John 18: 15 – 27
Could somebody accuse you of knowing Jesus?
15 And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. 16 But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in. 17 Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself. 19 The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine. 20 Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. 21 Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.” 22 And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, “Do You answer the high priest like that?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?” 24 Then Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. 25 Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not!” 26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” 27 Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed.
Take a moment and consider yourself to be the apostle Matthew. At this point in your life you are getting older and some of the believers who knew you were an apostle of our Lord Jesus asked you to put down on paper your personal experiences in being with the Lord. Now you come to the time where our Lord was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. You are able to write down what you saw in the Garden. However, as far as what happened after our Lord was arrested you are writing down what you heard from Peter and John because you were not there. Why? – Because you ran away and hid.
Matthew 26:69–75. “69 Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.” 71 And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!” 73 And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.” 74 Then he began to curse and swear, saying, “I do not know the Man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.
Luke was not around when our Lord was arrested. He was not an apostle. In fact at this time he probably did not even know Jesus existed. He becomes a believer in the Son of God – The Lord Jesus Christ - and then a follower of Paul the apostle. As a very learned man Luke interacted with the apostles and other believer in Israel. He listened and questioned the eyewitnesses. Following his investigation he put down on paper his findings. This is what he found out about the things regarding the Lord’s arrest and Peter’s actions.
Luke 22:54–62?,”54 Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest’s house. But Peter followed at a distance. 55 Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. 56 And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, “This man was also with Him.” 57 But he denied Him, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” 58 And after a little while another saw him and said, “You also are of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59 Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, “Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying!” Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” 62 So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
Even though Mark was the second Gospel to be written and circulated I saved it for last because I believe it is best to hear it from the horse’s mouth. Peter gave Mark his view of all that had happened with his time spent with our Lord Jesus. So, since this portion of scripture deals mostly about his denying the Lord, let us hear from him personally what happened. Wouldn’t you agree?
Mark 14:66–72,”66 Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. 67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus of Nazareth.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are saying.” And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed. 69 And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, “This is one of them.” 70 But he denied it again. And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, “Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it.” 71 Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!” 72 A second time the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And when he thought about it, he wept.
Peter has taken a hard hit about this over time. I think the shots and insults people threw at Peter is wrong. In some of the writings of ancient writers some have reported that to mock Peter people would cry out. ‘Cock a doodle do’ when he walked by.
Put yourself in his position. I know you would agree with me that he loved our Lord Jesus. This is what he heard from the Lord Jesus. Let’s take a look at them and think about how you might have acted in a similar manner. First of all Matthew writes this in chapter 10 verse 34, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”
A question to ask yourselves is ‘Would you fight to defend our Lord Jesus? Could you upon hearing this think that our Lord is asking you to join His army and fight for His purposes?’
We read in the Gospel Luke chapter 22 verses 36 – 38, “36 Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. 37 For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end.” 38 So they said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”
You are Peter and you hear our Lord say these words. What would you do? The Lord has just said go get a sword. Please notice the response from the disciples, ‘we have two swords.’ It is interesting that Peter slashing the High Priest’s servant with a sword meant that he was one of the men carrying a weapon.
Now you are with the Lord in the Garden when a mob comes up and confronts our Holy Master. Your adrenaline is running high. What should you do? The disciple Luke reports in his investigation in chapter 22, verse 49 that others were also confused on what they should do. They were waiting for the command to attack. “When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”
I would say that all Peter heard was attack and you know what? - He did. This action was not what the Lord wanted any of His followers to do. He was in total control of the situation and He as you know from our last study directed all those in the mob to take Him and let the rest go. If they waited this is what would have happened.
Because of Peter’s actions the Roman soldiers got involved and ultimately everyone escaped arrest by running away. If they waited upon the Lord I think we would be reading some different things in our bibles. Perhaps all the disciples would have followed our Lord to the High Priest’s home not just Peter and John.
Even in all this mess The Lord loved Peter. Peter had previously spoken up that he would give his life for The Lord. Knowing all things our Lord knew about what was going on behind the spiritual scene. He knew that Satan wanted to get at Peter. Our Lord says these words as Luke found out that would keep Peter’s faith going after his failure. We read in Luke chapter 22 verse 32, But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
Do you see these impacting words to Peter from our Lord Jesus, ‘when you return to Me, strengthen your brothers.’ You Peter are not only going to hang in there and not quit but you are going to be the stone that will help other believers to also hang in there. Is this awesome or what?
I have heard this question and I want you to consider it. The question is this ‘Could somebody accuse you of knowing Jesus? Do you blend in with the world and no one would ever really know that you are a follower of Jesus? Do you think anyone could speak up today and say that you are one of His disciples? It kind of sheds a different light on the criticism of Peter, doesn’t it?
15 And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.
How John was ‘known by the High Priest’ is unknown. This is a question you might want to ask John when you run into him in Heaven.
16 But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in.
John had followed closely behind the group who held Jesus, along with Peter, and had had no difficulty in getting in because he was known. What I do find interesting is that he has enough familiarity and acceptance at this home that he could walk up to one of the servants and give an order - In this case to let Peter into the facility.
17 Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself.
She did not know him. He was probably not dressed like those people who hung around and interacted with the High Priest’s crowd. They of course were better dressed. Therefore this would be a normal question from the girl who let him into the place – ‘are you one of the man who was arrested followers?’
Peter’s nerves have been stretched to breaking point and he panics. In Mark his denial is even more fervent. But Mark had the story directly from Peter who did not try to hide anything. Please notice again his response - ‘I am not.’ This is in direct contrast to our Master and King Jesus’ responses Who twice repeated ‘I am’ (verses 5-6).
19 The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine. 20 Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. 21 Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.”
There is no hint here of a court scene. It was merely a preliminary investigation. The haughty Annas had had Him brought before him in order to subject Him to questioning. ‘About his disciples’ may suggest that he was looking for information about the possibility of an insurrection, or he may simply have been trying to imply the fact. But Annas was not really seeking truth. He was trying to build up a case against Jesus by careful questioning.
Being aware of this our Lord Jesus replied indirectly, in a way that threw the accusations back at Annas. He had hidden nothing, He pointed out, and He had always taught openly because He had nothing to hide. There were no secret meetings or instructions. Everything was open and above board. Annas had only to ask these people themselves, and he would learn what had been said. There was no need to question Him. There were plenty of witnesses. So the unblemished Lamb opened Himself up for examination.
22 And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, “Do You answer the high priest like that?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?”
An officer who stood by struck Him. This behavior was typical of arrogant authority. This man did not like Jesus making a confident reply. The purpose of this hearing was in order to bring Him to submission, not so that He could defend Himself. Bullies will always take advantage of situations to make them look important and win appreciation from their superiors. Annas could have demonstrated his character by intervening. But his aim too was subjection. His character was shown to be lacking. The brutal and unreasonable nature of the examination is clearly brought out.
To this our Lord Jesus quietly made them all aware of their guilt. It was not His supposed evil they were concerned with but their own self-aggrandizement. Can you imagine when these guys face our Lord Jesus again at the White Throne judgment? The entire Lord’s army of angels standing around and this guy comes before the Creator God. I do not want to be in his shoes.
24 Then Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
The continued emphasis on the fact that Jesus was bound must be seen as significant. God bound by man. The world was doing what it could to restrain Him, even though He has seemingly submitted Himself to their will. For a while the one whom Jesus has bound (Satan) is himself binding Jesus (Mark 3.27). This is part of His humiliation. But it is only introductory to His greater triumph. He Who will break man’s bonds must Himself first be bound.
25 Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not!” 26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” 27 Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed.
No here is a lesson we must take to heart. You see while our Holy Lord Jesus was being dragged around bound, Peter, although apprehensive, was maintaining his freedom. But in reality the bound man showed Himself truly free by His replies while the free man showed himself a slave by his replies.
Twice again Peter denied that he was a disciple of Jesus and this was followed by cock crow as morning approached. The words of our Holy King Jesus in chapter 13.38 had been fulfilled. John, who knew something of the High Priest’s household, identifies the final questioner specifically. It is thus clear that John witnessed at least a part of Peter’s humiliation.
‘I am not’. This is again the opposite of our Lord Jesus’ firm statement, “I am”
There is nothing that we can say about Peter’s humiliation, except to say that it should be a warning to all about over-arrogance. How little Peter realized the weakness of his own human nature. So, we need to understand of how little we realize of ours. He who had been so brave, and had drawn his sword to fight, and had followed the arresting party at a distance, and had even entered the courtyard of the High Priest’s house, discovered that when tired and shaken and put under great unexpected pressure, he was weaker than he had realized. He had stretched himself too far. It demonstrates the intensity of his feelings at that moment. But happily he recovered to give hope to all that one failure is not necessarily the end.
Peter left and wept bitterly, and was restored. In contrast Judas’ heart was set cold. He had deliberately set his mind against our Holy Lord Jesus over a period of time, because it had never come home to him what The Son of God Jesus Christ had really come to do. And his tears, if there were tears, were tears of hopelessness, as he realized that what he had hoped for would never be, for his hopes were set in the wrong direction. There was much remorse but no repentance. It was different with Peter. He truly repented. The distinction is important.
