69Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, "You also were with Jesus of Galilee."
70But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you are saying."
71And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth."
72But again he denied with an oath, "I do not know the Man!"
73And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, "Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you."
74Then he began to curse and swear, saying, "I do not know the Man!"
Immediately a rooster crowed. 75And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." So he went out and wept bitterly.
Poor Peter. Just the evening before he was boasting that even if all were made to stumble because of Jesus, he would never be made to stumble, and even if he had to die with Jesus he would never deny Him. So here he is in the early hours of the next morning, probably less than 12 hours later, already stumbling, already denying Jesus, in fact, denying Him emphatically. And what would have been his reason for denying Jesus? He didn’t want to be captured with Jesus. So much for his claim of never denying Jesus even if he had to die with Him.
He was being made to stumble. Jesus predicted that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed, and he did. But notice what happened the further down this path he went. First he denied it saying he did not know what they were saying. Next he denied with an oath saying he did not know the Man. And finally he began to curse and swear, saying he did not know the Man.
Contrast this interrogation of Peter with the interrogation of Jesus that was happening at the same time in the council. Peter was being accused of being one of Jesus’ followers. Peter immediately denied it, even though it was true. Jesus was being accused of many things. Whether true or not, Jesus didn’t bother defending himself against the accusations -- He was waiting for the real reason He was there, the reason God sent Him: because He is the Son of God. He would waste no energy arguing about the unimportant matters they tried to bring up. Why was Peter there? Matthew 26:28 said he came to see the end. He had not wanted to abandon Jesus, so sat with the servants to wait out Jesus’ trial. But with each lie he gave, he ended up moving further away from where they were holding Jesus. Peter got so caught up in his lies to defend himself that he was eventually cursing and swearing, and ended up leaving, losing his chance to be of any support for Jesus.
Was Peter focusing on what was really important? He realized just how unimportant his self preservation was to him after he heard the rooster crow. Peter went out and wept bitterly for what he had just done. Rather than being there for Jesus, he ended up denying Him just as He had predicted.
It is so hard to focus on what is really important, on what really matters. Jesus demonstrated how to do it. Peter demonstrated just how bad things can get when you lose track of what is really important. They were all made to stumble that night, probably so events could evolve as they did. But we will also stumble if we do not ask Jesus for help, if we do not remain focused on what is really important. Without the shepherd the sheep will scatter. Jesus is able to keep focused. He can help us to keep focused too. Without Him, like Peter, we will get so caught up in the unimportant matters that when we realize what we missed out on, we too will leave and weep bitterly. Ask Jesus for help.