And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not.
Luke 22:58 records Peter's second denial, when after a short interval another person identified him as one of Jesus' followers and he insisted he did not belong to them. It took place in the judgment hall while Jesus was on trial, where Peter had followed to watch and hid among hostile onlookers by affecting indifference toward his Master. The denial was cowardice born of fear of scorn and suffering, exposing self-confidence and trust in his own strength, and by his false front he placed himself on the enemy's ground where Satan prompted him to disown the truth. Even as Peter denied him, Jesus turned a sorrowful reproving gaze upon him that melted his heart and kept love unfaltering toward him. Peter then wept bitterly in repentance and was freely forgiven and restored to feed Christ's flock, while his fall stands faithfully recorded to warn all against self-confidence and to give hope that repentant failure can be overcome by grace.
The Second Denial
The verse records the second denial, when after a little while another person recognized Peter as one of Jesus' followers and Peter denied that he belonged to them. It happened in the judgment hall while Jesus was under examination, after He had been hurried under insult and mockery through the dark streets early in the morning to the palace of Caiaphas where He was falsely accused, sneeringly questioned and reviled. Peter had followed anxiously to see what would be done with Jesus and hid his identity among people hostile to his Master. It was in the very room and before some of the very men, Annas and Caiaphas and the other temple dignitaries, before whom he later stood for trial after the healing of the cripple.
To hide that he was a disciple Peter put on an air of indifference about his Master's trial. Outwardly he appeared disinterested while inwardly his heart was wrung with sorrow at the cruel taunts and mockery and abuse heaped upon Jesus. He tried to join with the persecutors of Jesus in their untimely jests in order to cover his true feelings. Under conflicting emotions of sorrow, surprise and anger he could hardly keep up the indifferent character, and his appearance was unnatural as he tried to cover his sorrow.
The denial escalated to an oath to convince the accusers. Because the disciples were noted for purity of language, to convince his accusers he was not one of Christ's disciples he denied with cursing and swearing. Hearing His beloved disciple deny Him with cursing and swearing while He endured the mockery of an examination cut Jesus' heart and pierced Him more deeply than anything His enemies did to Him.
Jesus, at some distance from Peter, turned a sorrowful and reproving gaze upon him that melted Peter's heart and saved him. That look in sadness and grief broke his heart and led him to understand his sin. During the time Peter was denying Him, the love Jesus bore him never faltered.
Causes of Failure
The second denial was an act of cowardice, driven by fear for his own safety and by fear of people, of ridicule and suffering and scorn and reproach. Though he had been courageous when he imagined defending Jesus in a fight, under scorn he became ashamed of Jesus, failed to hold right principles, put Christ to open shame, and openly denied his Lord when Christ needed him most. It exposed the self-love and self-assurance hidden beneath his sincere promise to go with Christ to prison and to death and never to be offended. Trusting his own strength instead of heeding Christ's warning, resenting that warning in self-sufficiency, and failing to learn and heed Christ's lessons proved his ruin. Zeal and ardent feeling and good intentions and even partial reform are not conversion and cannot overcome self-confidence, and without standing right with God he could not stand firm or count the cost.
By his false front he placed himself on the enemy's ground and became an easy subject to Satan's temptation. Satan took advantage of his naturally forward and impulsive character, as he had desired to sift him as wheat, and prompted the denial. In that moment an evil spirit took possession of him, so that he voiced the sentiments of Satan and exchanged leaders, denying the truth to unbelievers while talking the language of worldlings. Feeling no need of grace, grace could not be given to him, for he did not know what spirit he was of and was ignorant of Satan's devices. The same spirit takes possession of all who forsake God and deny received truth.
The verse shows Peter denying the Man of Sorrows in His hour of humiliation and acquaintance with grief. He was surprised and angry that Jesus would humiliate Himself and His followers by submitting passively to such treatment, and that anger helped drive him to deny his Master with an oath. Peter was naturally ardent and zealous and impetuous, impulsive and self-confident, proud and boastful. He had been chosen to work as companion together with the mild, patient John, who would often check him without reforming him. Jesus had joined him as a co-laborer while he was still imperfect and had not yet learned to distrust and watch himself with jealous care, so that divine teaching would correct his wrong ideas of what constitutes Christian character.
Unlike Judas, who had the same opportunities to learn yet remained a hearer only and ended in betrayal, Peter improved by using failure to learn. The verse illustrates that disguising one's faith from fear of suffering or reproach is in effect denying the Lord, and that denying Christ means failing to acknowledge Him when challenged. Associating with people who tempt believers to conceal their faith can lead them to say or do what they otherwise would not, and those who tempt them may later despise them for yielding. A person can also deny Christ not only by openly disowning Him but by refusing to practice known truth and letting a cherished sin or clung-to old habits keep him from taking a stand, losing the blessings of following the Lord.
Repentance and Warning
Afterward Peter remembered Jesus' words to him in the upper chamber and his own zealous assertion that though all should be offended he would never be offended, and Christ's sorrowful and reproving look broke his heart and led him to understand his sin. With blinding tears he made his way to the solitude of Gethsemane and prostrated himself where he had seen his Saviour prostrated as bloody sweat was forced from His pores by great agony. He remembered also that he had slept while Jesus prayed those fearful hours of agony, and his penitential tears moistened the sod stained with the sweat drops of God's dear Son as he wept bitterly in the garden. His denial exposed that self-confidence had failed under temptation and that he had misjudged his own strength, and after that look he repented bitterly and found mercy.
He repented with deep remorse, was reconverted with true contrition of soul, gave himself afresh to his Saviour, and left that garden a converted man and a better man. Christ's grace regulated his fervor so he became calm, teachable, modest and self-distrustful, humble, compassionate toward the tempted and weak, cautious to warn the presumptuous, and fully fitted to strengthen his brethren and to help and care for other tested disciples. There he finally learned jealous self-distrust and corrected his wrong ideas of what constitutes Christian character, for zeal, ardent feeling and good intentions cannot overcome self-confidence without standing right with God. Afterward all that was needed to check his ardor and zeal was a mild caution from his mild, patient companion, and filled with the Holy Spirit he became firm as a rock yet courageous and modest in magnifying Christ, no longer a proud boaster but a bold witness.
Jesus did not cast him off but freely forgave him, having foreseen both the denial and the repentance, and during the time Peter was denying Him the love He bore him never faltered. He later entrusted him with the high commission to feed the sheep and lambs and to care for His flock, and Peter's humiliation and repentance prepared him to care for Christ's flock. Before Peter could resume apostolic work he needed to show the other disciples that he truly repented, so their distrust of his former failure would not hinder his usefulness. The way Christ dealt with him teaches under-shepherds to deal with the transgressor with patience, sympathy and forgiving love, remembering their own weakness and failure.
The denial came vividly and distinctly to mind when Peter later stood for examination after the healing of the cripple before the same authorities and temple dignitaries, in the very room and before some of the very men, Annas and Caiaphas and others, before whom he had disowned and dishonored Christ in Christ's greatest need. Since his fall he had been converted, becoming modest and self-distrustful and filled with the Holy Spirit, and stood widely different from the impulsive, self-confident, proud and boastful denier. By that Spirit's power he was resolved to remove the stain of his cowardice and apostasy by honoring the name he had once disowned, making that later trial an opportunity to redeem his failure and make amends by faithfully honoring Christ.
Peter remembered the cowardly failure with deep sorrow throughout his life and lived in repentance and humility. He could never forgive himself, so that not even the agonies of his coming death lessened the bitterness of his sorrow and repentance. When condemned as a Jew and a foreigner to be scourged and crucified, feeling unworthy of so great an honor as to die in the same manner as his Master and Lord, he entreated as a last favor of his executioners that he might be nailed to the cross with his head downward.
The denial is faithfully recorded by divine wisdom with the faults, follies and infirmities of a man favored by God and entrusted with great responsibility, the Holy Spirit lifting the veil from the human heart instead of suppressing it to give a faithful narration of facts for the benefit and warning of all who read. It teaches obedience to the law of God and the sure penalty and retributive justice following disobedience, and warns that self-confidence does not ensure faithfulness under opposition and fear of people. It shows Peter as human common clay subject to ordinary temptation like people today who strive, waver and fall into error, so that sinful natures need not despair as they would if he had been without foible, but desponding hearts can take heart again, renew the conflict, press on, surmount obstacles and conquer through grace to gain fresh vigor above evil nature. The Lord permits His children to fall to teach lessons learned only through failure, and if they repent of wrongdoing He helps them to stand on vantage ground and purifies them by temptation and trial as fire purifies gold. Unless the heart has been hardened by disregard of great light, temptation and fall bring repentance, and humble fervent prayer saves the soul from death while confession and restitution hide a multitude of sins. Denying Christ means failing to acknowledge Him when challenged, and a person can deny Him not only by openly disowning Him but by refusing to practice known truth and letting a cherished sin or clung-to old habits keep him from taking a stand for God and lose the blessings of following the Lord, so that a claim that one would never have denied like Peter is empty if present choices amount to denying Him, as Peter's own later wavering again under pressure after restoration further warns.
Luke 22:58 records Peter's second denial, when after a short interval another person identified him as one of Jesus' followers and he insisted he did not belong to them. It took place in the judgment hall while Jesus was on trial, where Peter had followed to watch and hid among hostile onlookers by affecting indifference toward his Master. The denial was cowardice born of fear of scorn and suffering, exposing self-confidence and trust in his own strength, and by his false front he placed himself on the enemy's ground where Satan prompted him to disown the truth. Even as Peter denied him, Jesus turned a sorrowful reproving gaze upon him that melted his heart and kept love unfaltering toward him. Peter then wept bitterly in repentance and was freely forgiven and restored to feed Christ's flock, while his fall stands faithfully recorded to warn all against self-confidence and to give hope that repentant failure can be overcome by grace.
The Second Denial
The verse records the second denial, when after a little while another person recognized Peter as one of Jesus' followers and Peter denied that he belonged to them. It happened in the judgment hall while Jesus was under examination, after He had been hurried under insult and mockery through the dark streets early in the morning to the palace of Caiaphas where He was falsely accused, sneeringly questioned and reviled. Peter had followed anxiously to see what would be done with Jesus and hid his identity among people hostile to his Master. It was in the very room and before some of the very men, Annas and Caiaphas and the other temple dignitaries, before whom he later stood for trial after the healing of the cripple.
To hide that he was a disciple Peter put on an air of indifference about his Master's trial. Outwardly he appeared disinterested while inwardly his heart was wrung with sorrow at the cruel taunts and mockery and abuse heaped upon Jesus. He tried to join with the persecutors of Jesus in their untimely jests in order to cover his true feelings. Under conflicting emotions of sorrow, surprise and anger he could hardly keep up the indifferent character, and his appearance was unnatural as he tried to cover his sorrow.
The denial escalated to an oath to convince the accusers. Because the disciples were noted for purity of language, to convince his accusers he was not one of Christ's disciples he denied with cursing and swearing. Hearing His beloved disciple deny Him with cursing and swearing while He endured the mockery of an examination cut Jesus' heart and pierced Him more deeply than anything His enemies did to Him.
Jesus, at some distance from Peter, turned a sorrowful and reproving gaze upon him that melted Peter's heart and saved him. That look in sadness and grief broke his heart and led him to understand his sin. During the time Peter was denying Him, the love Jesus bore him never faltered.
Causes of Failure
The second denial was an act of cowardice, driven by fear for his own safety and by fear of people, of ridicule and suffering and scorn and reproach. Though he had been courageous when he imagined defending Jesus in a fight, under scorn he became ashamed of Jesus, failed to hold right principles, put Christ to open shame, and openly denied his Lord when Christ needed him most. It exposed the self-love and self-assurance hidden beneath his sincere promise to go with Christ to prison and to death and never to be offended. Trusting his own strength instead of heeding Christ's warning, resenting that warning in self-sufficiency, and failing to learn and heed Christ's lessons proved his ruin. Zeal and ardent feeling and good intentions and even partial reform are not conversion and cannot overcome self-confidence, and without standing right with God he could not stand firm or count the cost.
By his false front he placed himself on the enemy's ground and became an easy subject to Satan's temptation. Satan took advantage of his naturally forward and impulsive character, as he had desired to sift him as wheat, and prompted the denial. In that moment an evil spirit took possession of him, so that he voiced the sentiments of Satan and exchanged leaders, denying the truth to unbelievers while talking the language of worldlings. Feeling no need of grace, grace could not be given to him, for he did not know what spirit he was of and was ignorant of Satan's devices. The same spirit takes possession of all who forsake God and deny received truth.
The verse shows Peter denying the Man of Sorrows in His hour of humiliation and acquaintance with grief. He was surprised and angry that Jesus would humiliate Himself and His followers by submitting passively to such treatment, and that anger helped drive him to deny his Master with an oath. Peter was naturally ardent and zealous and impetuous, impulsive and self-confident, proud and boastful. He had been chosen to work as companion together with the mild, patient John, who would often check him without reforming him. Jesus had joined him as a co-laborer while he was still imperfect and had not yet learned to distrust and watch himself with jealous care, so that divine teaching would correct his wrong ideas of what constitutes Christian character.
Unlike Judas, who had the same opportunities to learn yet remained a hearer only and ended in betrayal, Peter improved by using failure to learn. The verse illustrates that disguising one's faith from fear of suffering or reproach is in effect denying the Lord, and that denying Christ means failing to acknowledge Him when challenged. Associating with people who tempt believers to conceal their faith can lead them to say or do what they otherwise would not, and those who tempt them may later despise them for yielding. A person can also deny Christ not only by openly disowning Him but by refusing to practice known truth and letting a cherished sin or clung-to old habits keep him from taking a stand, losing the blessings of following the Lord.
Repentance and Warning
Afterward Peter remembered Jesus' words to him in the upper chamber and his own zealous assertion that though all should be offended he would never be offended, and Christ's sorrowful and reproving look broke his heart and led him to understand his sin. With blinding tears he made his way to the solitude of Gethsemane and prostrated himself where he had seen his Saviour prostrated as bloody sweat was forced from His pores by great agony. He remembered also that he had slept while Jesus prayed those fearful hours of agony, and his penitential tears moistened the sod stained with the sweat drops of God's dear Son as he wept bitterly in the garden. His denial exposed that self-confidence had failed under temptation and that he had misjudged his own strength, and after that look he repented bitterly and found mercy.
He repented with deep remorse, was reconverted with true contrition of soul, gave himself afresh to his Saviour, and left that garden a converted man and a better man. Christ's grace regulated his fervor so he became calm, teachable, modest and self-distrustful, humble, compassionate toward the tempted and weak, cautious to warn the presumptuous, and fully fitted to strengthen his brethren and to help and care for other tested disciples. There he finally learned jealous self-distrust and corrected his wrong ideas of what constitutes Christian character, for zeal, ardent feeling and good intentions cannot overcome self-confidence without standing right with God. Afterward all that was needed to check his ardor and zeal was a mild caution from his mild, patient companion, and filled with the Holy Spirit he became firm as a rock yet courageous and modest in magnifying Christ, no longer a proud boaster but a bold witness.
Jesus did not cast him off but freely forgave him, having foreseen both the denial and the repentance, and during the time Peter was denying Him the love He bore him never faltered. He later entrusted him with the high commission to feed the sheep and lambs and to care for His flock, and Peter's humiliation and repentance prepared him to care for Christ's flock. Before Peter could resume apostolic work he needed to show the other disciples that he truly repented, so their distrust of his former failure would not hinder his usefulness. The way Christ dealt with him teaches under-shepherds to deal with the transgressor with patience, sympathy and forgiving love, remembering their own weakness and failure.
The denial came vividly and distinctly to mind when Peter later stood for examination after the healing of the cripple before the same authorities and temple dignitaries, in the very room and before some of the very men, Annas and Caiaphas and others, before whom he had disowned and dishonored Christ in Christ's greatest need. Since his fall he had been converted, becoming modest and self-distrustful and filled with the Holy Spirit, and stood widely different from the impulsive, self-confident, proud and boastful denier. By that Spirit's power he was resolved to remove the stain of his cowardice and apostasy by honoring the name he had once disowned, making that later trial an opportunity to redeem his failure and make amends by faithfully honoring Christ.
Peter remembered the cowardly failure with deep sorrow throughout his life and lived in repentance and humility. He could never forgive himself, so that not even the agonies of his coming death lessened the bitterness of his sorrow and repentance. When condemned as a Jew and a foreigner to be scourged and crucified, feeling unworthy of so great an honor as to die in the same manner as his Master and Lord, he entreated as a last favor of his executioners that he might be nailed to the cross with his head downward.
The denial is faithfully recorded by divine wisdom with the faults, follies and infirmities of a man favored by God and entrusted with great responsibility, the Holy Spirit lifting the veil from the human heart instead of suppressing it to give a faithful narration of facts for the benefit and warning of all who read. It teaches obedience to the law of God and the sure penalty and retributive justice following disobedience, and warns that self-confidence does not ensure faithfulness under opposition and fear of people. It shows Peter as human common clay subject to ordinary temptation like people today who strive, waver and fall into error, so that sinful natures need not despair as they would if he had been without foible, but desponding hearts can take heart again, renew the conflict, press on, surmount obstacles and conquer through grace to gain fresh vigor above evil nature. The Lord permits His children to fall to teach lessons learned only through failure, and if they repent of wrongdoing He helps them to stand on vantage ground and purifies them by temptation and trial as fire purifies gold. Unless the heart has been hardened by disregard of great light, temptation and fall bring repentance, and humble fervent prayer saves the soul from death while confession and restitution hide a multitude of sins. Denying Christ means failing to acknowledge Him when challenged, and a person can deny Him not only by openly disowning Him but by refusing to practice known truth and letting a cherished sin or clung-to old habits keep him from taking a stand for God and lose the blessings of following the Lord, so that a claim that one would never have denied like Peter is empty if present choices amount to denying Him, as Peter's own later wavering again under pressure after restoration further warns.