Peter Denies Jesus Three Times As He Goes In A Continual Downward Spiral (26:69-75).
It is probably not accidental that the mockery of Jesus concerning His being unable to prophesy is now followed by an example of the fulfilment of one of His prophecies (Matthew 26:34). Even as they mocked Him one of His prophecies was in process of fulfilment. As ever Jesus will not give ‘signs'. He will not prophesy for the amusement of the guards. But He will use His powers in order to help His own.
For meanwhile Peter, who is in the courtyard in the High Priest's palace, is undergoing his own kind of trial, and the whole of the account is intended to be read in the light of Matthew 10:32-33. ‘Everyone therefore who confesses Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father Who is in Heaven. And whoever will deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father Who is in Heaven.' The point is being made that by this standard Peter totally fails. And yet even as we note this we should recognise that he must at the time have been under great, almost unbearable, tension, and that as the kind of man who did not find it easy to survive under this kind of pressure, for he was more a man who responded to impulse. Thus he had put himself in a vulnerable position. Furthermore the slow passage of time, and the constant uncertainty as the night dwindled away with him sitting in the semi-darkness among those whom he in his own mind saw as potential enemies and betrayers, must have been adding its own pressure. So when he was approached by a servant girl who identified him, his mind must have frozen, with the result that he automatically blurted out a denial. His courage had failed him. And yet we should call to mind that he still had the courage to remain where he was. When we remember what in his view his fate could well have been if he was exposed that was a courageous thing to do. And the lie was to some extent justifiable in the light of the circumstances, (in his view he was in danger of his life), although Matthew certainly calls it a denial.
He was in fact probably in no actual danger. There were no charges that could be laid against him unless Jesus was convicted of a criminal offence which included His disciples, and all knew that the One Whom all had really wanted to restrain was safely in custody, and had yet to be officially tried. Nor have we any grounds for thinking that they were interested in arresting His disciples, who were probably just looked on as merely deluded. (It would be different once they became the main preachers). And none of the disciples had seemingly been involved in the incident in the Temple. So no one was wanting to arrest the disciples. But that was certainly not how a Peter, shaken by his experiences of the night, saw it. He remembered what had happened in the Garden and he probably feared for his life.
Then a second maid servant identified him. But by this time he had had time to think and there was less excuse, and when he denied it on oath it made the situation even worse. Note how his denial is depicted as having grown deeper. It was even more so the third time when he was partly identified by his accent, and this time by men. Then he took a further step downwards, for then he vociferously and forcefully denied knowing Jesus with cursing and swearing. Fears for his own safety had thus caused him to deny his Master three times in ever growing intensity. And then he heard a cock crow, and what Jesus had said flooded back to him, and racing from the courtyard he found a deserted place and broke down in tears. He could not believe what he had done. So while Jesus was going on triumphantly on His way to the cross without flinching, Peter retired aware that he was a total failure, repenting in bitter tears. He had failed his test. The night belonged to only One person. It is, however, indicative of the mercy of God that shortly afterwards he would become God's chief spokesman.
Analysis.
a Now Peter was sitting outside in the court (Matthew 26:69 a).
b And a maid came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus the Galilaean”, but he denied before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying” (Matthew 26:69-70).
c And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and says to those who were there, “This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth” (Matthew 26:71).
d And again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the man” (Matthew 26:72).
c And after a little while those who stood by came and said to Peter, “Of a truth you also are one of them, for your speech exposes you” (Matthew 26:73).
b Then he began to curse and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the cock crowed, and Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before the cock crow, you will deny me three times.”
a And he went out, and wept bitterly (Matthew 26:75).
Note that in ‘a' Peter was sitting outside in the court and in the parallel he leaves the court. In ‘b' he denies Jesus and in the parallel he does likewise, and Peter remembers Jesus' words. In ‘c' he is accused of having been with Jesus and in the parallel he is again accused. Centrally he denied Jesus with an oath.
We may also see it as a sequence within an envelope. Thus we have the envelope consisting of ‘a' and its parallel, which contains a threefold sequence, first ‘b', then ‘c and d', and then ‘c' and ‘b', in each of which we have the accusation followed by the denial, each of the denials being introduced by ‘I do not know'. Thus:
· “You also were with Jesus the Galilaean”, -- “I do not know what you are saying.”
· “This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth” -- he denied with an oath “I do not know the man”.
· “Of a truth you also are one of them, for your speech exposes you” -- then he began to curse and to swear, “I do not know the man.”