Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! (John 13:38)
“You
aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.
He
replied, “I am not.”
(John 18:17)
Meanwhile,
Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him,
“You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?”
He
denied it, saying, “I am not.”
One of the high
priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut
off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” Again
Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow. (John 18:25-27)
Then
Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you
will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. (Matthew 26:75)
I’ve
written about this before, but it’s one of those scenes that I think have been
misinterpreted, so it sticks with me. The general view of this is that Peter’s
denials resulted from his cowardice. Of course, Peter had every reason to
be afraid. He was in the den of the enemy. Temple guardsmen and Roman soldiers were loitering about. If he hadn’t been afraid, he would have had to
have been either an adolescent or an adolescent.
I
don’t recall where I read that Peter's time in the courtyard may
have been as long as 45 minutes. That might not be the right period, but
neither would it be reasonable to think that the denials took no longer than
the time required to read them. Peter was in the courtyard for more than a minute.
And Jesus’ prediction of Peter’s denials had only happened the previous
evening.
It
doesn’t seem reasonable to think that Peter was so afraid that he denied Jesus. He could have left the courtyard and been nearby to hear about what was happening if he was afraid. If he was just afraid, he could have left
after the first denial, realizing he was doing something he didn’t want. He didn’t need to add “stupid” to “cowardly.”
But
he stayed, and I believe he stayed for at least two reasons. First, he
loved Jesus. Secondly, I suspect he still believed that Jesus would do something spectacular and miraculous, and Peter wanted to be there to witness it … and help if needed.
So,
when the first challenge came along and he denied being Jesus’ disciple, I don’t
think Peter thought he was denying Christ. I think he thought he was cleverly lying
to the enemy, that he would tell them something and be able to stick around to “help”
if Jesus needed it. Then, after the third denial and the cock crowed, he
realized that his tricks were precisely what Jesus had said would happen, he
ran away.
In
other words, until the cock crowed, Peter was in denial about his denials. And
that is where we need to focus. Rather than criticizing Peter, when do we deny
Jesus while thinking we’re not denying Him, we’re just lying to the enemy, or being
kind to someone, or doing something else we think is clever, strategic, and practical?
When is the time, the place, and the situation somehow “wrong,” and when they are “right,”
we’ll stand for Jesus? How often do we not notice what we’re doing?
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