Matthew 26:69-75 Luke 22:54-64 John 18:25-27

Matthew 26:69-75 69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” 71 When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” 73 A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.” 74 Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Luke 22:54-62 54 Having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance. 55 After they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them. 56 And a servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him, said, “This man was with Him too.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” 58 A little later, another saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59 After about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, for he is a Galilean too.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.

John 18:25-27 25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So 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 slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” 27 Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

The different accounts of Peter’s denial seem to have a difference in who questioned Peter about Jesus the second time.  Matthew records it as having been another slave girl while Luke records it as having been a man while John simply says they.  The simplest way to resolve this is to understand that there was a group of people questioning Peter and he repeatedly denied Christ at this second questioning.  To whom Peter denies Christ is of little importance.  The sad reality is that he did, and we have the record here.  I would like to focus this event as well as what happened immediately prior to and after this takes place.  There is much we can learn from this experience.

PETER IS DISTANT FROM CHRIST: The texts make a point of stating that Peter was following Christ at a distance.  The other disciples had all fled and were nowhere to be found but John moved in as close to Christ as he could get, perhaps because of his connections, but Peter was out in the courtyard at a distance.  It seems that this physical distance may have been a contributing factor to the denials that would take place.  However, I believe that the greater factor was the distance in Peter’s spirit and a fear of being identified with Christ.  We all face that hear in a world that ridicules and rejects Jesus.  It can be hard for us to admit that we are His followers for fear of being rejected and ridiculed ourselves.  It is an important part of our lives as followers of Jesus to strive to be as closely identified to Him as possible.

PETER MAKES DENIALS OF CHRIST: As mentioned in the introduction it is difficult to know exactly what transpired in this scene as far as who confronted Peter.  It seems that clear that the first denial was to a slave girl.  The second denial came about because a girl told a group of people that Peter was a follower of Jesus and then one of the men came and accused Peter.  The third was to one of the slaves of the high priest who had more evidence in his argument like having seen him cut off an ear in the garden and his manner of speech.  In every case, Peter denies knowing Christ.  The last time Peter feels threatened by the more convincing arguments presented so he denies Christ with an oath and swearing.  He changes his manner of speech.  As least there was some evidence that Peter was a follower of Jesus.  Clearly Peter failed miserably in this instance.  However, before we become too critical, we need to recognize that it is likely most of us would have responded in a similar way in these circumstances.  Our goal should be to have people regularly inquire about our relationship with Jesus because of the things we do and say.

PETER IS DISTRESSED ABOUT CHRIST: In the heat of the moment things often look like we have no choice.  Decisions made and words spoken in those contexts are often deeply regretted.  Peter must have felt like he had no choice but to deny he was a follower of Jesus in a context where he is watching Jesus be beaten and spat upon by officials.  However, when the rooster crowed, Jesus locked eyes with Peter and he remembered the warnings Jesus had given; Peter went out and wept bitterly.  We have all faced these times in life where we wish we could go back and just have a “do over.”  Peter will always be known as the “chicken” who made a rooster crow.  What we need to learn from and remember from Peter’s experience is that when doing the wrong things seems unavoidable; it really isn’t.  The other and, perhaps more important lesson is that God is all about using “chickens” to change the world.  Peter was restored and used to revolutionize the world.  I think the key to the fact that Peter was used after this failure, besides the amazing grace of God, was the fact that he wept bitterly.  We will all sin and fail but God restores the repentant.

APPLICATION: Do all we can to remain close to Jesus in every way.  Be identified with Jesus no matter what it might cost and strive to keep from denying Christ in or words and relationships.  No matter how many failures we have, God is faithful to forgive and restore.