The Story

It was still night, after the trial in Gethsemane, and the Lord had been led bound to the palace of the high priest. It was probably near the temple and not far from the city gate, where they would enter on coming up from the garden, and the secret company on their evil errand would not have far to go through the city streets to reach it. They feared the people, and the rulers feared the people, so this capture was made in the night; and they tried to decide secretly upon what they should say in asking the Roman governor to have Jesus put to death. For had the Lord ever done any kind of wrong? It was on account of the good things He had done, and His showing them so plainly the evil of their ways that they hated Him so much.

But the priests could not put anyone to death; that could only be done by the Roman governor, and ought only to be asked of him when decided upon by their great council the Sanhedrin. And the laws for trial before the Sanhedrin were very strict. The prisoner must have every chance to defend himself by counsel and witnesses. The president must remind the others of the value of human life, and that they must consider everything in favor of the prisoner. Even so a verdict of death could not be given the same day as the trial, but only after a long fast by the judges. The Lord had no witnesses or counsel, and no witnesses against Him agreed. It was all done in one night, the people led on by the high priest. Nothing was found against the Lord, and yet they condemned Him to death, and asked the Roman governor that He might be crucified.

It is said that Annas sent the Lord bound to Caiaphas. They may have lived in different palaces, they may have lived in different parts of the same palace. The disciples had fled; but there were two who were not far off. One of them, who probably was John, was known unto the high priest; he spoke to the maid who kept the door, and she let in Peter. But as they went in she said to Peter, "Art thou not also one of this man's disciples?" He said, "I am not."

The palace was probably built around an open court, the rooms opening upon it. The Lord was probably taken into a room or hall a little above the court, where the priests were gathered. Others stayed with the servants in the court. Peter was among them, and, as it was cold, he stood by the charcoal fire which was burning in the brazier and warmed himself.

We can imagine Peter's anxiety and distress. He himself was not safe there, he might be recognized at any time as one of the Lord's disciples and perhaps be put to death. But he was willing to run that risk in his great anxiety to be near the Lord his Master, and to know what was happening to Him. He must have seen the people hurrying to and fro, for the great men of the council of Sanhedrin had been sent for in haste to help decide upon the accusation against the Lord. He must have heard the servants and the soldiers talking of this man whom their masters hated. It must all have been like a horrid dream. And then someone spoke to him and said, "Art not thou also one of his disciples?" He denied, and said, "I am not." Then another came, a man who had been with the band who had taken the Lord in the garden of Gethsemane, and as it happened a kinsman, or relative, of the very man whose ear Peter had cut off. And he said, "Did not I see thee in the garden with him?" Peter denied again, and straightway the cock crew. It was getting toward the end of this long and dreadful night, and the crowing of the cock was the sign of the coming day; it was also the sign which the Lord had given Peter when He said, "The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied Me thrice." "And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly." (Luke 22:61, 62)

We are apt to think that if we had been in Peter's place we never would have denied the Lord. But do we not sometimes forget that we are the Lord's disciples when following Him takes a great deal of courage, and doing our own way seems so much easier? But we may learn from our failures, as Peter did, to be humble, faithful disciples, trusting the Lord and not ourselves. Peter not only "went out and wept bitterly," but we learn of him afterwards as one of the Lord's bravest disciples, and gladly laid down his life for the Lord's sake.

1. What two disciples followed the Lord to the high priest's palace?

2. What did Peter do on that night, that made him weep bitterly?

3. What purpose was in the hearts of the priests?

4. When do we deny the Lord as Peter did?

5. When does the Lord turn and look upon us, and we weep?

Spiritual Study

Other Gospels tell us that when the Lord was taken all the disciples forsook Him and fled. So sometimes our good resolutions, our grateful affections, and even our remembrance of the Lord are scattered in a time of spiritual darkness when trial comes unexpectedly upon us. But John and Peter followed "afar off" to the high priest's palace. A little of faith and love is still there, though feeble and bewildered. (E. 820, 821)

Our chapter follows especially the experience of Peter on the night of trial. This pictures the wavering and failing of faith in the Lord, in an individual or in the church, in a time when natural hopes are disappointed. The Lord before had said to Peter, "This day, even this night, thou shalt deny Me thrice." (Mark 14:30) It was night in his mind and it is night in our minds in such a time of trial. Now we read also that it was cold, so that Peter warmed himself at the fire. As the night represents the absence of truth with its light, so the cold represents the absence of love and its warmth. When love for the Lord fails and a heavenly charity, and we content ourselves with natural and selfish loves, then faith is sure to lose its light. This accounts for the close connection in the story between Peter's warming himself at the fire and his denying the Lord. (A. 6000; E. 820)

There were three denials, more and more emphatic. We associate the number three with what is complete. It suggests especially what is made complete in feeling, thought, and deed. It is a first denial, when we admit an evil feeling contrary to the Lord. We deny Him a second time when we think the false thoughts which the evil feeling suggests. And it is a third and last denial when we do the evil deed. Then perhaps we realize for the first time how unfaithful we have been, and we are overcome with remorse. It is as when the Lord turned and looked upon Peter, bringing back the memory of his love and his earnest professions of faithfulness, and of the Lord's warning that he would deny Him, and he wept bitterly. (A. 4495, 10134) "To mourn has respect to grief on account of night as to goods in the church, and to weep as to truths." (A. 2910)

The Lord made little answer to the high priest's questions and was silent also before Pilate and before Herod. "Ask them which heard Me, what I have said," He replied. Hearing, spiritually, is a willingness to attend and to obey. To those who have this willingness the Lord can speak, but not to those who question with idle curiosity, or to criticize and deny. Only those who read with willingness to obey can find the precious wisdom in the Bible. Ask them what the Lord had said, for they alone know. (A. 2542; E. 365) The "officers" and "servants" who struck the Lord, were like the hand giving outward expression to the hatred in the heart.

It may be useful to think in any time of temptation that the Lord is put on trial in our souls. Shall we be among those who hate and strike Him? Shall we cowardly deny Him? Will not this story, and the scene in the high priest's palace help us to be faithful?

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