Six Trials

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Six Trials

Matt. 26:69-75

69 Now [de] Peter [Petros] sat [kathemai] without [exo] in [en] the palace [aule] : and [kai] a [mia] damsel [paidiske] came [proserchomai] unto him [autos] , saying [lego] , Thou [su] also [kai] wast [en] with [meta] Jesus [Iesous] of Galilee [Galilaios] .
70 But [de] he denied [arneomai] before [emprosthen] them all [pas] , saying [lego] , I know [eido] not [ou] what [tis] thou sayest [lego] .
71 And [de] when he [autos] was gone out [exerchomai] into [eis] the porch [pulon] , another [allos] maid saw [eido] him [autos] , and [kai] said [lego] unto them that were there [ekei] , This [houtos] fellow was [en] also [kai] with [meta] Jesus [Iesous] of Nazareth [Nazoraios] .
72 And [kai] again [palin] he denied [arneomai] with [meta] an oath [horkos] , [hoti] I do [eido] not [ou] know [eido] the man [anthropos] .
73 And [de] after [meta] a while [mikron] came unto him they [proserchomai] that stood by [histemi] , and said [epo] to Peter [Petros] , Surely [alethos] thou [su] also [kai] art [ei] one of [ek] them [autos] ; for [gar] [kai] thy [sou] speech [lalia] bewrayeth [delos] thee [se] [poieo] .
74 Then [tote] began he [archomai] to curse [katanathematizo] and [kai] to swear [omnuo] , saying, [hoti] I know [eido] not [ou] the man [anthropos] . And [kai] immediately [eutheos] the cock [alektor] crew [phoneo] .
75 And [kai] Peter [Petros] remembered [mnaomai] the word [rhema] of Jesus [Iesous] , which [ho] said [ereo] unto him [autos] , Before [hoti] [prin] the cock [alektor] crow [phoneo] , thou shalt deny [aparneomai] me [me] thrice [tris] . And [kai] he went out [exo] , and [exerchomai] wept [klaio] bitterly [pikros] . KJV-Interlinear

69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a certain servant-girl came to him and said, 'You too were with Jesus the Galilean.' 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, 'I do not know what you are talking about.' 71 And when he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, 'This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.' 72 And again he denied it with an oath, 'I do not know the man.' 73 And a little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, 'Surely you too are one of them; for the way you talk gives you away.' 74 Then he began to curse and swear, 'I do not know the man!' And immediately a cock crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, 'Before a cock crows, you will deny Me three times.' And he went out and wept bitterly. NASB

Mark 14:66-72
66 And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came, 67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him, and said, 'You, too, were with Jesus the Nazarene.' 68 But he denied it, saying, 'I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.' And he went out onto the porch. 69 And the maid saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, 'This is one of them!' 70 But again he was denying it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, 'Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too.' 71 But he began to curse and swear, 'I do not know this man you are talking about!' 72 And immediately a cock crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, 'Before a cock crows twice, you will deny Me three times.' And he began to weep. NASB

The second trial of Jesus is continuing, and meanwhile, Peter is out in the courtyard engaged in small talk with the very ones who arrested Jesus, as well as some of the servants.. How do we know?

'for the way you talk gives you away', 'for you are a Galilean too'

Just as we can identify where someone comes from by their accent, so the Galilean's had a definite accent that was identifiable to those who were in the courtyard. They are all standing around fires keeping warm, because the night was cold. Peter is engaged in small talk, otherwise how would they know what his voice sounded like!

We have already studied that at the time of the third denial of Peter, they both (Jesus and Peter) looked at each other. So not only were they within eyesight to some degree, but they must certainly have been within hearing distance of each other.

What is going on now. Jesus is being interrogated, being spit on, hit, probably kicked (only seems reasonable), cursed at, and so forth. False witnesses have stepped forward during this cold and dark night only to get their false stories confused. The assembly is in an uproar, filled with their hate, yet their target was an innocent man who had done nothing but good, healing many multitudes of peoples by means of miracles which no ordinary man could possibly do.

Peter is here an example of mans failure and of Gods infinite wisdom and forgiveness. He was faced with merely slaves, or people who were of no significance as far as this world is concerned. Yet Peter denied over and over again, until the last denial when his voice rose to shouting levels and he cursed and swore.

The words used for curse and swear are of the type of wishing death onto ones self if the truth is not being stated. 'Let lightning strike me if I am not saying the truth,' type of thing. So Peter was becoming very vocal, agitated, and angry in his growing resentment of being asked, and accused, over and over again regarding his association with Jesus. And he was on the receiving end of comments from the lowest form of human status - slaves.

He chose to identify with slaves and so his indictment was from slaves.

This is the result of one who is over confident and otherwise lacking in spiritual preparation as Peter was.

Note his history (so we can each one of us evaluate ourselves by this study). Note that we do not evaluate others, but only ourselves.

Peter over estimated his spiritual status, and even boasted as to what he would do or not do when Jesus told them all (the apostles), that they would fall away when He was arrested. Peter objected at Jesus' words and stated that he would never leave Him.

Second, Peter was insubordinate and contradicted Jesus' words when he was singled out and told that he would not only fall away, but would deny Him three times this very night. Peter objected vehemently over this.

Third, Peter found no need for prayer. When in the garden, they fell asleep when Jesus went to pray. Twice Jesus came back to them and each time they fell back to sleep.

Fourth, Peter was impulsive. He did not listen. He reached for his sword when he neither had the training nor the justification for doing so. This ended in the loss of an ear of a servant (who was unarmed) and a reprimand from Jesus.

And fifth, Peter never learned from all of this. He placed himself (without thinking) in an atmosphere of sin. He did not stop to think about all that was going on and all that he was doing. He followed Jesus right into the lions den. He stood with those who arrested Jesus, right in the middle of folks who would challenge his being there. He placed himself in the midst of temptation which in this case was to 'not' defend Jesus. There was no reason for his being there. He had been told by Jesus, on many occasions, exactly what was to be expected this night and on the following day.

He grew up with the sacrificial feasts and he should have known and understood their purpose - the saving work of God for mankind.

Such is the case with many believers who just do not pay attention to their Bible studies. They assume it is unnecessary. They assume they do not need it. They assume that they are beyond some level of learning (having arrived at spiritual maturity). They assume that this Bible stuff does not work anyway, so why bother. They assume that their desires are enough for them, and nothing further is necessary.

They assume that they know it all and proceed to evaluate and criticize others. They use the words of faith, 'God willing this or that,' or ' Praise the Lord this or that.' When in fact they say it only for affect in conversation. They in fact do not follow through with their studies to support their superficial words. They are merely words of convenience.

They flirt with sin from their compromising attitude in life. They ignore their responsibilities in favor for their selfish desires. And if challenged, they throw the argument right back in the face of the one challenging their position. In short, they lack a viable study program from within their soul. They go through the motions (maybe) but do not incorporate the true study principles within their studies. They remain out of fellowship and in effect they have no spiritual growth, or very little.

The result? They become insubordinate. They refuse to recognize any authority but their own. They are argumentative, impulsive, self centered, and disregard their role in life with respect to others, seeing the need only of their own wants and nothing else.

Their life inevitably runs into snags and that will lead to frustration and eventually hate. They will lash out at others, never accepting the responsibility for their own failures. It is always someone else's fault. They will ride an emotional roller coaster. The always know more than others.

Peter suddenly sees his participation in the prophecy that he rejected. He suddenly sees his failure and he breaks down in very deep remorse. But it takes a very dramatic event (the arrest of Jesus) to make him come to his senses.

Judas did the same. He broke down in very deep remorse, but unlike Peter, Judas went the opposite direction and committed suicide. Peter will recover, but it will take time. Peter had an underlying desire to have a relationship with God, and that basic desire eventually came out to aid in his recovery. He will stop blaming others. He will stop criticizing others. He will stop rejecting his role in life in relation to others.

He has wanted things his way in life and that was not to be. Peter tried to force things in life to where he wanted them, and he now learns the hard way, that he is not in charge, that the world is far greater than he is, and that his defiance in life only makes things worse for himself.

He will learn humility eventually, and that to be back in charge of his own life, he needs to subordinate himself to Gods will, and then stick to it. God has a greater life prepared for us, both in time and in eternity, than we could ever design for ourselves.

A positive attitude toward God is all it takes to get back on the road of recovery. A defiant stubborn attitude will lead only to more and more misery.

And in all of this, Jesus is standing there, bound and bruised, in complete emotional control and calmness, and is willing to go to the Cross for all who are present and many, many more.