Part One: Unique Contributions
Last week’s teaching from this passage focused on one single question: Was Peter’s sin a matter of premeditated betrayal, or a weak instinct of the flesh toward self-preservation?
For those of you who enjoyed our parallel study of Jesus’s arrest in the Garden from a few months ago, today you are in for a treat.
Today, we will look at the other Gospel accounts of this same incident, because each of them bring something very interesting to the table that all the other accounts don’t record.
In other words, each of the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and John provide what I’m calling “Unique Contributions” that are singular to their gospel.
And as we uncover these, I think you’ll enjoy the fullness of the picture they paint before us.
Parallel observations:
Matthew 14:66-72
(The Warning Shot Across the Bow)
Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus of Nazareth.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are saying.”
And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed.
And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, “This is one of them.” But he denied it again.
And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, “Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it.” Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!”
A second time the rooster crowed.
Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And when he thought about it, he wept.
Unique Observation: One or Two Crows?
- In Mark’s account (only), the Rooster was predicted to crow twice. This was probably a detail that Mark thought important, while the other Gospel writers focused more on the fact that a rooster was going to crow, signaling Peter’s Betrayal. Mark 14:30 Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.”
- In any case, the rooster offers a warning, and Peter STILL misses it! (Remember that Packer quote from last week: “All the Gospels record this incident, showing how deeply it impressed the mind of the early church. It is a testimony both to human weakness and the greatness of God’s mercy.”)
Luke 22:54-62
(You Broke My Heart)
Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest’s house. But Peter followed at a distance. Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, “This man was also with Him.”
But he denied Him, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.”
And after a little while another saw him and said, “You also are of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”
Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, “Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean.”
But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying!”
Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
Unique Observation: Jesus looks at Peter
This one is not for the faint of heart. You can almost see the look of utter shame on Peter’s face when Jesus makes eye-contact with him and the realization of Jesus’s prediction, which was only a few short hours ago, comes crashing down all around Peter.
You may be asking yourself: Wait, Peter and Jesus can see each other? Reading Matthew, I was under the impression that Jesus was inside the courtroom, and Peter was outside, warming himself by the fire with the servants. How many of you were thinking that?
The full explanation of how Peter can actually be seen by Jesus is given to us by the account in the Gospel of John. (So stay tuned, we’ll get to that in just a moment.
The fact that Jesus looks at Peter is a small detail, but it does give us some sense of scale and intimacy that the other Gospels lack.
And when the rooster crows (a sound that would have been as familiar as noise from cars going by our house is to us) Jesus and Peter knew it was a signal of a fulfilled prophecy. Most likely their eyes only met for a moment, but that was enough.
(Story of m/b being “caught” by Heather Ciulei watching the fight in the lunch room.)
*Before we dive into John’s account, let me must add a person note: I love John’s account of all of these events, the prayer in the garden, the arrest, the trial and the denial. I fully believe that John, writing several years later than the synoptics, being very familiar with what Mark, Matthew and Luke wrote, said to himself, “There are some details that happened here that were really important that were not recorded. I want to make sure those don’t get left out.
(Remember it is only John’s account that states that when Jesus is being betrayed by Judas and he says to the Jews “I am he” that they all fall down. That, to me, is a HUGELY important detail, but only John thought to mention it.)
So if we look at John chapter 18, there are not one, but two unique contributions, and both of them are amazing.
First of all, we’ve been ripping the other disciples because Peter was apparently the only one brave enough to follow the mob from the garden to the court of the Sanhedrin, but, if you look closely at the John’s account, we learn something very, very important:
John 18:15-18 (The Other Disciple)
And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in. Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?”
He said, “I am not.”
Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself.
Most likely this is John himself, since of the “inner three” John is the only disciple not mentioned by name in the Gospel. It was common in Near-Eastern writing that the author would NOT refer the themselves by name.
So John not only follows Jesus, but, because he is known by Caiaphas, he is not only permitted into the inner court, but he is even allowed to invite Peter in as his guest.
John 18:25-26 (Don’t I Know You?)
Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?”
He denied it and said, “I am not!”
One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed.
So we see that John isn’t so interested in the details of how Peter denied Jesus (a regular denial, an oath, and then swearing) but more about how Peter was even there to know what was going on, and how obvious it was that they knew (or at least heavily suspected) Peter was indeed, a follower of Jesus.
A Final Note on the Parallel Study: Do we have a conflict between the accounts?
Here is the issue:
All four Gospels say that the first challenge came from a slave girl, but the second challenge seems to differ:
Mark: same girl gives second challenge
Matthew: a different girl
Luke: a man
John: “they said to him”
J.I. Packer: The Servants were around a fire in a courtyard; a challenge from any of them would be taken up by the others and there would have been several voices challenging Peter.
Close/Pray/Q&A