Matthew 26: 69-75 - Lessons from Peter’s denial of Christ

It’s disconcerting to read in Matthew 26:46 that “All His (Jesus) disciples left Him and fled.” But to Peter’s credit, he followed Jesus to Caiaphas residence, even if was only outside the courtyard. Why he did that we may not really know. All we can tell is that he was doing the right thing in following Jesus, but only for the wrong reason. Perhaps he recalled that he had vowed to follow Jesus to the end, even if all were to desert Him. He had to deceive his conscience that he was doing the right thing. In this account, what made Peter different from Judas Iscariot was his tears at the end. Judas in angry remorse went and hanged himself. Peter in deep repentance buried his face in tears. One led to death the other led to liberation and life.

Tired and lack of sleep, Peter stationed himself, probably uncomfortably, at a distance to watch the whole trial. He did not realize that in his worn down condition he was far from able to handle the remarks from a couple of servant girls, and a person who could recognize his northern accent. When told that He was a member of Jesus’s band, he denied it, at first nonchalantly and then vigorously. At the third suggestion that he knew Jesus, Peter cursed and swore and insisted that He did not know Jesus. As sure as the sun would shine in the morning, Jesus’ words about the cockcrow and Peter’s denial of Him three times came to pass. Surely this, among other things, tells us that Jesus was indeed a prophet. Remembering what Jesus had told him, Peter went out and wept bitterly.

Denying that he knew Jesus was certainly a wretched thing to do. One key reason why this account appears in all four Gospels underscores how easily we can fall into a similar situation. This account presents a clear cut example of how one can start the journey with Christ in red hot steam, and run the risk of losing the plot midway. If we think that this was just peculiar to Peter, then we are sorely mistaken. We could be living in a different culture and face different situation from Peter’s, but how often have we found ourselves in similar circumstance, exactly like where he was that night. To conform to the norm of our environment, a question such as, “I am sure you can’t be one of those Jesus fanatics, are you?” can make us feel absolutely uneasy. Sometimes, off-colour, we can even think that telling a little “so called” white lie just to save our skin is alright. We would even convince ourselves saying, “This is just a once off kind of a thing and it should be okay.” What would Peter say to us, if he could see us in one of those situations?  

Watch therefore, that we would not fall into temptation!