Those who had seized Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. But Peter was following Him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and entered in, and sat down with the officers to see the outcome.
Matthew 26:57-58 (NASB1995)
Our scripture today is undoubtedly one of the saddest in our Bibles; Peter is following at a safe distance behind his arrested and bound Lord. On the positive side, it could be said that at least he was there since all the others had fled into the night (verse 56). But Peter was the one disciple who was most outspoken in following Jesus and sometimes spoke too quickly without thinking.
One such incident is going to come back to pierce his heart soon; I speak of the incident just after our Lord’s last Passover – “Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’ (Matthew 26:31). Peter quickly said, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” and Jesus replied, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” (Matthew 26:33-34). Peter was vehement that this could never happen, and here he is following at a safe distance, not to be associated with Jesus. Very soon, the words of his Lord were fully fulfilled with violent oaths of denial, and Peter disappeared into the night, weeping.
Dear Reader, do not judge Peter too harshly. He is restored to his Lord in due time and serves Him and the gospel in the coming years. There are times in many of our own lives when we have followed our Lord at a distance, not wanting to be challenged for the gospel. May we apply the courage of Paul in his words to the Roman believers: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Devotional Treasures
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