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John 18:16-27; Mark 14:69-72 "APPRECIATING THE DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS OF PETER'S DENIALS"

Day 303 – Luke 22

Text: John 18:16-27; Mark 14:69-72

APPRECIATING THE DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS OF PETER’S DENIALS

We have noted that both Luke and Matthew recorded different perspectives of Peter’s denial of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, we need not be disturbed by the differences in both their accounts, for they offer no contradictions whatsoever. Without question, Peter found himself caught in a sticky web of circumstances.

The different accounts of Peter’s denials would highlight for us the fact that Satan had indeed mounted a vicious attack on him. The assault on this leading disciple of Jesus was fast and furious. Peter could not extricate himself out of his difficult straits quickly enough.

THE JOHANNINE ACCOUNT OF THE DENIALS

John also recorded the fact that Peter denied the Lord Jesus three times. His perspective was also different from that of Matthew and Luke. Let us take time to consider how John wrote his account of Peter’s denial.

The First Denial

John’s perspective was one that involved giving a more detailed profile of the people who spoke to Peter.

“Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter,
‘You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?'”
John 18:17

The construction of the sentence the servant girl posed to Peter was really a question. By the way she asked the question, she was expressing some measure of doubt. It might well be that she began questioning Peter by raising this question. Luke could have picked up from this question and captured that part where she accused Peter of being one of the Disciples of the Lord Jesus.

The Second Denial

The second denial was occasioned by a group of people who had huddled around the fire in the High Priest’s courtyard to keep warm. John noted that they raised a question to Peter.

“You are not also one of His disciples, are you?”
John 18:25

Again, the construction of the question must be noted. The question was phrased in such a way that a degree of doubt was in the mind of the inquirer. John appears to have chosen to elaborate on how the questioning of Peter began. The other Gospel writers appear to pick up where John left off. Matthew could have picked on this point, and as Peter answered the people, they began to accuse him of giving himself away by his Galilean accent.

The Third Denial

The third denial recorded in John’s Gospel was occasioned by one of the relatives of Malchus, whose ear Peter had cut off. He too was one of the servants of the High Priest.

“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?'”
John 18:26

The construction of this interrogative sentence was phrased differently from the other two. This time, the inquirer was not asking with any measure of doubt. We can well understand why he could remember Peter so well. He was part of the detachment sent to detain Jesus. How could he forget the fact that his kinsman lost his ear, because of a vicious swipe of a sword wielded by one of the disciples of Jesus? Perhaps this person should have remembered one more thing – that Jesus had healed his relative and restored his ear whole!

THE MARCAN ACCOUNT

The Marcan account also differed in some details. Let us consider the following things Mark recorded in his Gospel.

Mark noted that one of the servant girls of the high priest accused Peter of being one of the Disciples of Jesus.

“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.'”
Mark 14:67

The same servant girl also occasioned the second incident. Mark’s account reads as follows.

“And the servant girl saw him again,
and began to say to those who stood by,
‘This is one of them.'”
Mark 14:69

The third denial recorded by Mark featured the crowd of people milling around, the fire in the courtyard of the high priest.

“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.'”
Mark 14:70

Let us try and reconcile how the Gospel writers could have arrived at a different construction of the three denials of Peter.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE SCENE AT THE COURTYARD

We need to re-construct in our own mind how things could have occurred:-

1. In John’s account, we see the raising of questions. This would probably be how it all started. One person voicing an opinion concerning the identity of Peter as a disciple of Jesus.

2. That there was a measure of uncertainty is understandable. It was night when Jesus was arrested. It was not wise to accuse anybody on a tensed night where nerves were badly frayed. Thus in John’s account, two questions were raised to Peter, but both expressed some measure of doubt.

3. Once the buzz began, it was difficult to stop people from questioning the suspect. There would be individuals who would be bolder than others. They could raise questions with some degree of impertinence.

4. Before too long, a crowd could be whipped up to a frenzied stage. The arrest of Jesus, the servants loyal to the high priest and others unfriendly to Jesus could well pick up the scent for the kill, and thus they began to hound Peter.

5. One can imagine that there would be more than just three persons who picked on Peter. Some smarter than others could pick up the fact that he carried a Galilean accent when he replied to their question.

6. Still others who had seen Peter with Jesus on other occasions could finger him as one of the disciples.

7. Those who were at the Garden of Gethsemane could certainly join in and then point a strong accusing finger at Peter.

Each of the Gospel writers could have selected his own material from the pool of information available, and then worked on putting together his own version of the three denials. The focus of each Gospel writer seemed to be to demonstrate that Jesus was absolutely right in His foretelling the denial of Peter.

The intention of the Gospel writers was NOT to put Peter into a bad light. This incident of the denial of Peter was to highlight the fact that the words of Jesus were specially remembered. He was right all along. He had foreseen all these things, and thus was totally prepared for the suffering He endured.

THE AMAZING GRACE OF JESUS

Peter was the leading disciple. How did he feel when the Gospels were written in this manner? A strong early Church tradition suggests that the writing of Mark’s Gospel was strongly influenced by Peter himself.

One can imagine that Peter would not have it any other way. He recognized that he was most sinful when Jesus called him to be His Disciple. His failure merely confirmed that he was as sinful as he had ventured to declare to Jesus right at the outset (Cf. Luke 5:1-8).

What must have stood out to Peter and all the other disciples who had fled the scene was the gracious love that Jesus still sustained towards them. “But we see Jesus…”