With the rejection of the Jerusalem establishment behind us, the second rejection grows more personal as it involved one of Jesus’ leading disciples, Simon Peter.
The last time we saw Simon Peter he was in Gethsemane with a sword being rebuked by Jesus for his zealot-like response to the authoritarian military incursion. In Matthew’s gospel, the disciples fled from the garden in fear, but in John’s gospel the Roman/Jewish militia allow the disciples to go free once Jesus is arrested. Now, Peter and a mystery disciple (more than likely John himself) are continuing to follow Jesus on the walk from Gethsemane to Annas’ courtyard.
Because of John’s association with the high priest he is allowed free entry through the doorway into Annas’ courtyard. Peter, however, is not as fortunate. When John speaks to a woman who tends the door of the courtyard about allowing Peter to come in, she innocently asks, “Are you not also one of this man’s disciples?” (Jn 18.17). In this question, she apparently recognizes John as a disciple of Jesus and simply asks Peter if he is also a disciple. Is it possible that she considers herself a disciple? We are not certain. But Peter’s answer is clear, “I am not.” Whereas Jesus openly declares his immediate identity with God (“I am”), Peter literally negates the phrase (“not I am”). The woman allows Peter to enter and soon he finds himself huddled around a fire pit because it was cold.
The “servants and the temple police” (Jn 18.18) gathered around the fire ask Peter the exact same question as the woman at the door. The stakes are much higher in this setting for Peter as he hears the question. First, John was with Peter earlier and he doesn’t seem to be among those gathered around the fire. Second, it seems that John was familiar with the woman managing the door, but those gathered around the fire are likely some of the same folks who were at Gethsemane. Peter offers the exact same response, “I am not.” This marks the second time that Peter publicly rejects Jesus.
As it turns out, someone in the courtyard, likely also gathered around the fire, a “servant of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off,” recognizes Peter and asks, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?” (Jn 18.26). John simply tells us, “once again Peter denied,” and “immediately” the rooster crowed, marking Peter’s final rejection of Jesus and recalling the scene where Jesus questions Peter’s claim that he would “lay [his] life down” (Jn 13.37).
Here one of Jesus’ own disciples publicly rejects him. It is true that Jesus told Peter this would happen, but in this series of rejection stories in John 18-19 Peter’s disavowal of Jesus is significant as part of John’s demonstration of the universal rejection of Jesus as he walks the way to the Cross. While we are not told directly, Peter seems to be concerned for his own safety and security as he “follows” Jesus into Annas’ courtyard. He still believes Jesus, but now that the circumstances around Jesus have changed, now that he believes it is no longer as safe to follow him openly, he is too afraid to openly claim to be his disciple. I believe that many who have followed Jesus can resonate with Peter’s dilemma, and John includes Peter’s story of rejection to motivate those who consider themselves faithful followers of Jesus to reflect on the quality of their own discipleship.