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And The Rooster Crowed

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AND THE ROOSTER CROWED

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. ’You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,’ she said. But he denied it. ‘I don’t know or understand what you are talking about,’ he said, and went out into the entryway.

When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, ‘This fellow is one of them.’ Again he denied it. After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, ‘Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.’ He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, ‘I don’t know this man you’re talking about.’

Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: ‘Before the rooster crows twice, you will disown me three times.’ And he broke down and wept. (Mark 14: 66-72)

Oh Peter, how could you? Don’t you remember Jesus’ warning?

It’s so easy for us to stand back and judge Peter, isn’t it? Of course we wouldn’t do that, now would we? Or would we? Put yourself in Peter’s shoes. The events of the night happened so fast and so unexpectedly that he was caught unawares. Jesus had given him and all the others plenty of warning about what was to happen to Him, but they had chosen to dismiss His words and not to take Him seriously. Peter had even cancelled out Jesus’ words to him personally by protesting his undying loyalty.

Then things began to spin out of control. Instead of being awake and alert as He had urged them, because His betrayer was on the way and His arrest was imminent, they all fell asleep, giving way to the weakness of the flesh. When the mob fell on Jesus, they were unprepared. As usual, Peter acted first and thought afterwards. It was Peter who recklessly swung his sword and connected with the one person he would not have chosen to tangle with, an important member of the high priest’s household. Fortunately for him, Jesus was there, always watching for an opportunity to fix what was broken in spite of the adverse circumstances.

You have to give it to him, though. He was the only disciple who dared make his way right into the enemy’s camp. He mingled with the crowd in the courtyard of the high priest’s residence and tried to make himself invisible. But, unfortunately for him, he stood out like a sore thumb. His Galilean accent gave him away, for one thing, and for another, he was known to be a disciple of Jesus. He’d been seen all over Jerusalem hanging out with Jesus.

In spite of the evidence, Peter tried to lie his way out of trouble. Would he be arrested because he was guilty by association? He didn’t want to take the chance because he was not about to face crucifixion if the Romans got hold of him. Not once but three times he denied any knowledge of his Master, vehemently cursing and swearing his ignorance of the man he had confessed to be the Son of God not long before.

His conscience stabbed him like a knife because he knew he had lied. And then the rooster crowd. Suddenly his memory lit up like a prairie fire, burning and searing his heart until he crashed in a heap of misery. Jesus’ warning words rang in his mind and even more loudly his protestation of loyalty. In that moment he was stripped naked and saw himself for the first time as he really was – not the brave leader of the pack as he thought he was but a cowardly little weasel, cowering before a serving maid. He wept until he had no more tears to weep but, like feathers in the wind, he could not take his words back.

Worst of all. Jesus knew. Peter saw His glance and burned with shame. There was no opportunity to make right with Him. He was heavily guarded and on His way to death. Peter knew it. He remembered all the altercations He had had with the authorities. The crunch had come and they had Him in their power. There was no escape for Him this time. The Sanhedrin was not interested in them. They wanted the ringleader and the finally had Him.

Had you been in Peter’s shoes would you have acted any differently? How did Peter feel? Desperate enough to do what Judas did? Thank God he hung on, and eventually reaped the reward of forgiveness and reinstatement as a beloved disciple.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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The Plot Thickens

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THE PLOT THICKENS 

“Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.

“‘You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?’ she asked Peter. He replied, ‘I am not.’ It was cold and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter was also standing with them, warming himself.'” John 18:15-18 NIV.

Although John did not refer to the scattering of the disciples after Jesus’ arrest, as Jesus had predicted, at this point he and Peter followed as closely as they dared. John mentioned “another disciple” who was “known to the high priest”. As with the “disciple whom Jesus loved”, he was probably referring to himself. He had some sort of connection to the high priest — perhaps he was familiar with a member or members of his household — and gained easy entrance to the courtyard, but Peter had to stay outside the gate until John tipped off one of the servant girls who let him in.

While Jesus was being interrogated by Annas inside the palace, another interrogation was going on in the courtyard — Peter, confronted by a servant girl! What a contrast! Jesus was facing the most powerful man in the Jewish nation and doing it with dignity and control. In spite of being bound and guarded, He was free — free from guilt and fear, free to walk away any time He wanted to as He had done on many occasions in the past; but also free to remain a prisoner facing death because He chose to. He was not the one on trial. Annas was!

Peter was not a prisoner; he was free to walk away from that scene. He had no ropes around his wrists, no soldiers watching his every move, but he might has well have been chained to one of them because he was held captive by his fear. Who was the servant girl anyway? What power or influence did she have? Was Peter on trial before her? Of course not, and yet, in a moment of panic, Peter denied any association with Jesus.

The girl must have known that John was a disciple of Jesus. Perhaps John had visited some of the servants more than once. They knew who he was and who he was following. He was in no danger of being arrested. Peter was his companion, hence the question, “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” Why would Peter think he was in any danger? Yet he weakened and dissociated himself from Jesus rather than risk exposure to any “trigger-happy” soldier!

Perhaps he was not as afraid of the servant girl whose bold question was put to him in the company of people John called “officials”, standing around the fire to warm themselves, but rather the company he was in at that moment. Not a good place to be, Peter! It was difficult for him to remain unnoticed amongst a group who obviously knew each other and were probably talking among themselves about what was going on inside the high priest’s palace. Then the silly servant girl had to go and deliberately draw attention to him.

Just as Jesus had predicted only a few hours before, Peter was being sifted like wheat and he, who thought he had the courage of a lion, crumpled before a servant girl, stung by her contempt in the presence of a few other unnamed people. But John wasn’t finished with Peter yet. There was more to come.

“Meanwhile the high priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and His teaching.” John 18:19 NIV.

In the meantime, while Peter’s ordeal was continuing in the courtyard, inside the palace, Annas was squeezing Jesus even tighter, like an anaconda with its coils around its victim. He was probing for clues to His intention. Was He planning an uprising? How many followers did He have? Judging by the crowd that followed Him when He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, He might have trained a secret army. The Pharisees had said, “Look how the whole world has gone after Him!” John 12:19b NIV. Were the people loyal enough to support Him in a revolt against Rome? What was He teaching them? Was He secretly instructing them on His strategy when He made His move?