John 18:22-27 - Peter again denied Him

18:22-24

At this point one of the officers struck Jesus with his hand, apparently incensed that Jesus was apparently insulting the high priest. Jesus responds calmly, as He did throughout the trials. Jesus had not actually insulted anyone, merely asking a question. So He challenges them to tell Him what was wrong with what He said. When people are in the wrong and are stubbornly persisting in their wrong ways they will not respond rationally. Annas seemingly had no answer to Jesus at this point, so sent Him on to Caiaphas.

18:25-27

We now get Peter’s two other denials. There is a contrast between Peter’s response to questions, and that of Jesus. Peter denies being who he is, denies being a follower of Jesus. Peter is still warming himself by the fire. First an indeterminate “they” ask Peter if he is a disciple of Jesus, which Peter denies. Then a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off thinks he saw Peter in the garden with Jesus. Again, Peter denies it. John does not go into the details of Peter weeping bitterly or cursing. He is just interested in the simple fact of Peter’s denial. As we know, and will shortly read, this was not the end of the tale. Peter’s failure was not the end. Nor is failure in our life. The grace of God is the determining factor, not our human failure.