Mark 14: 66-72 – The trial of Peter

It appears that from verses 53 onwards Mark was narrating two trials, that of Jesus as well as Peter. In the verses leading up to today’s text, we saw how Jesus had successfully proven Himself to be faithful to His call and mission. What about Peter? These verses tell us that the prediction of Jesus came true to the very word.

  

In verses 66-68, a servant girl of the high priest spotted Peter and pointed out that he was associated with Jesus. Peter denied by saying that he didn’t know what she was talking about. He claimed not to understand what she was saying. Here the cock must have crowed once. Probably sensing that he was recognized, Peter moved out into the porch. However, the girl did not back down, she persisted with her claim. This time, she exclaimed to the bystander, “This man is one of them!” Peter again denied that he knew the Lord. But judging from the way Peter dressed and the way he talked, they said, “Surely, you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too.” Then Peter for the third time denied that he knew Jesus. This time he even resorted to curses and even made an oath saying, “I do not know this man you are talking about.”

Of course Peter was not cursing Jesus; he was calling curses upon himself. They were his attempts to make his lie more realistic. The oath is Peter’s attempt to make his lie believable. Little did Peter know that in swearing, he was adopting the language used in the court of law. He was oblivious that he was in fact in the law court of the Most High.

“I do not know this man!” How true were those words? Peter did not know Jesus at this point. Peter failed three times in Gethsemane. He should have prayed but he slept. Here again he failed the Lord three times, he failed to stand up courageously to acknowledge Him publicly. He was one who talked too quick, prayed too little and boasted too much. He failed because he was not prepared for that moment.

The climax of this story was when the cock crows the second time to fulfill what the Lord had told Peter beforehand. It marked the end of the third watch. In it we see the contrast between the faithfulness of the Lord and the unfaithfulness of Peter and others. Suddenly, Peter remembered what The Lord had told him. It brought him to tears and he repented. That crow from the cock woke Peter from his spiritual stupor. Like what Peter had experienced, the Lord would also use distinct events in our lives to wake us from our complacency. When that “cock” crows in our lives, how would we have responded? Spiritually speaking, where are we today? We don’t have to wait till the cock crows on us to wake up to God’s beckoning to move forward with Him. Let’s do so now and every moment of life!