John 18:12-24
12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people.
15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, 16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.
17 “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.
He replied, “I am not.”
18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.
19 Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.
20 “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 21 Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.”
22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.
23 “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” 24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. [1]
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This passage asks the obvious question, “Would I have denied Jesus like Peter?” But it also asks the more relevant question, “Do I deny Jesus today?”
The way John tells this account heightens the contrast between Jesus’ fearless faithfulness, and Peter’s fearful denial. (I wonder whether John, the “disciple known to the high priest,” was similarly questioned by the servant girl and others, but John doesn’t tell us.) Jesus invited his questioners to question those who heard him. And in the meantime, the one who heard Him the most, Peter, was denying He had ever heard Jesus. A very sad contrast.
But this is included in Scripture not for the purpose of convicting Peter, who has long since been forgiven, but to lead us to examine our own lives. There are many ways to deny that we are one of Jesus’ disciples. Not all of them involve responding to direct questions. Jesus had taught His disciples that the best indicator that they were a disciples was the love they showed one another (John 13:35) and the fruit that they bore (John 15:8) in lives that remained in Him.
My words provide the most obvious denial or confession of my Savior, but this passage is also asking me these questions: Is my life denying my Lord or proclaiming Him? Am I showing the world that I follow Jesus, that I am one of His disciples, by the way I love? Does my life confess my Savior?
So my prayer today is that I may boldly proclaim that I am a disciple of Jesus, not just in my words, but in my deeds, by the love that I show, by the fruit that I bear.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. 2011 (Jn 18:12–24). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
