Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: MATTHEW #45 - 26:57-75)
E. 26:57-75 PERJURED TRIAL BY CAIAPHAS, AND PETER'S DENIAL
1. 26:57-68 THE MOCKERY OF JUSTICE AND INDIGNITY
a. 26:57 JESUS LED TO CAIAPHAS
Hoi de kraTEsan-tes [2902]ton IeSOUN aPEga-ton [520]pros KaiAphan
But those who had taken :Jesus led him away to Caiaphas
ton ar-chi-eREa, HOpou hoi gram-maTEIS kai hoi presBUte-roi [4245] suNECHthe-san [4863].
the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered.
b. 26:58 PETER FOLLOWS
ho de PEtros e-koLOUthei [190]auTO aPO maKROthen [3113]HEos tes auLES [833]tou ar-chi-eREos,
But :Peter followed him from afar unto the court of the high priest,
kai ei-selTHON Eso, eKAthe-to meTA ton hu-pe-reTON [5257], iDEIN to TElos [5056].
and entered in, and sat with the officers, to see the end.
c. 26:59-60 FALSE WITNESSES SOUGHT
hoi de ar-chi-eREIS kai to suNEdri-on [4892] HOlon eZEtoun [2212]
Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking
pesu-do-mar-tuRIan [5577] kaTA tou IeSOU, HOpos auTON tha-naTOso-sin [2289];
false witness against :Jesus, that they might put him to death;
kai ouch HEUron, polLON pro-selTHONton pseu-do-marTUron.
60and they found itnot, though many false witnesses came.
d. 26:61 TWO FALSE WITNESSES
HUste-ron [5305] de pro-selTHONtes [4334] DUo, EIpan, HOUtos Ephe,
But afterward came two, andsaid, This man said,
DUna-mai ka-taLUsai [2647] ton naON tou TheOU, kai diA triON he-meRON oi-ko-doMEsai [3618].
I can destroy the temple of :God, and build it in three days.
e. 26:62 HIGH PRIEST QUESTIONS JESUS
kai a-naSTAS [450] ho ar-chi-eREUS, EIpen auTO,
And the high priest stood up, and said to him,
OuDEN a-poKRIne? ti HOU-TOI sou ka-ta-mar-tuROUsin [2649]?
Do you answer nothing? what do these witness against you?
f. 26:63a But :Jesus was silent. ho de IeSOUS e-siOpa [4623].
g. 26:63b HIGH PRIEST ADJURES JESUS
kai ho ar-chi-eREUS EIpen auTO, E-xorKIzo [1844] se kaTA tou TheOU tou ZONtos [2198],
And the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living :God,
HIna heMIN EIpes ei su ei ho ChrisTOS, ho huiOS tou TheOU.
that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of :God.
h. 26:64 RESPONSE OF JESUS
LEgei auTO ho IeSOUS, Su EIpas: plen LEgo huMIN,
:Jesus says to him, You have said: nevertheless I say unto you,
ap' ARti Opses-the [3700] ton huiON tou anTHROpon kaTHEme-non ek de-xiON [1188]
Henceforth you shall see the Son of :man sitting at theright
tes duNAme-os [1411], kai erCHOme-non ePI ton ne-pheLON [3507] tou ou-raNOU.
of the Power, and coming on the clouds of :heaven.
i. 26:65 RESPONSE OF HIGH PRIEST
TOte ho ar-chi-eREUS diEre-xen [1284] ta hiMAti-a [2440] auTOU, LEgon,
Then the high priest rent his :garments, saying,
E-blasPHEme-sen [987]; ti Eti CHREIan Echo-men marTUron?
He has spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses?
Ide, nun eKOUsa-te ten blas-pheMIan [988]: ti huMIN doKEI [1380]?
see, now you have heard the blasphemy: what do you think?
j. 26:66 They answered andsaid, He is worthy of death.
hoi de a-po-kriTHENtes EIpan, Eno-chos [1727] thaNAtou esTIN.
k. 26:67-68 THE INDIGNITIES OFFERED TO CHRIST
TOte eNEPtu-san [1716] eis to PROso-pon [4383] auTOU kai e-koLAphi-san [2852] auTON:
Then they spit in his :face and buffeted him:
hoi de eRApi-san [4474], LEgon-tes, ProPHEteu-son [4395] heMIN, ChrisTE: TIS es-tin ho PAIsas [3817] se?
and some slapped him, 68saying, Prophesy to us, youChrist: who is he that struck you?
2. 26:69-75 THE DENIAL AND REMORSE OF PETER
a. 26:69 PETER ACCOSTED BY A MAID
Ho de PEtros eKAthe-to Exo en te auLE: kai proSELthen auTO MIa paiDIske [3814],
Now :Peter was sitting without in the court: and one maid came to him,
LEgou-sa, Kai su EStha meTA IeSOU tou Ga-liLAIou.
saying, You also were with Jesus the Galilean.
b. 26:70 But he denied before all, saying, I do not know what you say.
ho de erNEsa-to [720] EMpros-then PANton, LEgon, Ouk OIda ti LEgeis.
c. 26:71 PETER ACCOSTED THE SECOND TIME
e-xelTHONta de eis ton puLOna [4440], EIden auTON ALle,
And when he was gone out into the porch, another saw him,
kai LEgei tois eKEI, HOUtos en meTA IeSOU tou Na-zoRAIou.
and says to those there, This man was with Jesus the Nazorean.
d. 26:72 And again he denied with an oath [that], I know not the man.
kai PAlin erNEsa-to [720] meTA ORkou [3727] [HOti], Ouk OIda ton ANthro-pon.
e. 26:73 THE THIRD ACCOSTING OF PETER
meTA MIkron de pro-selTHONtes hoi heSTOtes EIpon to PEtro,
And after a little they that stood by came and said to :Peter,
A-leTHOS [230] kai su ex auTON ei; kai gar he la-liA sou DE-LON [1212] se poiEI.
Truly you also are one of them; your very speech betrays you.
f. 26:74a Then began he to curse and to swear [that], I know not the man.
TOte ERxa-to ka-ta-the-maTIzein [2653] kai omNUein [3660] [HOti], Ouk OIda ton ANthro-pon.
g. 26:74b And straightway a cock crew. kai euTHUS aLEKtor [220] ePHOne-sen [5455].
h. 26:75a PETER REMEMBERS JESUS' PROPHETIC WORD
kai emNESthe [3415] ho PEtros tou 'REma-tos [4487] IeSOU ei-reKOtos [HOti],
And :Peter remembered the word Jesus had said [that],
Pris aLEKto-ra phoNEsai, tris a-parNEse [533] me.
Before the cock crow, you shall deny me thrice.
i. 26:75b And he went out, and wept bitterly.
kai e-xelTHON Exo, Eklau-sen [2799] piKROS [4090].
NOTE: 26:65-68 - What the high priest and Sanhedrin leaders did to Jesus in rejecting His true witness, and ill-treating Him - cause me to cringe and fear for them - when they appear before this same Jesus upon His return on the Great White Throne!
26:69-75 - The three-fold denial of Peter could have been avoided - had he heard and followed through on Jesus' words in the Garden. To “watch and pray” with Jesus would have avoided entering into temptation. But how many of us fail to “watch and pray” today - and we like Peter enter into temptation? We can overcome anger, wrath and a fretting spirit that leads only to evil-doing, by doing what Peter failed to do.
In the Lord's Prayer given to us as disciples in the Sermon on the Mount - Jesus says in the 6thand 7threquest: “And bring us not into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”All verbs for these 7 requests except the 6thone are in the imperative mood as a command. But the 6th as a subjunctive mood could be freely translated - “Father, if it be possible for me to be conformed to the image of Your Son Jesus without enduring the "Job type" of testing, this would be ideal; but if the only way Your will can be done on earth in me through such testing, then - Yourwill be done; yet if this in Your sight is necessary, let notSatan have full victory, but deliver me like You did Job from the purposes of our enemy.”
In the Gospel of John, just as Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus following His resurrection questioned him concerning his love three times, and gave him a 3-fold proper response. I am sure Peter neverforgot his 3-fold denial of His Master and Savior. I am sure he remembered to watch and pray from then on. As far as we know, Peter only fell into temptation once more, when Paul in Antioch had to rebuke Peter for siding with the Jerusalem Judaizers against the non-Jewish believers. J.A.W.