Today's reading concludes the theme of betrayal and apostasy among the apostles by telling us about Peter's denial. The image of Peter in this passage is key: at the very beginning of the narrative Peter is mentioned as following Jesus from a distance, secretly; it ends...
Today's reading concludes the theme of betrayal and apostasy among the apostles by telling us about Peter's denial (vv. 69-75). The image of Peter in this passage is key: at the very beginning of the narrative Peter is mentioned as following Jesus from a distance, secretly (v. 57); it ends with the mention of the rooster's crow, which signified the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy (vv. 74-75). Here too Peter remains true to himself: he clearly remembers the promise he gave the Teacher to stay with Him to the end, and now he fulfills it as best he can. He, of course, cannot change anything, but he wants at least to see everything.
It is not hard to guess that all Peter's attention is fixed on Jesus; he has neither strength nor time for anything else, and the tense sleepless night, of course, could not pass without a trace. And it is at this moment that people notice him and point out that he too was with Jesus. But Peter expects nothing of the kind; he may have remembered his promises, but everything had turned out to be meaningless, the messianic war had ended before it had time to begin, and now, when everything was over, there was no longer any question of faithfulness. Perhaps that is why he denies so easily, casually, before he has even had time to understand properly what is happening.
Apparently, for Peter, as for the other apostles, Jesus was inseparable from their own ideas about Him, as well as from their ideas about the cause in which they intended to take such an active part. Now, when it turned out that there would be no "cause," there could no longer be any question of betrayal: at first glance, there turned out to be no one and nothing to betray. If everything is over, if there will be no Kingdom, what difference does it make whether Peter knew Jesus or not? One can remain faithful even to the memory of the dead, but what sense is there in admitting participation in a conspiracy that never happened?
But then the rooster crowed, and Peter seemed to awaken, shaking off the spiritual stupor that had seized him after his failed attempt to defend the Teacher in the Garden of Gethsemane. And it immediately became clear to him what had happened. Perhaps for the first time he understood that he loved the Teacher not only as the leader of his supporters and not even only as the Messiah, but also as a close friend whom, as it must have seemed to him, he was losing forever. And he understood that he had denied not a failed uprising, but this love. A love that can be found again only through repentance.
And Peter, having realized everything, truly repents; he leaves the courtyard, understanding that faithfulness to the Teacher must be kept in a completely different way than he had thought before (v. 75). And this contrition of heart saves him: very soon he will meet again the already risen Teacher, who will receive his repentance (John 21:15-18).
The unrepentant apostate becomes a traitor, like Judas; the repentant apostate remains a faithful disciple, like Peter.
26
26:72 He denied with an oath - To which possibly he was not unaccustomed, before our Lord called him.
26:73 Surely thou art also one of them, for thy speech discovereth thee - Malchus might have brought a stronger proof than this. But such is the overruling providence of God, that the world, in the height of their zeal, commonly catch hold of the very weakest of all arguments against the children of God.
26:74 Then began he to curse and to swear - Having now quite lost the reins, the government of himself.
27
27:1 In the morning - As the sanhedrim used to meet in one of the courts of the temple, which was never opened in the night, they were forced to stay till the morning before they could proceed regularly, in the resolution they had taken to put him to death. Mar 15:1; Luk 22:66; Luk 23:1; Joh 18:28.
27:2 Having bound him - They had bound him when he was first apprehended. But they did it now afresh, to secure him from any danger of an escape, as he passed through the streets of Jerusalem.