Luke 22:54-62
Peter Disowns Jesus
54Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”
57But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.
Peter’s denial of Christ appears in all four gospels. If you’re interested in my post on Peter denying Christ in Mark 14:66-72, you can read that here. After the arrest in the garden, where Peter had injured the high priest’s servant, Peter and John followed Jesus and those who arrested him, but at a distance, fearing arrest. But give them credit for following and staying close to Jesus when the others fled. John tells us that he was allowed into the high priest’s courtyard first, because he was known to the high priest. It was John who got Peter let in (John 18:15-16). It’s obvious that Peter wasn’t thinking straight. The first thing he does when he’s let into the courtyard is sit with the guards around the fire. It seems likely to me that these were the same guards who had just arrested Jesus, or at least were there with the arresting party. Otherwise, they would have been on duty at the temple. Somehow, Peter thought he could get away with being there without being recognized, even though the courtyard must have been full of men who were there for the arrest.
It’s easy to criticize Peter for buckling under questioning from a mere servant girl, but I don’t think it was the girl he was afraid of. He was afraid of the guards who were all around him. If he was identified as a disciple of Jesus, he could be arrested as well. John was there also, but he didn’t go through this ordeal. There’s no record that he had the same fear of discovery that Peter had, and John never denied knowing Jesus. Then again, there’s no record that John was confronted about it the way Peter was. What was the difference? Why was Peter so afraid and ready to deny any knowledge of Jesus, and John was not? I think it’s because of what Peter had done with his sword. They were in the high priest’s courtyard, and Peter had cut off the ear of the high priest’s assistant. That’s why Peter was so afraid. That’s why he didn’t want anyone to know who he was, even though the only reason he was let into the courtyard in the first place was that he was with John, a known disciple of Jesus. I think there’s a direct correlation between Peter’s rash actions in the garden and his denials of Christ here. When we act rashly, we only get ourselves into trouble later. We may then feel the need to deny what we’ve done, which makes the situation worse.
58A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
59About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
60Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62And he went outside and wept bitterly.
As the night wore on into the wee hours, Peter’s fears only grew. The third time he is accused, Peter not only denies knowing Jesus, but Mark says “he began to call down curses on himself.” (Mark 14:71) That means he was saying that curses should fall upon him if he is what they say he is. This was a serious matter in that culture. It was like taking an oath. But just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. Jesus and Peter made eye contact, and Peter remembered what Jesus had said. Roosters crow at the crack of dawn, which means Jesus and his disciples had been up all night. They must have been exhausted. I don’t know about you, but when I don’t get enough sleep, I am not myself. I’m vulnerable to discouragement and find it hard to care about anything. No wonder the disciples, including Peter, fell asleep repeatedly at Gethsemane. This doesn’t excuse Peter’s actions, but it sheds some light on them. The combination of exhaustion and fear leaves us extremely vulnerable to the devil.
When Peter heard the rooster crow, and he looked into Jesus’ eyes, Jesus’ prediction of his denials came back to him. When Jesus had told Peter this would happen, Peter didn’t want to hear it. When God tells us something we don’t want to hear, do we also find it easy to forget? It seems unbelievable that Peter could have forgotten this so soon, but a lot had happened in the meantime, and Peter was exhausted and afraid. How many times have we, under far less duress, through our actions, words, or attitudes said, “I don’t know him?” But even in the midst of his failure, Peter stayed near Jesus, and heard the rooster crow. When Jesus told Peter what would happen, he knew that Peter would hear the rooster, so he also knew Peter and John would stay near him when the others ran. The ones who ran and hid probably never heard the rooster. Because Peter heard the rooster crow, he was reminded of what Jesus said. He repented and was eventually restored. Even when we fail, it’s important to stay near Jesus and not run away, so he can forgive us and restore us. And Peter went outside and wept bitterly when he remembered the words of Jesus and realized what he had done. In the Amplified Bible, verse 62 reads, “he went out and wept bitterly [that is, with painfully moving grief].” How much do we grieve over our sin? Do we take our failures as seriously as Peter took his?