54 Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance. 55 And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. 56 Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58 And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” 59 And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.
Section Overview
The hour of darkness has come, and the arresting band takes Jesus and brings him to the high priest’s house for questioning. Meanwhile, the scene shifts to Peter, who had been so confident that he would be ready for temptation. We see from this account that Peter is not ready to face temptation or the hour of darkness—a lesson for all disciples. Peter does not abandon Jesus completely at the outset but follows him at a distance, joining others at a fire in the high priest’s courtyard. What follows are three accusations that Peter is one of Jesus’ disciples; all four Gospels record the incident (Matt. 26:69–75; Mark 14:66–72; John 18:15–18, 24–27). First, a servant girl says Peter knows Jesus, but Peter denies it. Second, another makes the same charge, but again Peter refutes it. Lastly, a third person insists that Peter’s Galilean accent ensures he is Jesus’ disciple, but Peter emphatically denies the accusation. At that very moment a rooster crows and the Lord looks at Peter. Peter immediately remembers that earlier in the evening Jesus had predicted exactly what would happen, and he collapses in tears.
Section Outline
V. Death and Resurrection in Jerusalem (19:28–24:53) . . .
E. Arrest and Trial (22:39–23:25)
1. The Arrest (22:39–65) . . .
c. Peter’s Denials (22:54–62)
Response
We see from the specificity of Jesus’ prediction that he knows the future freewill decisions of human beings, for Jesus knew not only that Peter would deny him but that he would do so three times. The only way he could know it would happen three times was if he knows infallibly what human beings will choose to do in the future.
We also understand Peter’s denials, because we are like Peter as well. The fear of suffering and death leapt into Peter’s heart, and he suddenly blurted out that he did not know Jesus.
We must contrast Judas and Peter. At first glance, we might think they did the same thing, for Judas betrayed Jesus and Peter denied him. We must remember, however, that Judas planned to betray Jesus, that he strategized for a number of days and then executed his plan. The situation of Peter was dramatically different. He did not plan on denying Jesus; he was confident that he was ready to die with him (v. 33)! Peter denied Jesus when the pressure was on; when the moment of testing came, his courage failed him. In ourselves we are weak and faithless disciples. None of us are tough enough. If even the leader of the disciples fell, so too shall we apart from God’s grace. We too must pray that we will not enter into temptation. What a look it must have been when Jesus looked at Peter, when Peter realized that Jesus knew all that had happened and yet still loved him.
We saw earlier that Jesus had prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail. We all fail as disciples, but we finally make it because of God’s preserving love, because Jesus prays for us. We ought not to think that Peter did not need to repent and turn afresh to Jesus. He had to be restored, as seen in John 21. Ultimately he did not deny Jesus but confessed him before men and lost his life for the sake of the gospel. Those who deny Jesus will be denied by him before the Father (Matt. 10:33). Since Peter will be acknowledged by the Lord on the last day, the kind of denial of Jesus that warrants eternal destruction is an ultimate and full denial. Peter was saved because he denied his denial; he recanted his recantation. Peter learned the lesson of that night. He made it a practice in his life to pray so that he would not fall into temptation.