54 And they seized him, and led him _away_, and brought him into
the high priest’s house. But Peter followed afar off. 55 And when
they had kindled a fire in the midst of the court, and had sat
down together, Peter sat in the midst of them. 56 And a certain
maid seeing him as he sat in the light _of the fire_, and looking
stedfastly upon him, said, This man also was with him. 57 But he
denied, saying, Woman, I know him not. 58 And after a little while
another saw him, and said, Thou also art _one_ of them. But Peter
said, Man, I am not. 59 And after the space of about one hour
another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this man also was
with him; for he is a Galilæan. 60 But Peter said, Man, I know not
what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock
crew. 61 And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter
remembered the word of the Lord, how that he said unto him, Before
the cock crow this day thou shalt deny me thrice. 62 And he went
out, and wept bitterly.
Peter really loved Jesus and his faith in him never failed; but in the
hour of trial, which Jesus had predicted, Peter lost courage and denied
his Lord. His sin, however, was unlike that of Judas. The latter was the
final step in a downward course. The former was an act of cowardice in a
career of moral development which resulted in blessing and service to all
the followers of Christ.
The fall of Peter may be traced to his self-confidence. When he protested
that he would be true to Christ, even though all should forsake him, he
was sincere and expressed the true feeling of his heart, but he betrayed
his pride. The immediate result was his failure to obey the Master and to
watch and pray as he had been bidden; and consequently he was surprised
and stunned by the arrest of Jesus, and like the other disciples, after a
rash stroke in his defense, he forsook Jesus and fled. He followed Jesus
to the palace of the high priest but hoped to conceal his discipleship and
to be regarded as one of the excited crowd.
Every follower of Christ is in mortal danger when confident of his moral
strength and especially when at the same time he is ashamed to be publicly
known as a disciple, and most of all when he feels, as Peter probably
felt, that confessed loyalty to Christ can under the circumstances be of
no special help to his Lord. At such a time when the cause of Jesus seemed
hopeless, when the courage of Peter was gone, when he was wearied by the
long night of sleeplessness, when cold and lonely, the unexpected attack
was made and Peter suffered his tragic defeat.
It may be easy to point the finger of scorn at the great apostle, but
there are few followers of Christ who at times of less severe testing have
not as truly denied their Lord, by word or deed, with cowardice and deceit
and passion. Three times Peter repeated his denial and then he heard the
crowing of a cock. The incident was insignificant in itself, but it
recalled the word of his Master; it made Peter conscious of his disgrace
but it called him to himself, and then as he turned toward the palace, for
a moment he caught sight of his Lord. We may be unable to conjecture what
was expressed in the face of Jesus as at that moment he “looked upon
Peter.” There may have been something of rebuke, but probably there was
more of unutterable sorrow and of tender sympathy. We read that as “Peter
remembered the word of the Lord, ... he went out, and wept bitterly.”
Surely these were tears of repentance and they prepared the way for pardon
and for peace. To many a fallen follower of Christ there has come some
minute providence recalling hours of glad fellowship and messages of
solemn warning, and the heart has been turned toward the Master, and true
repentance has been felt in realizing the pain which the disloyalty has
brought to the loving Lord.
The consciousness has brought bitter tears and hours of regret and of
anguish, but they have been followed by a brighter morning, by a meeting
with the risen Christ, by a new confession of love, by words of peace, and
by a truer life of deeper devotion to his cause.