What was the reason behind Peter's denial of Jesus?

Peter, as a true believer, did not know what the flesh was, as alas so many believers are ignorant of the true nature of the flesh. There was no willingness in Peter to sin; he wanted to do that which he had told the Lord, but he was ignorant of his own weakness. Step by step he had approached this sad and sorrowful moment. He did not plunge suddenly into the out and out denial of the Lord; he never meant to say what he did say. Had any one told him, "Peter, you are going to curse and swear, declaring, I know not the man", he would have shuddered in horror and vowed, he could never do such a thing. Gradually he had been drawn towards this awful denial. "Watch and pray" the Lord had said "that ye enter not into temptation." Peter had slept; he had neglected prayer. He could not watch an hour with His Lord. Here the first step was made. Because he was ignorant of the real character of the flesh, that old nature, he did not pray. If he had known what the flesh is he would have cast himself upon the Lord and watched and prayed. And this is the cause of every denial of our blessed Lord; and how numerous these are!

Flesh in the saint is no better than in any other man. Peter did not know this more than most do now. He did not believe our Lord's warning: if he had, he had not entered into temptation, but would have watched, prayed, and been kept through faith. He must therefore by bitter experience learn what the flesh is, as the word was not mixed with faith in his soul when the Lord warned him so solemnly. He was confident in himself. It was not the vulgar confidence of an unbeliever, no doubt; but still it was confidence built on his own estimate of what his love for Jesus would enable him to do or bear. And this it was which, as it is an illusive and mischievous egoism, grace must expose, as it does pardon, and would turn to profit and blessing, not only to Peter, but to his brethren through him. For now and thus he was humbled and had learnt what man is on the one hand, and what God is on the other. If Peter was to be used of the Lord more than all, it was meet that he should more than any learn experimentally his more than nothingness.

See what follows the Lord's warning. Peter answers, "Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison and to death." Think of that! No sooner has the Lord said, "Satan has desired to have you," than Peter says, "I am ready." You get the secret of Peter's fall in these words. Had Peter been right, instead of saying, "I am ready," he would have prayed, "Lord, do Thou keep me; Lord, do Thou help me; Lord, do not let me fall under Satan's power," but he was self-confident, and self-confidence is, I believe, the cause of all our failure, whereas self-distrust is the secret of our getting on with the Lord.

In truth Peter had fallen before he got into the high-priest's palace. Self-confidence was his ruin. The Holy Ghost has been careful to record his sayings at the Supper Table. The Lord had warned His disciples, "All ye shall be offended because of me this night" (Matt. 26:31). What does Peter say? "Though all shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. … Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee" (Matt. 26:33-35). Again, "But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise" (Mark 14:31). Again, "Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death" (Luke 22:33). More, "I will lay down my life for thy sake" (John 13:37). Boastful words indeed were these, and doubtless when he said them he felt them, for manifestly Peter was no hypocrite; but his self-confidence flung him off his guard, and took him away from Christ. "Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" had no place in his mind, and so, failing to pray to be kept out of temptation, though bidden of the Lord to do so, he slept when he should have been gathering strength, and fell an easy prey to the enemy's stratagems, in the moment of temptation, when he should have humbly, yet boldly, confessed his Lord.

So will it be with any of us, if self-confidence, or a spirit of boastfulness be found in our hearts. The day that a saint falls is the day that he ceases to fear to fall. So long as the fear is in the heart the feet will be kept of God.

No doubt much banter went on, as they asked him, again, and again, if he were not one of His disciples, and at last Peter denied with oaths and cursings that he had ever known the Lord. Poor Peter! Old habits are easily revived. Fishermen and sailors, notoriously, are great swearers, and what had probably been Simon's style of language by the Sea of Galilee, before the Lord called him, comes out again now.

But at that moment Peter's self-confidence was so strong that he virtually said the Lord was in error by telling Him that he was ready to accompany Him to prison and to death. His denial later was sadly shameful, yet his self-confidence was worse evil than his denial because it was the root cause of his denial. The Lord had the last word, however, telling Peter firmly that the rooster would not crow until Peter had three times denied that he knew Him.

In these few words Peter lets out the real root of the whole matter. That root was self-confidence — alas! alas! no uncommon root amongst us. We do not in the least question Peter's sincerity. We feel perfectly sure he meant all he said; and, further, that he had not the most remote idea of what he was about to do. He was ignorant of himself, and we generally find that ignorance and self confidence go together. Self-knowledge destroys self-confidence. The more fully self is known, the more it must be distrusted. If Peter had known himself, known his tendencies and capabilities, he never would have uttered the words which we have just penned. But so full was he of self-confidence, that when his Lord told him expressly what he was about to do, he replied, "Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee."

Here it was Peter's own Master who told him what impended; and he had confessed before that Jesus was a divine person, for he had owned Him to be the Son of the living God. Nevertheless, our ears are but heavy when we like not to hear, and we do not understand what we do not at the present time feel to be our own need. Unpalatable truths pass over us: what is then said is "a parable," as we find with the disciples on a previous occasion. Peter therefore had no deep impression left on his soul, no vivid sense of need produced. Indeed such a fall, an aggravated outward evil, is always the effect of inward or secret failure before God. It neither comes alone nor all at once. Before this, Peter's case, though a man singularly fervent and of earnest purpose, had not wanted certain traces of unjudged forwardness and self-confidence. And this it was that furnished the occasion; for the apostle was so sure of himself and of his own courage that, if everybody else denied the Master, it was impossible to his own mind that Peter could. Yet this was the man that denied the Christ of God through fear of a little servant-girl. So it is: if unbelieving and unwatchful, we fall into the very thing in which we are proudest, and in the way that is most humbling to us.

A Warning. — But what is man? What were they? Simon, son of Jonas, was now to show what he was. "Lord, whither goest Thou?" he asked. Jesus answered, "Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now; but thou shalt follow afterwards" (36). A separation must take place. He was going to glory. They would still be on earth. Only temporary, however, would that separation be. Then they should be where He was going. To the unconverted Jews the Lord had foretold of the separation there would be between Him and them, but held out no hopes of its being but for a season. With regard to the disciples, it would be but temporary. Peter, not understanding what was meant, at once replied, "Lord, why cannot I follow Thee now? I will lay down my life for Thy sake. Jesus answers, Wilt thou lay down thy life for My sake? Verily, verily, I say to thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied Me thrice" (36-38). How soon would he fall! Ere cock-crowing he would show what his boast was worth. The Lord knew Judas. He knew, too, Peter. Judas would betray Him for a little temporal gain, a few pieces of silver. Peter would deny Him from fear of man. Peter, in the depth of his heart, dearly loved the Lord, but was unconscious of his real weakness, if left to himself. The other disciples, we read elsewhere, averred the same thing. They were as ready, each and all intimated, to die with Christ (Mark 14:31). Peter, first and foremost in that assertion, was to manifest openly his weakness. Brave words without corresponding acts, what are they worth?

The case of Peter is a more common one, however, for have we not all too frequently found ourselves in his company as regards the sadness of his failure when his Master faced the cruelest hour of man's persecution? What powerful enemy so weakened this fervent, affectionate follower of the Lord Jesus? Simply "the fear of man," which "bringeth a snare." Can it be that this man, so naturally bold and courageous, will cringe and speak falsehood when confronted by a woman? Alas, how weak are our hearts! But why should he be afraid? He had before assured the Lord he was ready to go with Him to prison and to death (Luke 22:33). At that moment, though, the Lord must go first to the garden of Gethsemane, where His soul was poured out in agonizing prayer to God, in holy preparation for the deeper agony of the cross. Peter neglected such preparation, and was asleep. What a lesson for us! In the things of God, natural courage will fail. Only God's divine power and grace can sustain us and preserve us from fear. "What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee" (Ps. 56:3). "I will trust, and not be afraid" (Isa. 12:2). Most strikingly, Isaiah 51:12-13 shows that fear, no less than the other evils we have noted, is the product of mere pride, little as we might it think so: "Who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and forgettest the Lord thy Maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth?" Is this not a stern and righteous reproof to our foolish fear of man? The results of Peter's fear were humiliating in the extreme, nor shall we escape reaping what we sow. Yet divine grace did, and does, wonderfully restore.

Why did Peter say to the enemies of his Lord, "I know not this man of whom ye speak"? (Mark 14:71). To save his life, He then felt, "If I own Him, I shall die." And so to save his life he denied Him. "Now," says Christ, "you shall get another opportunity of glorifying God." "And when he had spoken this, he says to him, Follow me" (ver. 19). This was His final command.