Luk 22:56-62 | KingComments | STEP | Then they arrest the Lord and lead Him out of the garden. Their destination is the house of the high priest. There lives the man who must maintain the connection between God and His people. This man is the great instrument of satan to radically establish the separation between God and His people. At a distance Peter follows the crowd with his Lord in their midst. He makes use of the darkness to follow unobtrusively. He loves the Lord and therefore he follows. He is afraid of the people and therefore he follows at a distance. If we tremble for people, it is because we have not been with God. The enemies of the Lord who captured Him have delivered their Arrestee, but they must remain available. It has become cold. That is why they kindle a fire. The cold outside also indicates the temperature of their cold hearts. Peter takes his place in their midst and identifies himself with the mockers ( ). After following the Lord at a distance, a participation in warming himself to the fire of the Lord’s enemies can’t fail. Whoever distances himself from the Lord automatically moves in the direction of the world. Peter is not an enemy of the Lord, but at this moment he is an enemy of His cross ( ). The fire not only gives warmth, but also light. It is not a sharp light and Peter thinks he is relatively safe. Then he is recognized by a servant-girl who looks intently at him. She discovers in him someone who was also “with Him” and says that out loud to the others. Peter is shocked by the discovery. A servant-girl frightens the apostle. Instead of confessing the Lord, he reacts to the woman with an outright denial to know the Lord. Later in his letter he will write about always being ready to give an account ( ). He does so after he has learned the humbling lesson he is learning here. Peter is not ready for this giving an account because he did not pray in view of the temptation in which he finds himself now. This first wrong step leads to following steps that are worse and lead further away from God. Shortly after that another person sees him and makes a remark, this time to Peter personally, that he is one “of them too”. The woman said that he was with the Lord, this one says that he belongs to the disciples of the Lord. After his denial belonging to the Lord, he now firmly denies to belong to the disciples of the Lord. After denying the Lord the second time, an hour passes. For an hour, Peter had already been among the Lord’s enemies, with a denial twice. His conscience cannot be quiet. Yet he remains where he is, and he warms himself with the Lord’s enemies to the fire they have made. Then comes the third confrontation. He is recognized again. This time he betrays his origins through his dialect. Peter will not only have warmed up, but also talked with the enemies of his Lord. He can only have participated in their vain conversations. He is unable to testify of his Lord, by his false position and his double denial. On this third discovery, Peter once again denies that he knows the Lord Jesus. This time he pretends not to understand the other. He says as much as: ‘What are you actually talking about? You’re telling me something I’ve never heard of.’ After this far-reaching denial, even while he is still speaking, the rooster crows, as the Lord has said. Just as He controls the heart of men to give Him what He needs, so He controls the animal He needs. At this unusual time he lets the rooster crow to remind His failing disciple of His word. A crowing rooster is the symbol of awakening. The Lord makes the rooster crow to awaken Peter’s conscience. But there is not only an awakened conscience. There is also the Lord. Without Him, an awakened conscience ends in despair and suicide, as with Judas. To true disciples He shows His face. He never fails. Just as He did not previously fail in His faithfulness to warn, so He does not hide His face from Peter after he has denied Him. Amid all the mockery and abuse, He turns around and looks at Peter. Suffering does not occupy Him so much that He forgets Peter. When He looks at Peter, Peter remembers the word the Lord said about his denial. The memory of this leads Peter to repentance. He goes out and weeps bitterly. The tears are tears of true repentance about who he himself is and what he has come to. Also now God still leads people to repentance and conversion through His Word. God’s Word is a mirror that shows man who he is in his sinfulness.

‏ Luke 22:56-62

The Denial by Peter

Then they arrest the Lord and lead Him out of the garden. Their destination is the house of the high priest. There lives the man who must maintain the connection between God and His people. This man is the great instrument of satan to radically establish the separation between God and His people.

At a distance Peter follows the crowd with his Lord in their midst. He makes use of the darkness to follow unobtrusively. He loves the Lord and therefore he follows. He is afraid of the people and therefore he follows at a distance. If we tremble for people, it is because we have not been with God.

The enemies of the Lord who captured Him have delivered their Arrestee, but they must remain available. It has become cold. That is why they kindle a fire. The cold outside also indicates the temperature of their cold hearts. Peter takes his place in their midst and identifies himself with the mockers (Psa 1:1). After following the Lord at a distance, a participation in warming himself to the fire of the Lord’s enemies can’t fail. Whoever distances himself from the Lord automatically moves in the direction of the world. Peter is not an enemy of the Lord, but at this moment he is an enemy of His cross (Phil 3:18).

The fire not only gives warmth, but also light. It is not a sharp light and Peter thinks he is relatively safe. Then he is recognized by a servant-girl who looks intently at him. She discovers in him someone who was also “with Him” and says that out loud to the others. Peter is shocked by the discovery. A servant-girl frightens the apostle. Instead of confessing the Lord, he reacts to the woman with an outright denial to know the Lord. Later in his letter he will write about always being ready to give an account (1Pet 3:15). He does so after he has learned the humbling lesson he is learning here.

Peter is not ready for this giving an account because he did not pray in view of the temptation in which he finds himself now. This first wrong step leads to following steps that are worse and lead further away from God. Shortly after that another person sees him and makes a remark, this time to Peter personally, that he is one “of them too”. The woman said that he was with the Lord, this one says that he belongs to the disciples of the Lord. After his denial belonging to the Lord, he now firmly denies to belong to the disciples of the Lord.

After denying the Lord the second time, an hour passes. For an hour, Peter had already been among the Lord’s enemies, with a denial twice. His conscience cannot be quiet. Yet he remains where he is, and he warms himself with the Lord’s enemies to the fire they have made.

Then comes the third confrontation. He is recognized again. This time he betrays his origins through his dialect. Peter will not only have warmed up, but also talked with the enemies of his Lord. He can only have participated in their vain conversations. He is unable to testify of his Lord, by his false position and his double denial. On this third discovery, Peter once again denies that he knows the Lord Jesus. This time he pretends not to understand the other. He says as much as: ‘What are you actually talking about? You’re telling me something I’ve never heard of.’

After this far-reaching denial, even while he is still speaking, the rooster crows, as the Lord has said. Just as He controls the heart of men to give Him what He needs, so He controls the animal He needs. At this unusual time he lets the rooster crow to remind His failing disciple of His word.

A crowing rooster is the symbol of awakening. The Lord makes the rooster crow to awaken Peter’s conscience. But there is not only an awakened conscience. There is also the Lord. Without Him, an awakened conscience ends in despair and suicide, as with Judas. To true disciples He shows His face. He never fails. Just as He did not previously fail in His faithfulness to warn, so He does not hide His face from Peter after he has denied Him.

Amid all the mockery and abuse, He turns around and looks at Peter. Suffering does not occupy Him so much that He forgets Peter. When He looks at Peter, Peter remembers the word the Lord said about his denial. The memory of this leads Peter to repentance. He goes out and weeps bitterly. The tears are tears of true repentance about who he himself is and what he has come to. Also now God still leads people to repentance and conversion through His Word. God’s Word is a mirror that shows man who he is in his sinfulness.