rtake good-hearted children seems
to have overtaken Peter, for at the end of the hour he is talking right
round the whole circle at the fire, not in monosyllables and guarded
voice, but in his own outspoken way, the most talkative of them all,
until suddenly one whose ear was finer than the rest detected the
Galilean accent, and says, "You need not deny you are one of this man's
disciples, for your speech betrays you." Another, a kinsman of him whose
ear Peter had cut off, strikes in and declares that he had seen him in
the garden. Peter, driven to extremities, hides his Galilean accent
under the strong oaths of the city, and with a volley of profane
language asseverates that he has no knowledge of Jesus. At this moment
the first examination of Jesus closes and He is led across the court:
the first chill of dawn is felt in the air, a cock crows, and as Jesus
passes He looks upon Peter; the look and the cock-crow together bring
Peter to himself, and he hurries out and weeps bitterly.

The remarkable feature of this sin of Peter's is that at first sight it
seems so alien to his character. It was a lie; and he was unusually
straightforward. It was a heartless and cruel lie, and he was a man full
of emotion and affection. It was a cowardly lie, even more cowardly than
common lies, and yet he was exceptionally bold. Peter himself was quite
positive that this at least was a sin he would never commit. "Though
all men should deny Thee, yet will not I." Neither was this a baseless
boast. He was not a mere braggart, whose words found no correspondence
in his deeds. Far from it; he was a hardy, somewhat over-venturesome
man, accustomed to the risks of a fisherman's life, not afraid to fling
himself into a stormy sea, or to face the overwhelming armed force that
came to apprehend his Master, ready to fight for him single-handed, and
quickly recovering from the panic which scattered his fellow-disciples.
If any of his companions had been asked at what point of Peter's
character the vulnerable spot would be found, not one of them would have
said, "He will fall through cowardice." Besides, Peter had a few hours
before been so emphatically warned against denying Christ that he might
have been expected to stand firm this night at least.

Perhaps it was this very warning which betrayed Peter. When he struck
the blow in the garden, he thought he had falsified his Lord's
prediction. And when he found himself the only one who had courage to