Then they seized Him and led Him away, bringing Him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with Him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.”
Luke 22:54-57
Peters bad week just keeps getting worse. Not only had the Lord been arrested in the garden but before that happened He had to chastise Peter once again. “Jesus commanded Peter, ‘Put your sword away!‘” After that the disciples had fled in terror and left the Lord to face arrest alone. Scripture tells us Peter is fearful for several of the Gospels state he followed the Lord “afar off”. (This Greek word often conveys the idea of being removed or separated from a particular scene or event. The term implies both literal physical distance as well as a figurative sense of spiritually distance.) Peter wants to be with Lord yet he wants to escape the danger.
Peter and John both end up at the High Priest’s house where the first part of the Lord’s “trail” occurs. John goes inside because he knew the High Priest but Peter reminds outside waiting for news of what is happening. While Peter is there Scripture is careful to tell us that he sat around a fire in the courtyard with those who arrested the Lord. We are immediately reminded of Psalm 1 which warns us against fellowship with sinners – those who are rebellious toward God and want to see Him destroyed. One might ask, “what is wrong with this in this situation?” Peter’s actions place him under the influence of the world – he is not in prayer for God’s will and, as we will see,
he is not standing for the Lord. Doubleminded! He follows the Lord afar off while the Lord faces false accusations inside the High Priest’s house.
We know the story well but we should be mindful of the omniscience of the Lord who knew what Peter was going to face and do. At the fire a little servant girl (the Greek word indicates a youth) studies Peter’s face very carefully and then makes a statement to all that are sitting there. (Remember these are the one who had just gone to Gethsemane to arrest Jesus.) After her observation that Peter has been with Jesus (a true statement and one that was an honor to a
believer) Peter immediately denies what she says. The word deny means “to disown. It describes the act of refusing to acknowledge or accept someone or something. This term carries a strong
connotation of rejection or repudiation, particularly in the context of faith and allegiance.” Peter sadly tells this young girl he has no allegiance to the Messiah.
What can we learn? First we see the weakness in our own hearts. Peter likely meant what he said – he was willing to go to prison or to die for the Lord – he thought! Yet the truth of scripture – “without Him we can do nothing” should fill our hearts with humility. We are weak and and must rely on the Lord alone for success.
Second, we see how easy it is to suddenly fear men. Nothing is going as Peter expected. He fears the Lord is going to die. He sits with the world who hates the Lord and one girl makes an observation (not even an accusation) that he is a believer. Fearing he might be arrested he denies the Son of God he vowed he would die for. As Peter sits by the fire he has completely forgotten the Lord’s words – “you will deny me three times”. Walking in the flesh is a terrible thing for it leads us to deny the Lord who died for us either verbally or by just remaining silent.