Conclusion of Denials In The Courtyard

About an hour has passed since Peter was last identified as an associate of Jesus. Now a number of those standing around come up to him and say: "Certainly you also are one of them, for, in fact, your dialect gives you away." One of the group is a relative of Malchus, whose ear Peter cut off. "I saw you in the garden with him, did I not?" He says.

I do not know the man!" Peter vehemently asserts. In fact, he tries to convince them that they are all mistaken by cursing and swearing to the matter, in effect, calling down evil upon himself if he is not telling the truth.

Just as Peter makes his third denial, a cock crows. And at that moment, Jesus, who has apparently come out upon a balcony above the courtyard, turns and looks at him. Immediately, Peter recalls what Jesus said only a few hours earlier in the upper room: "Before a cock crows twice, even you will disown me three times." Crushed by the weight of his sin, Peter goes outside and weeps bitterly.

How could this happen? How, after being so certain of his spiritual strength, could Peter deny his Master three times in quick succession? The circumstances no doubt catch Peter unawares. Truth is being distorted, and Jesus is being depicted as a vile criminal. What is right is being made to appear wrong, the innocent one as guilty. So because of the pressures of the occasion, Peter is thrown off balance. Suddenly his proper sense of loyalty is upset; to his sorrow, he is paralyzed by fear of man. May that never happen to us! Matthew 26:57, 58, 69-75; Mark 14:30, 53, 54, 66-72; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:15-18, 25-27.

Next time: Before The Sanhedrin, Then To Pilate

The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived, 1991