John 18:24-27
Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the slaves 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?” Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.
Another transition. Apparently, folks don’t know what to do with this Jesus, the one who doesn’t resist arrest but who does resist every false accusation and protests the excessive use of force the Temple police employ against him. And so Annas kicks the can down the road by sending Jesus to Caiaphas the high priest.
Meanwhile, back at the charcoal fire, Peter is still warming himself, when those nearby ask a second time whether he was one of Jesus’ disciples. He denies it. And then another person stands up to question him. He has more credibility because he was not only at the garden where they arrested Jesus but is a relative of the man whose ear was cut off. The man whose ear was cut off, we should add, by Peter.
It would look like the jig is up, but Peter sticks to his story and denies the accusation once more. Except he’s not just denying an accusation, he’s denying his Lord. And when he hears the cock crow he realizes he has just fulfilled the one prophecy he couldn’t imagine coming true.
Think about that for a moment: as a follower of Jesus, Peter has believed that Jesus was the fulfillment of so many of Israel’s prophecies about the coming Messiah. But when Jesus predicts that Peter will deny him, he cannot believe it. In fact, he has already promised Jesus that he would not only follow him to the end but lay down his life for him.
Suddenly Peter perceives more deeply than before that Jesus told the truth. And it must have been a bitter moment of recognition and irony. For while Jesus may fulfill Israel’s prophecies, Peter has just fulfilled Jesus’ word that he would prove faithless in the end.
This is one of those stories in Jesus’ passion that all four evangelists share, and while there are minor alterations in details to suit the theological confession of the distinct evangelist, by and large the story follows the same pattern. Which means that it really, really mattered to the early church that this story be told. That is, it mattered that we know of Peter’s failing. Peter, the one on whom, according to other accounts, Jesus would build his church. Peter, who all the evangelists recorded, was the chief disciple and close associate of Jesus. Peter, the leader with feet of clay, the one who had enough courage to follow Jesus to his trial but failed when the test came.
Why was this story so important to share? Because, I think, it reassures all of us who would follow Jesus that heroic faith is not a requirement to be a disciple. Peter failed. We will fail. Yet the one on trial even as Peter denies him will yet save us all.
Prayer: Dear God, grant us courage in our times of trial. And when we falter and fail, assure us of your grace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Post image: “Peter’s Denial,” by Carl Henry Bloch (1865).
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