 – “’Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence [hindrance or trap]unto me: for thou savourest [set your mind] not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.’” This was a big blow, coming from One who said he was blessed earlier in the same conversation!

At this point Peter started doubting. From here on it was a roller coaster of emotions, from the high of the Transfiguration, to failing to exorcise a demon from a boy, to the joy of the Triumphal Entry, to his abject failure in Gethsemane, and, at this point, the arrest of Jesus. Things weren’t meeting Peter’s lofty expectations, and once Jesus was taken, it finally dawned upon Peter that what Jesus said would happen (which Peter had gainsaid to His face) was actually happening. If that weren’t bad enough, now even he was at risk. Pride had given way to doubt, and now doubt has escalated into fear. If he had taken Jesus at His word and believed when He said He would suffer and die, he would have remembered that Jesus said He would rise again. Because of this, when he was marked as a follower of Jesus, he couldn’t stand up and be counted. And then the rooster crowed! Before he knew it, he had denied his Lord. At that moment, the rooster taught Peter that he wasn’t as strong as he thought he was.

But what does the rooster teach us in turn? First, we, just like Peter, cannot rely on our own strength. You see, Peter was banking on himself to pull him through, and we’re bad to do that, too. Jesus wanted Peter to strengthen the other disciples. Lk 22:31-32 – “And the Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.’” It wasn’t Peter’s strength that Jesus needed; it was his faith in Him, and Peter balked. Faith is the currency of the kingdom of heaven. He doesn’t want our ability, but our availability. As the old song goes, “I can hear the Savior say, ‘thy strength indeed is small; child of weakness, watch and pray: find in Me thine all in all.'”

The rooster also shows us that that faith has to be tested. The disciples, and Peter in particular, were tested at various points by their Lord, whether by sleeping through a sea storm, allowing them to fail at casting out demons, to presenting them with unsolvable problems, like feeding multitudes. But James tells us to “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (Js 2:2-4)

But be sure to notice this, as well: while the crowing of the rooster brought conviction to Peter, it also signaled the end of the test. Pass or fail, the Lord brought an end to it, and that is an encouraging thought! 1 Corinthians 10:13 – “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

Thankfully, graciously, providentially, Peter’s friendly neighborhood rooster and his timely morning wake-up call knocked Peter back to his senses. The rooster tells us that, sometimes, we have to have wake-up calls for our faith to prosper. Consider times when you slipped and had gotten weak in the faith, and something happened, whether a tragic event, a friendly warning, or a bolt from the blue; and you came back to where you should have been all the time. Never forget: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps 46:1).

The rooster also warns us to be careful of the pitfall of pride. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Co 10:12). It was not long ago in the life of Peter that he had walked on the water with Jesus (Mt 14). Peter couldn’t have helped but be filled with pride as he sashayed in Jesus’ direction on the Sea of Galilee. But those waves and winds instilled doubt in his mind, and he began to fear for his life. And we know it was doubt because when Jesus caught him by the hand, he asked, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”(Mt 14:31) Peter only needed a little faith to walk that way, but it couldn’t stand up to scrutiny, and as such he forgot Jesus’s admonition prior to healing the daughter of Jarius, “be not afraid, only believe.” (Mk 5:36) Again, we see Peter’s same downward progression on full display: from faith, to pride, then to doubt, and finally to fear.

Secondly, the rooster revealed to Peter that he was more wicked than he thought he was. Again, Peter had faith, but he was putting a lot of credit in his own abilities and strengths. But if you want to truly know what’s in someone, shake them up and see what spills out. We see a bit of this when Jesus told the disciples about His passion, and Peter in his sinful pride contradicts Christ! “’Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.’” (Mt 26:35) He had just gotten through proclaiming Him as the Son of the living God, and now Peter was telling Jesus that He didn’t know what He was talking about!

Next we see Peter slacking off: when Jesus went to Gethsemane to engage in fervent prayer in the very next verse, He had brought His A-Team – Peter, James, and John – to watch and pray. Jesus was facing bloody Calvary, and He needed His best men backing Him up. But the A-Team literally fell asleep on the job: “[Jesus] cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, ‘what, could ye not watch with me one hour?’” (Mt 26:40) Then He went back to praying, and when He returned they were asleep again! God had to send angels to minister to and strengthen Jesus for the trial ahead.

Peter then acted rashly; “then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear.” (Jn 18:10) Can you imagine? Peter was ready to die, alright; and had Jesus not healed Malchus when He did, he would have! Perhaps he thought Jesus would rear up and defy the mob that came to arrest Him, or maybe he just lost his temper. But see what came next: “But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.” (Mt 26:58) While he had doubts, he had yet to give in to his fear…the others had fled completely. But this was Peter backsliding: he could have walked all the way with Jesus, or he could have fled away; but he was “afar off”. Jesus would go on to say in Revelation 3:15 – “’I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.’” And, in the process of backsliding, he starting hanging out with bad company: “And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.” (Jn 18:18) This was the last place Peter should have been! He set himself up for trouble. He should have been with the other apostles instead of hanging in the wrong crowd. Ps 1:1 – “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”

It should come as no surprise that they started marking him as a follower of Jesus; they had seen him and could tell by his speech alone that he was part of Jesus’ entourage. That’s when the denial started. This was very serious; Jesus said in Mt 10:33, “’But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.’” But Peter didn’t stop there; he went so far as to blaspheme! We see in Mk 14:71 where Peter said, “…‘I know not this man of whom ye speak,’” about the same One to Whom he boldly said previously, “’Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.’”

Then the cock crew, and the weight of his sin came crashing down on him. Peter realized with horror that he was more wicked than he knew he was, and all he could do was tuck tail and run away as he broke down and cried. But as hard as it was for Peter to deal with, just think how Jesus felt. Luke 22:60-61 says, “…and immediately, while [Peter] yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter [from the palace].”

Without the rooster crowing, how much lower could Peter have gone? He might have dug in and gone too far and never repented of his sins of denial. Thankfully, our faithful Lord had other plans for Peter’s future and sent a rooster to help him get back on track.

With respect to this, the rooster teaches us that we must be watchful. Jesus had told Peter just before the arrest and his denial afterward, “watch and pray, that ye fall not into temptation.” (Mt 26:41). If Peter had been praying rather than sleeping in Gethsemane, things might have been different. But he thought he was strong, when he was actually weak, and as a result he got caught up in a cascade of sin. But we know that Peter learned his lesson, because he wisely warns us years later in 1 Peter 5:6-10: “⁶Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: ⁷Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. ⁸Be sober [self-controlled], be vigilant [watchful]; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: ⁹Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished [experienced] in your brethren that are in the world. ¹⁰But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, [and] settle you.”

You see, the rooster is renowned for crowing to announce the coming of a new day…but he will also crow when danger is near, or something is wrong. Why? Because he is watchful! And not only must we be watchful for sin in our lives, but we need to watch out each other as well. Pr. 27:6 says, “faithful are the wounds of a friend…” 1 Timothy 5:20 says, “them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.”

The rooster also teaches us the dangers of pride. We mentioned this earlier, but pride is very, very dangerous, as it lowers our defenses and makes us vulnerable to a multitude of sins. Proverbs 16:18 – “Pride goeth before destruction.” Psalm 73:6 compares pride to a chain wrapped around your neck, and Proverbs 11:2 says it brings shame. Romans 12:3 says, “not to think of [one]self more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly…”, and Philippians 2:5-8 says, “let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God…made himself of no reputation…humbled himself…became obedient unto…the death of the cross.” Being watchful and self-humbling saves you many, many problems in your Christian walk!

Lastly, the rooster showed Peter than Jesus loved and understood him better than he knew himself. I couldn’t have faith in a god who was like me! His ways aren’t my ways, and His thoughts aren’t mine. And thank God for that! Jesus, “being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,” is all-knowing (omniscient). As I mentioned in a previous sermon, he sees and hears, but he watches and listens, too. He knew what was coming for not only Himself, but Peter, too, as well as the other disciples. That’s why He told Peter (in the Bro. Scott translation), “now, Peter, the devil wants to sift y’all like wheat (separate them from God)…especially you. But I have been praying for you!” What an amazing thought: Jesus is our intercessor, our great high priest! In John 14 Jesus prayed for the Father to send another Comforter, and the Holy Spirit came. Even now, our Lord Jesus sits at the Father’s right hand, interceding and advocating for us, and because of that we know He’s able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him (Hebrews 7:25).

Jesus furthermore told Peter that He prayed so that Peter’s faith wouldn’t fail, and when he is restored to encourage the other disciples and build up the Church. Here’s the ultimate truth of the matter: Jesus knew Peter would fail…and He loved him anyway! Jesus also knew that we would fail…and He loves us anyway! Jesus is our failsafe! A true friend is someone who knows all about you and loves you in spite of it. And the rooster reminded Peter that Jesus had accounted for his failure and was on a mission to overcome and settle it forever by way of Calvary. We know this, because when Jesus prayed for his disciples in dark Gethsemane, He was praying for us, too! John 17:20-21 – “Neither pray I for these [the disciples] alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word [all Christians who would come after, i.e., us!]; that they all may be one…that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”

Thanks to Jesus’ warning and the crowing of the friendly neighborhood rooster, Peter’s faith was salvaged, just as Jesus had prayed it would be. Thank God for that rooster! After the resurrection, Jesus met with the disciples on the shores of Galilee, and it was at that time Jesus would restore their relationship by asking three times, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?” (Jn 21:15, 16, 17) It was hard for Peter to hear it three times, to which he answered finally, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.” Peter still was far from perfect, but now he knew he didn’t have to be. He knew that his Lord Jesus had him covered…just like He has us covered.

We serve the God of the second chance. He took Peter back, restored him, and transformed him into one of the most dynamic examples for us in scripture. Peter might have sung a song similar to this one:

Empty and broken I came back to him, a vessel unworthy, so scarred with sin. But He did not despair; He started over again. And I bless the day He didn’t throw the clay away.
He is the Potter, and I am the clay; molded in His image, He wants me to stay. When I stumble and fall, and my vessel breaks, He just picks up the pieces. He doesn’t throw the clay away!
Over and over, He molds me and makes me. Into his likeness He fashions the clay. A vessel of honor I am today all because Jesus didn’t throw the clay away.