Anchor My Faith

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Author: Stephen Weller
939 words, 5 minutes read time

More Denials

Scripture: Matthew 26:70-73; Mark 14:66-71; Luke 22:56-60; John 18:25-27

In the previous lesson no progress was made in building a case against Jesus as all the witnesses provided testimony that was clearly not incriminating. In this lesson the focus of the narrative sifts to Peter who will have a very bad experience as he denies Jesus five more times. The six denials are outlined below for your reference.

• Peter’s 1st Denial – to a slave girl doorkeeper at the courtyard door (Jn 18:17)
• Peter’s 2nd Denial – to slaves and guards in the courtyard by the fire (Jn 18:25)
• Peter’s 3rd Denial – to another slave girl in the courtyard by the fire (Mt 26:69-71; Mk 14:66-68; Lk 22:56-57)
• Peter’s 4th Denial – to a slave girl and bystanders at the gateway (Mt 26:71-72; Mk 14:69-70a; Lk 22:58)
• Peter’s 5th Denial – to a relative of Malchus (Jn 18:26-27a)
• Peter’s 6th Denial – to bystanders standing around (Mt 26:73-75; Mk 14:70b-72; Lk 22:58-62)

^{Jn 18:25} Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So, they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” [Peter] denied it and said, “I am not.”

It was a chilly night and we find Peter standing along with others near the fire in the courtyard warming themselves. The other people were most likely slaves and guards that work in the courtyard, and in the course of conversation they ask Peter if he is one of the disciples of Jesus. Peter told them that he was not. This was a lie and the second denial of the night.

^{Mk 14:66} And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. ^{Lk 22:56} Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light, ^{Mk 14:67} warming himself, ^{Lk 22:56} and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him. ^{Mk 14:67} You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” ^{Mt 26:70} But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean. ^{Lk 22:57} Woman, I do not know him.” ^{Mk 14:68} And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed.

Peter is still in the courtyard and is now sitting in the light of the fire warming himself when one of the servant girls of the high priest looks at Peter very closely and said to those around her that this man was with Jesus. Peter states that he does not know Jesus, which is a lie because if he didn’t know Jesus then why would he be there in the courtyard at the trial of Jesus. This is the third denial of the night. The narrative then mentions that Peter went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. (Denial two and three might have been combined.)

^{Lk 22:58} And a little later ^{Mt 26:71} And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” ^{Mk 14:69} “This man is one of them.” ^{Mt 26:72} And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.”

As Peter was going out the entrance, another servant girl sees him and says to the bystanders that he was with Jesus of Nazareth and was one of his disciples. The level of fear seems to be growing in Peter because he now denies her statement with an oath. According to the narrative we are working from this is the fourth denial.

^{Jn 18:26} One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” ²⁷ Peter again denied it.

Pressure against Peter increases even more as a servant of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, states that he saw him in the garden with Jesus. Peter again denies any relationship with Jesus. This is the fifth denial.

^{Lk 22:59} And after an interval of about an hour ^{Mk 14:70} while the bystanders again ^{Mt 26:73} came up and said to Peter, ^{Mk 14:70} “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” ^{Mt 26:73} for your accent betrays you.” ^{Mk 14:71} But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” ^{Lk 22:60} And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.

Peter is still there and after about an interval of about an hour others came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean, for your accent betrays you,” but Peter invokes a curse on himself and swears, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” As he spoke the rooster crowed. This is the sixth denial. (Possibly denial four, five and six could have been grouped, but after an interval of about an hour makes this questionable.)

Conclusion

This lesson is a good illustration of the difficulty of trying to harmonize the four gospels into a single narrative. With four people sharing the account you have variations to what actually happened. Jesus is recorded as saying that Peter would deny him three times and that the roster would crow once maybe twice depending on the gospel writer, and as we work through the denials we wonder if there were six or did Jesus group them into three? This will be resolved in the next lesson.