He is Denied by Peter

["Click here for Matthew's account"]
["Click here for Mark's account"]
["Click here for Luke's account"]
["Click here for John's account"]

(We will use Matthew's account.) It would appear that while the trial was going on before Caiaphas, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. There in the courtyard, he is recognized as being a Disciple of Jesus by a maid. When he was approached and identified, he denied that he ever knew Jesus, not once, but three times. Why? I would like to suggest 6 reasons why Peter did this. These reasons ought to be written on the hearts of all Christians.
These are the 6 reasons that I believe Peter denied Jesus:

It fulfilled prophecy. Peter's denial was part of Jesus' agony. We would not have expected this from Peter. He was the leader of the 12 disciples. He had just made a display of courage, even if it was unwanted by Jesus, there in the garden when Jesus was arrested. He was the outspoken one. He was physically the largest. He had been led of God to declare that Jesus was the Christ. He was one of the "inner three". We would have expected much more from Peter, but Jesus knew his frame and whatever Jesus expected of Peter, it certainly wasn't as much as Peter expected of himself. He was No.1, and he denied his Master. Those who presume to be leaders and speak out boldly must expect to be "doubly" tempted. We must never rest in our own strength.
He "sat" in bad company. He was in the courtyard in the company of the servants of the High Priest. The other 10 disciples had left and we are not told where they went but I like to believe that they sought each others company and together, consoled each other. Those who needlessly put themselves in places of temptation must suffer the consequences. Peter's first challenge came when he separated himself from the others and got in "bad" company.
He lied, he pretended to not understand what they were saying. "You were with Jesus, the Galilean." Peter said, "I do not know what you mean." He acts as though he does not understand what they are saying. We do this many times when we need more time to come up with an answer, or when we are caught making a false statement, or when we really don't want to answer. This is a type of lying that we are prone to do and can, at least to our satisfaction, justify it.
He compounded his lie. Leaving the courtyard, he went out onto a porch where another maid recognized him. This time he flatly denied that he knew Christ. This denial taught Peter something and should teach us something. Peter had to leave the presence of Jesus and go out of the courtyard, out of His sight, when he sinned against his Master. He could not look at Jesus and say that he did not know Him. Fear was tearing at his heart. Years of fellowship and love were eating at his conscience.
He dug a hole for himself from which there was no way out. "Certainly, you are one of His disciples for your speech betrays you." Others who had heard his answer to the maid, recognized his accent as that of a Galilean. Then Peter spoke the language of the Devil and invoked a curse upon himself, "I swear, I do not know this man." This was all the proof the by-standers needed, to them it was evident that he was not one of Christ's for none of them would have spoken in this way.
This one, couples with fear, may have accounted for all the rest. "He spoke in haste." He came upon his sin almost by surprise even though Jesus had warned him. Speaking in haste will often do you in. These is an old saying, "It is better to keep your mouth shut and be though dumb than to open it and remove all doubt." Pride fear, ignorance and the element of surprise, catches all of us off guard at times.

When we study these six reasons why I believe Peter denied Jesus, we can hardly deny the workings of Providence in our lives. We need, very much, to daily say to ourselves, "But. by the Grace of God, go I."
We cannot leave this passage without looking at three more things:

The names they called Jesus.
Peter's repentance.
The warning to us.

They called Jesus by two names, both were said in condemnation. The "Galilean" and the "Man from Nazareth, the country and the town where it was believed that nothing good could come. Notice it was also obvious to the accusers of Peter that he too was from Galilee. They derived at this from the way he talked, thus they branded him as one of the followers of Christ. I think it's wonderful when our speech brands us as a "follower of Christ", however, it will often do for you what it did for Peter, get you in trouble.
Secondly, the high point in this passage concerning Peter is the difference between Judas and Peter. Judas betrayed Jesus and went out and killed himself. Peter denied Jesus, but he went out and weep and repented for his sin. Notice there was a "sign" that Jesus had previously given to Peter that condemned and convicted Peter, "the cock crowed". It was daybreak, an awakening for Peter. The rooster was for Peter what John the Baptist was for many, "the voice of one calling for repentance". Fortunately, God gives us all signs when we go astray, signs that will condemn and convict us and lead to repentance if we allow them. The cock crowed and Peter remembered the prophecy of Jesus, "Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." Peter also remembered his reply to Jesus, "Not I, Lord, even if I must die with you, I will noy deny you." All this weighed heavily on Peter and he went out and weep bitterly. Did Jesus ever forgive Peter? Yes, Peter received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and he preached and 3,000 souls were saved. Tradition has it that as long as Peter lived, ever time he heard a cock crow, he cried.
Lastly, what's the warning to us? We must never directly or indirectly deny knowing Jesus, either by our words or by our actions. Our words should betray us as followers of Christ and our actions should also witness of this. However, we must never presume that we will never do anything that might be construed as a denial of Jesus, such arrogance can lead us down the same path that Peter took. We certainly are no stronger than Peter and notice it was not the court or some officer of the court that trapped Peter, it was a simple maid. Paul, in the Book of Romans, repeatedly warns of the sin of pride that can lead to sins that we would never dream of committing.

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