Mark 14:66 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the story of Peter denying Christ.

It began with keeping his distance from Jesus. Peter had followed far off (Mark 14:54), and now he was below in the palace, at the lower end of the hall. Those who stay shy of Christ are on a path toward denying him. The same is true of those who avoid worship, avoid fellowship with believers, and are reluctant to be seen on the side of a despised faith.

It was helped along by his company. He sat with the high priest’s servants. If people think it is risky to be with Christ’s disciples because they may be drawn into suffering for him, they will find it far more dangerous to be with his enemies, because there they may be drawn into sin against him.

The temptation came when he was identified as one of Christ’s followers. “You also were with Jesus of Nazareth” (Mark 14:67). “This is one of them” (Mark 14:69), “for you are a Galilean,” they could tell by his speech (Mark 14:70). It does not seem that Peter was being put on trial as a criminal. He was being mocked, and in danger of being laughed at as a fool for Christ’s sake. While the chief priests were abusing the Master, the servants were abusing the disciples. At times the cause of Christ seems to be losing so badly that everyone wants to throw a stone at it. Even the lowly join together against it. When Job was on the ash heap, he was mocked by those of base rank (Job 30:8). Still, this was not a very strong temptation. It was only a servant girl who happened to look at him and, so far as we can tell, meant no real harm. She said, “You are one of them.” He did not need to answer at all, or he could have said, “If I am, I hope that is no crime.”

But the sin was very serious. He denied Christ before men, when he should have confessed him and stood up as his witness. Christ had often warned his disciples about his coming sufferings, yet when those sufferings came, Peter was shocked as if he had never heard of them. Jesus had also told them that they must suffer for him, take up their cross, and follow him. Yet Peter was so afraid of suffering, at the first sign of it, that he would lie, swear, and do anything to escape it. When Christ was admired and followed, Peter could openly own him. But now that Christ is rejected, despised, and spoken against, Peter is ashamed of him and will not admit any connection with him.

His repentance came very quickly. He denied Christ three times, and the third denial was the worst, because then he cursed and swore to make his denial stronger. But that third blow, which should have stunned him, instead woke him up. Then the rooster crowed the second time, reminding him of his Master’s words and the warning Jesus had given him, especially the part about the rooster crowing twice. When Peter remembered that warning, he became aware of his sin and all that made it worse. And when he thought on it, he wept.

Some note that this Gospel writer, who may have written with Peter’s help, speaks more fully than the others about Peter’s sin, but more briefly about his sorrow. Peter, in humility, would not want his sorrow praised too highly, and he knew he could never grieve enough for such a great sin. The wording means that he kept on weeping, or broke out into tears, or threw himself down in grief. However we take the phrase, the sense is plain, he fixed his mind on his sin and felt its weight. A passing thought is not enough in such a case. We must stay with it. Or the phrase may mean that he laid his shame upon himself, like the tax collector who beat his breast in sorrow for sin. In the end, this means that he wept bitterly.