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John 18:15-27

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Peter Denies Jesus & The High Priest Questions Jesus

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“Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in.  The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.”  Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.  Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.  Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.”  When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?”  Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”  Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”  One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?”  Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.”

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Who was the disciple that the High Priest knew?

Was it John?

Was it Judas Iscariot?

Greek is simply “another disciple” In verse 15.

In verse 16, it is “The other disciple.”

John refers to himself as the “other disciple” elsewhere in the gospel of John.

Let’s see what we know about the other disciples and see which one is the most likely to be “known by the high priest.”

Now, the phrase “known by the high priest” does not speak about the disciple’s knowledge, but the High Priest’s knowledge.  This disciple is well known enough by the High Priest that the High Priest is going to invite him in while all this commotion is going on.

Simon Peter, Andrew, and Philip were from Bethsaida in Galilee (John 1:44).

James, John came from Galilee.

Nathanael, or Bartholomew was from Cana of the same region (John 21:2).

We don't know where Thomas was from.

We don't know where James, the son of Alphaeus, was born either, but it is interesting that Matthew's father name was also Alphaeus. It is possible that they were brothers.

We are not told where Thaddaeus, also called Judas, the son of James, was from or where he was born.

The word Iscariot in Judas Iscariot's name designates his origins from Judah. Judas Iscariot's father's name was Simon.

Simon the Zealot is also called Simon the Canaanite (Matthew 10:4). The word is a transliteration of the Hebrew word for Zealot, which is a sect of the Jews, so it doesn't reflect his origins. He lived in Galilee.

Matthew's other name was Levi, a traditional Jewish name (Mark 2:14). He was found in Jerusalem, though we don't know where he was born.  Matthew was a tax collector in Jerusalem when Jesus called him to follow himself.  Matthew would have not only collected a head tax, but an import/export tax on all goods sold.  Do you think it is likely that he had done business with the Priesthood before being called to follow Jesus.  Do you think he might have had to tax any of the activities of the priesthood while he was the tax collector of Jerusalem???

Who do you think the most likely candidate for the other disciple known by the High Priest is?

So, because this other disciple is known by the High Priest, he speaks to the servant girl and has her bring Peter in. 

“Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in.”

The servant girl already knows that the other disciple is with Jesus.  The servant girl already knows that the other disciple that is with Jesus asked her to bring Peter in.  There can only be one conclusion and that is that Peter is with Jesus too.  But look at what the servant girl asks and how she asks it.

“The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?”

She asks in the negative expecting that Peter will deny Jesus. 

Isn’t this what many non-Christians today try to do to Christians? 

They ask in the negative expecting you to deny Jesus.

They ask questions like:

“You aren’t one of those holy rollers are you?”

“You aren’t one of those speaking in tongues fanatics, are you?”

“I tried that and it didn’t work.  You don’t really expect me to believe that do you?”

“Oh, you’re one of those judgmental people.”

“I would be a Christian, but I’d have to be a hypocrite.”

“Christians don’t make good friends.  I’d rather be a good friend.”

“I know some Christians and they are not like Jesus.”

Do you know of some things that people say to try to get you to deny Jesus?

How do we answer such things?

“Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.”

So, how does Peter deal with this situation.

“He said, “I am not.”

Peter!  Come on!  The other disciple brought you in on the fact that you are with Jesus!  Couldn’t you see that just happening?

What would have happened if Peter had affirmed that he was with Jesus?

          Could he have stood up in Jesus’ defense?

Come on Peter!  Stand up for Jesus!  Witness on his behalf!  Get Jesus out of there!

Now, John narrates Jesus’ meeting with Annas, and he leaves out Jesus’ meeting with Caiaphas.  This is probably done to emphasize the fact that at first, Jesus is taken to Annas, the unofficial boss of the priesthood.  What happens at the meeting with Caiaphas is just reiterating the determination that Annas came up with. 

“The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.  Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.  Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.”

Now the questioning of the High Priests is centered on getting Jesus into a blasphemy trap.  They get him to say that he is the Messiah, and then they accuse him of blasphemy because how can he, a mere man, be God.  This whole trap ignores that the Messiah will be both man and God.

In Matthew 26, Jesus admits to Caiaphas that he is the Messiah and Caiaphas immediately accuses him of blasphemy.

The Jews knew from their scriptures that the Messiah would be God himself. 

Isaiah 52:12-14,

“For you shall not go out in haste,
    and you shall not go in flight,
for the Lord will go before you,
    and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
    he shall be high and lifted up,
    and shall be exalted.
As many were astonished at you—
    his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
    and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—“

Isaiah 9:6,

“For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Jeremiah 23:6,

“In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord (Yahuweh) is our righteousness.’”

Micah 5:2,

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
    from ancient days.”

Isaiah 7:14,

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (God with us).”

Psalm 110:1, (Speaking about David’s son)

The Lord says to my Lord:

“Sit at my right hand
    until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet.”

Proverbs 30:4,

“Who has gone up to heaven and come down?
    Whose hands have gathered up the wind?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak?
    Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is the name of his son?
    Surely you know!”

Psalm 45:6-7,

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
    a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
    therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
    by anointing you with the oil of joy.”

Zechariah 2:10-11,

“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord.  And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.”

They also should have known that the Messiah would take care of sin FIRST. 

Genesis 3:15,

“I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
    and you shall bruise his heel.”

Psalm 110:4,

“The Lord has sworn
    and will not change his mind,
‘You are a priest forever
    after the order of Melchizedek.’”

Isaiah 53:5-7 & 11-12,

“But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth…

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
    make many to be accounted righteous,
    and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
    and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
    and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
    and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

Malachi 3:3-4,

“He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.  Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.”

Jeremiah 31:31-34,

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Isaiah 28:17-18,

“And I will make justice the line,
    and righteousness the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
    and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
    and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
    you will be beaten down by it.”

1 Samuel 2:35,

“And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.”

Isaiah 12:1-2,

“You will say in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
    for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
    that you might comfort me.

“Behold, God is my salvation;
    I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation.”

Isaiah 35:8,

“And a highway shall be there,
    and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
    It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
    even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.”

Isaiah 48:17-18,

“Thus says the Lord,
    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches you to profit,
    who leads you in the way you should go.
 Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments!
    Then your peace would have been like a river,
    and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;”

Isaiah 52:13-15,

“Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
    he shall be high and lifted up,
    and shall be exalted.
As many were astonished at you—
    his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
    and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
so shall he sprinkle many nations.
    Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
for that which has not been told them they see,
    and that which they have not heard they understand.”

Daniel 9:24,

“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.”

So the first thing the Messiah will do is to deal with sin and atone for sin. 

All of the representations of heaven through the temple in Exodus, Leviticus & Deuteronomy are about salvation from sin.

Whose sin was to be dealt with first?

          (The sin of the Jews.)

And the Pharisees should have known that Jesus is the Messiah. 

1. 2 prophets Anna and Simon said that he was the Messiah when he was a baby.

2. John the Baptist said that Jesus was the Messiah and called him “The Lamb of God.”

3. Jesus fulfilled 353 Messianic prophesies in the Old Testament.

4. Jesus healed people including the blind and the lepers as prophesied in the Old Testament.

5. Jesus taught the Jews and the surrounding nations about righteousness as prophesied in the Old Testament.

6. Jesus just got done raising Lazarus from the dead.

So, the High Priest and the Pharisees could not have missed knowing that Jesus was the Messiah (unless they never read the Law and the Prophets).

The Pharisees and the High Priesthood willingly rejected their Messiah and their King over their own greed and pride.  This is what is meant in Daniel 9:24, where is says to finish the transgression.  The transgression is their rejection of God.  Their final rejection comes in the form of them rejecting their own Messiah.

Now let’s see how Jesus’ answer is met.

“When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?”  Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”  Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.”

As mentioned before, John emphasizes that Annas is the one that is really in control here.  It is a mafia High Priesthood.  An officer strikes Jesus.  Now this could have been an officer of the Roman guard or an officer of the priesthood.  Either way, those standing there are acknowledging that Annas is the effectual High Priest.  Whatever transpires with Caiaphas will be an enactment of the disposition handed down by Annas.

Let’s see how Peter is doing by the fire.

“Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”  One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?”  Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.”

Now, how can Peter deny that he was with Jesus again?  Even one of the people that saw him cut off Malchus’ ear in the garden recognized him.  Then Peter denies it for a third time and immediately after that a rooster crowed.  And just before they set out to the garden, Jesus said, “The rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.”

Peter, Peter, Peter!  Peter could have affirmed what Jesus said was true.  Peter could have affirmed that Jesus did the miracles.  Peter could have testified that Jesus is the Messiah.  But he did not.  Why?

Jesus said Peter would deny him three times before the rooster crowed.  Jesus knew.  Jesus’ word is effective.  Jesus said that he would drink the cup that the Father has given him.  Jesus said that the Father loves him because he does the will of the Father.  You see, Jesus knows every step of the way to the cross.  He even knows beforehand, what Peter is doing outside, while he is being interrogated inside the building.  This is a very well planned event.  If Peter had not denied Jesus, perhaps he might have been in there defending Jesus, and perhaps, Jesus would not have been crucified on the cross.  The High Priest and the Pharisees think they are in control, but who really is in control?

Above All by Michael W. Smith:

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