Peter’s Denial of Jesus

Monday, April 18, 2022

Denial in the Courtyard

69 All this time, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard. One servant girl came up to him and said, “You were with Jesus the Galilean.”

70 In front of everybody there, he denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

71 As he moved over toward the gate, someone else said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.”

72 Again he denied it, salting his denial with an oath: “I swear, I never laid eyes on the man.”

73 Shortly after that, some bystanders approached Peter. “You’ve got to be one of them. Your accent gives you away.”

74-75 Then he got really nervous and swore. “I don’t know the man!”

Just then a rooster crowed. Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and cried and cried and cried.

Peter Denies Jesus

Verse 69: Now, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.”

Verse 69 study: Critical thinking is the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue to form a judgment. Let’s take a look at Peter’s denial. There are three stages:

1. He acted confused and tried to take the attention away by changing the subject.
2. He used an oath to deny he knew Jesus.
3. He cursed and swore.

Believers who deny Christ often slowly pretending not to know him. When opportunities arise to talk about religious issues, they walk away or do not know the answers. Even a tiny hint of pressure can be why they deny their relationship with Christ. Furthermore, if you find yourself driving away from conversations about Christ, be careful because you can be going down the road of denying him.

Verse 70: But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.”

Verse 71: And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

Verse 72: And again, he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” Verse 73: After a little while, the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.”

Verse 74: Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately, the rooster crowed.

Verses 72-74 studies: Peter denying that he knew Jesus, using an oath, curses, and swearing didn’t mean he used foul language. What Peter did was curse himself by using untrue words. In other words, something like this, “May God strike me dead if I am lying.”

Verse 75: And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.