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SearchPeter Denies Jesus
Shortly after the portress let Peter in, and while he was warming himself by the fire, she went
over to him and mischievously said, "Are you not also one of this man's disciples?" Now Peter
should not have been surprised at this recognition, for it was John who had requested that the girl
let him pass through the palace gates; but he was in such a tense nervous state that this
identification as a disciple threw him off his balance, and with only one thought uppermost in his
mind--the thought of escaping with his life--he promptly answered the maid's question by saying,
"I am not."
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Very soon another servant came up to Peter and asked: "Did I not see you in the garden when
they arrested this fellow? Are you not also one of his followers?" Peter was now thoroughly
alarmed; he saw no way of safely escaping from these accusers; so he vehemently denied all
connection with Jesus, saying, "I know not this man, neither am I one of his followers."
About this time the portress of the gate drew Peter to one side and said: "I am sure you are a
disciple of this Jesus, not only because one of his followers bade me let you in the courtyard, but
my sister here has seen you in the temple with this man. Why do you deny this?" When Peter
heard the maid accuse him, he denied all knowledge of Jesus with much cursing and swearing,
again saying, "I am not this man's follower; I do not even know him; I never heard of him
before."
Peter left the fireside for a time while he walked about the courtyard. He would have liked to
have escaped, but he feared to attract attention to himself. Getting cold, he returned to the
fireside, and one of the men standing near him said: "Surely you are one of this man's disciples.
This Jesus is a Galilean, and your speech betrays you, for you also speak as a Galilean." And
again Peter denied all connection with his Master.
Peter was so perturbed that he sought to escape contact with his accusers by going away from the
fire and remaining by himself on the porch. After more than an hour of this isolation, the gatekeeper and her sister chanced to meet him, and both of them again teasingly charged him with
being a follower of Jesus. And again he denied the accusation. Just as he had once more denied
all connection with Jesus, the cock crowed, and Peter remembered the words of warning spoken
to him by his Master earlier that same night. As he stood there, heavy of heart and crushed with
the sense of guilt, the palace doors opened, and the guards led Jesus past on the way to Caiaphas.
As the Master passed Peter, he saw, by the light of the torches, the look of despair on the face of
his former self-confident and superficially brave apostle, and he turned and looked upon Peter.
Peter never forgot that look as long as he lived. It was such a glance of commingled pity and love
as mortal man had never beheld in the face of the Master.
After Jesus and the guards passed out of the palace gates, Peter followed them, but only for a
short distance. He could not go farther. He sat down by the side of the road and wept bitterly.
And when he had shed these tears of agony, he turned his steps back toward the camp, hoping to
find his brother, Andrew. On arriving at the camp, he found only David Zebedee, who sent a
messenger to direct him to where his brother had gone to hide in Jerusalem.