John 18:15-27

Peter's First Denial

15 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, 16 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.

17 "You aren't one of this man's disciples too, are you?" she asked Peter.

He replied, "I am not."

18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

The High Priest Questions Jesus

19 Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.

20 "I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied. "I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 21 Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said."

22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. "Is this the way you answer the high priest?" he demanded.

23 "If I said something wrong," Jesus replied, "testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?" 24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Peter's Second and Third Denials

25 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."

26 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?" 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.



Dig Deeper

Almost ten years ago now, my wife and I took her teenage cousin and our then five year-old son to the zoo. It was a late summer day and it was rainy so the zoo was nearly deserted. As we strolled through looking at the different animals, my son really wanted to go see the big cats. We finally made our way to the area where the lions were kept. Disappointingly, there were no lions in sight. We soon realized that because of the drizzling, the lions had gone inside so we went into the building where we could see the lions inside. As we went in, we were the only ones in the entire building. I came up to the lion’s area and saw a big male laying down next to the glass, looking out with his face about two inches from the quarter-inch safety glass. I walked up to the railing and realized that I was not much more than a foot away from this lion’s face, albeit we were separated by the glass. I was mesmerized by his sheer beauty and the rare opportunity to get that close to a real lion. I leaned over the railing to get closer and closer, looking at him intently. Now, I have to interject that I always had the thought in the back of my mind that if I ever had to confront a lion, I could probably take one with my bare hands if it was absolutely necessary. I had even thought about my attack plan just in case something like that ever happened. As I continued to stare at this lion, I forgot something quite important. In the animal kingdom, staring into the eyes of an animal is an attempt to take dominance over that animal. In a lightning flash, that lion sprung up on his back legs, pounded at the glass with both front paws and roared an intensely loud roar that reverberated even through that thick glass. My response was . . . to run, leaving my family behind. I thought that I was ready for a lion but I discovered that that animal was quicker, more powerful, and fiercer than I had ever imagined. When my chance came, at least sort of, I found that I wasn’t ready at all. I was completely overmatched.

Jesus’ disciples were not quite sure what was going to happen in Jerusalem, but they knew that it wasn’t going to be good. They had trouble wrapping their minds around all that Jesus had told them, but the one thing they seemed to be sure of was that they were going to stand with him to the end. If he faced trouble, so would they. They were ready to follow their teacher wherever he might go. They were ready to face whatever he was going to face. The time has now arrived, though, and they find out that the enemy they are up against seems to be quicker, more powerful, and fiercer than they had imagined. Jesus, firmly rooted in doing the will of the Father, is quite ready for what he is about to face, but his disciples are not. The response of most of them was . . . to run. Even those who followed at a safe distance will find that in stark contrast to Jesus’ calm control in the situation, they will fail in ways they never thought imaginable.

As this scene opens, the other disciples have scattered just as Jesus knew that they would. Following behind at a safe distance are Peter and an unnamed disciple, presumably John. We have clues in the other Gospels that John’s family had some wealth (Mk. 1:20) and thoughts of having an important place came quite naturally to him (Matt. 20:20-28). Throughout John’s writings he seems quite familiar with the Temple and priestly functions, so it should not come as that surprising that he was known to the high priest and had access to the high priest’s courtyard. We don’t know for sure but it seems quite probably that Annas, who had been high priest and still wielded much power, and was seen by many as the legitimate high priest, and Caiaphas, the current high priest and son-in-law of Annas, lived in the same palace. If this is the case, then they would have lived in separate wings that were connected by this common courtyard, which would have kept the somewhat illegal happenings fairly private.

We simply don’t know what was going through Peter’s mind as he attempted to make his way into the courtyard, but the servant who gave or denied access seems to have caught him off guard. Peter’s mind had to be racing. If he was exposed as a disciple of Jesus would he be denied entry, would he be seized and put next to his teacher? He quickly denies that he is anything of the sort and makes his way over to the fire on this cold spring night in Jerusalem. John is the only Gospel writer that gives us the detail (which is not preserved in the TNIV translation) that this fire was specifically a coal fire. Coal fires have a very distinct smell to them, a smell which no doubt stayed in the minds of Peter and John. I used to go to my grandparents house when I was a boy where they burned similar fires and to this day I am still reminded of those times every time I smell one of those fires. We won’t discuss the smell of that fire any further here, but keep it in mind as we move through the events surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Meanwhile, John takes us inside where he has likely gone to watch the proceedings between Jesus and probably Annas, who was not technically the high priest, but could still easily be referred to as such by Jews (the high priest position was supposed to be a lifetime position so many Jews rejected the priestly appointees made by the Romans after removing Annas from the position). What John describes throughout this scene is the irony of the Jewish leadership accusing Jesus of breaking the law by being a false prophet worthy of death (Deut. 13:1-11), yet at every step of the way, they are the ones guilty of violating the Jewish law.

The first violation of the law was the entire proceeding itself. This first meeting with Annas seems to be an informal trial before Jesus is sent to an official trial of some sort before the Sanhedrin, but whatever the details, the whole thing was strictly illegitimate in Jewish law where there were not supposed to be trials of this nature at night. They are working under the cover of darkness, a detail that was no doubt highly symbolic for John.

As the questioning opens, it seems that Jesus is being resistant or even obstinate, but that would be a misunderstanding of Jewish law and custom. In Jewish law, the authorities should have gathered eyewitnesses whose stories matched up with one another before ever even questioning an accused person. Only if their testimony matched and a case was established could a trial begin. Jesus’ point in charging them to find eyewitnesses serves three purposes. First, he consistently draws all attention to himself, protecting his disciples. Second, he confirms that he didn’t have two levels of teaching. He wasn’t saying one thing in public all the while teaching something revolutionary in private. What people heard in public was the same sorts of things he was saying in private. Third, and most importantly, he wasn’t being obstinate, he was urging them to follow the law. They shouldn’t be questioning him without corroborating witnesses. What they were doing did not meet the standards of the law. If they were going to continue then it would be in willful violation of what they knew to be Jewish law.

The response of those present was not to humbly realize that Jesus was right, that they were breaking the law. Instead, one of the officials near Jesus gave him a sharp slap. This was yet another illegal action. Matthew (26:67) describes even further abuse during these proceedings. All physical abuse of an accused person, however, was strictly forbidden in Jewish law. Again, Jesus gently challenges the illegal actions. If he has actually said something wrong, then someone should charge him with such an act. Annas doesn’t stop or condemn this action, though, evidently allowing it. Instead, he sends Jesus over to Caiaphas, which was likely a simple walk across the courtyard to the other side of the palace.

Outside, at the same time, John tells us that Peter has denied Jesus for a second and third time. When the rooster crows, Peter realizes what he has done. He has failed Jesus just as Jesus had told him he would. He was so sure that he would be up to the challenge, but when the lion leaped, he ran. He had denied knowing his beloved teacher three times. Don’t miss the parallels here between Peter and Jesus. Jesus is on the inside telling the high priest the truth, laying down his life for others. Peter is on the outside lying to servants and doing his best to preserve his own life for his own benefit. Jesus is putting everything out in the open while Peter is doing his dead level best to hide. Yet, before we are too harsh on Peter here, let’s not forget that he’s there. He’s failing, but he’s trying. He and John are the only ones who have even followed Jesus this far. From here on out, though, Jesus will be completely alone. They have made a rather feeble attempt to follow him, but he must face this lion all by himself.



Devotional Thought

The failure of the disciples when Satan roared during these events was that they were relying on their own strength. They were discovering (once again Jesus was teaching them something for their own benefit) that they would always fail if that was the case. They needed the Holy Spirit to guide them through their struggles. When hard times comes, do you turn to the Spirit and His strength appealing in prayer for His guidance or do you trust in your own strength?