Reflective Bible Study

A couple of podcast episodes ago, we looked at Jesus warning Peter about his upcoming denial and Peter strongly refuting this as a possibility. However, in our last episode, we saw how Jesus’ prediction came true regarding all the disciples abandoning Jesus, and in this episode, we turn our attention onto Peter, and how he fulfilled a prediction he did not want to fulfill. As you may have already guessed, we will be focusing in on Peter’s time in the courtyard while Jesus is being tried and condemned to death.

Let’s read about what happened, and discover some things we can learn about this event. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 14, and we will read it from the New American Standard Bible. Before starting to read in verse 66, it is worth noting that a few verses earlier, specifically in verse 54, Mark tells us that Peter followed behind the mob at a distance and ultimately made his way into the courtyard outside of where Jesus was on trial. Starting in verse 66, Mark tells us that:

⁶⁶ As Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came, ⁶⁷ and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Nazarene.” ⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” And he went out onto the porch. ⁶⁹ The servant-girl saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, “This is one of them!” ⁷⁰ But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too.” ⁷¹ But he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this man you are talking about!” ⁷² Immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And he began to weep.

In this short, seven-verse passage, we see Peter fulfill the prediction that he did not want to fulfill. In these verses, Peter denied Jesus the three times Jesus had predicted.

However, the third denial stood out to me as I read it this time. Mark describes Peter’s third denial in verse 71 saying, “But he began to curse and swear, ‘I do not know this man you are talking about!’”

This third denial stands out in my mind because it kind of sounds like Peter is saying he has no idea who Jesus is. However, the only way Peter’s denial makes sense is if he had ignored every news story over the past two years prior to this, especially through the news channels in Galilee, which is where Jesus spent a lot of His time. News about Jesus had even reached Greece, since earlier that week, some Greeks had traveled to Jerusalem to see Jesus.

In my own mind, a much more plausible denial for Peter would have been one that acknowledged that he knew about Jesus, but that he had simply been too busy to pay much attention to him.

However, reading about Peter’s denial in Mark’s gospel, where some scholars believe Mark wrote this gospel from Peter’s perspective, it is interesting to not see anything written or recorded about Peter’s redemption. In contrast, John’s gospel both includes Peter’s denial of Jesus, and a challenging conversation Jesus has with Peter following Jesus’ resurrection that ends with a second invitation to follow Jesus.

One possible explanation is that Mark’s gospel has a very abrupt ending. Depending on the manuscripts and research that has happened, there are two possible endings for Mark’s gospel, but both are a little suspect for a number of reasons. This is why many Bibles today will include a longer and shorter conclusion to Mark’s gospel. However, there is evidence to suggest that neither of these endings is really the original ending of Mark’s gospel. One theory is that the real ending to Mark’s gospel was lost very early on, and some well meaning scholars in the early centuries after the New Testament wrote an ending to help Mark’s gospel have a good conclusion similar to Matthew, Luke, and John.

I am not a scholar, and I don’t have enough information or evidence to weigh in on these claims and theories, but I can say that each theory sounds reasonable. However, I find it powerful that at the close of this passage, as the rooster crows and Peter remembers Jesus’ prediction, it breaks Peter’s heart and Peter begins to weep.

Mark describes Peter’s big failure and how Peter, while confidently asserting that he would never deny Jesus, ultimately denies Jesus just like Jesus had predicted would happen. However, this failure marks a death in Peter that is only clear in hindsight. While Jesus faced the cross and physical death, Peter’s death was a death of self and a death of ego.

After his big failure, Peter had no room to brag about how good of a disciple he was. Prior to this, Peter had the reputation for being the star disciple in Jesus’ inner circle of followers. Everything is set for Peter to be Jesus’ right hand man ahead of the remaining disciples, using terms from our human perspective.

However, after Peter had failed Jesus in a bigger way than any of the other disciples – even after Jesus had warned and predicted that it would happen, Peter’s self-sufficient character breaks and dies, and he has no room to boast or brag about his accomplishments. Instead, from this point forward, Peter becomes humble and teachable, and when given the opportunity to be re-invited by Jesus, Peter steps up and accepts the invitation, proclaiming what Jesus has done for Him as someone who failed Jesus.

In our own lives, we can give up when we fail, or we can let the failure redefine who we are. When we fail God, we should let our ego die with our failure and step back up proclaiming an amazing God who forgives our sins and who accepts us back when we don’t deserve it. Peter’s gospel message and experience is similar to all of our experiences: While we fail God, God isn’t willing to give up on us!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I regularly challenge you to do, continue seeking God first in your life and choose to proclaim what He has done for us – especially what He has done when we don’t deserve it. While we have failed God more times than we may be willing to admit, He is willing to accept us back when we let our egos die with our failure. When repenting and asking for forgiveness, remember what Jesus did for us and let Jesus’ life and His sacrifice change our hearts and minds and let God’s truth transform our lives.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Choose to spend time praying and studying to grow personally closer to God and to fall in love with Him like He has fallen in love with you. Discover in the pages of the Bible, a God who gives up everything for you and me, even when we have failed Him and don’t deserve forgiveness!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or ignore where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we move through John’s gospel, and specifically focusing closely at how John describes the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, I am amazed by an event that John seems to skip over. While describing Jesus’ questioning before Annas in the last passage, following the questioning, John tells us Jesus is then taken to Caiaphas.

However, while the other gospels include a trial in front of Caiaphas, John skips over this event, possibly because he was not present for it, or perhaps because John wanted to emphasize more details about Jesus’ time with Pilate.

This leads us to our passage for this episode, which focuses in on Jesus’ time with Pilate while the Jewish leaders are pressing for Jesus’ death. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 18, and we will read it using the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 28, John tells us:

²⁸ Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. ²⁹ So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”

³⁰ “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”

³¹ Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. ³² This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.

³³ Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

³⁴ “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

³⁵ “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

³⁶ Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

³⁷ “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

³⁸ “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. ³⁹ But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”

⁴⁰ They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.

In this passage, I am amazed by a slight twist in perspective. This prompts me to wonder if there were more Jews present than simply the religious leaders. I suspect this was the case, otherwise Pilate’s actions would not make sense.

This perspective twist is found in the last portion of verse 38 and in verse 39. In these verses, John tells us that after questioning Jesus, Pilate “went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, ‘I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release “the king of the Jews”?’”

This statement does not make logical sense. If Pilate does not find a basis for any charge against Jesus, then Jesus would be unjustly arrested, and He would deserve freedom regardless of any custom present in the region.

However, as soon as Pilate has finished declaring Jesus’ innocence in his eyes, He offers to free Jesus as a prisoner. The only way this makes sense is if Pilate believed that the Jews present were there independent of the religious leaders, and not part of the same group. The religious leaders had brought Jesus to him because they wanted Jesus dead, and because of this, it makes no rational sense that Pilate would ask these same religious leaders if they wanted Jesus freed after declaring Jesus’ innocence.

I suspect that Pilate believed the crowd of Jews present were Jesus’ allies and not hand-picked leaders from the surrounding regions. Since this was Passover weekend, the chief priest and religious leaders in Jerusalem would have a crowd of synagogue leaders present from all over the region, and with the influx of people visiting Jerusalem for this festival, they could easily pull a crowd of anonymous looking Jews who were all opposed to Jesus.

However, in Pilate’s conclusion, He subtly shifts focus from assuming Jesus’ innocence into assuming Jesus’ guilt. From what John describes mixed with what other gospels share about this event, I suspect that Pilate was surprised with the response the crowd of Jews gave him.

This leads us to a powerful truth we can learn from this event. When the crowd shouts back that they don’t want Jesus, but that they instead want Barabbas, they are picking their picture of who the messiah would be over the Messiah God ultimately sent. Barabbas had taken part in an uprising, and he was slated to face the cross that weekend, but Jesus’ arrest and condemnation gave Barabbas a second chance at freedom.

In a powerful, while somewhat ironic way, Jesus takes the punishment of the messiah the Jews chose, and Barabbas represents the worst in humanity. Jesus took the punishment of a criminal onto Himself when He did not deserve it, and since we have all broken God’s law, we are all criminals based on God’s standards. While we all deserve death, Jesus stepped into history to take our place, dying a death He did not deserve, so that we could have the promise and assurance of eternal life, a gift we don’t deserve, because God loves us that much!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life, and choose to accept the gift Jesus offers to each of us by repenting from sin, which is the spiritual way of saying that we turn away from living sinful lives and place our focus on Jesus. Intentionally place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and in His sacrifice to cover your sins, and be sure to say Thank You to God by living each day moving forward for Him.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to discover what God and Jesus are like. Through the pages of the Bible, discover how much God loves you, and what Jesus was willing to face in order to give you the opportunity of a new life with God. When we prayerfully focus on Jesus, we invite the Holy Spirit into our lives, and we intentionally move closer to Jesus and closer to God.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue our journey through Mark’s gospel and through many of the key events this gospel includes, we come to the beginning of what might be among the darkest events in this gospel, specifically the betrayal and arrest of Jesus.

However, while many gospels include the details of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest on the night before His crucifixion, only Mark’s gospel includes two verses describing something that might be a little shocking to some people.

With this forewarning, let’s read this passage, and uncover some things we can learn from what happened, and from what Mark chose to include in his gospel that none of the other gospel writers included.

Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 14, and we will read from the New Living Translation. Starting in verse 43, Mark describes Jesus’ betrayal by saying:

⁴³ And immediately, even as Jesus said this, Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders. ⁴⁴ The traitor, Judas, had given them a prearranged signal: “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss. Then you can take him away under guard.” ⁴⁵ As soon as they arrived, Judas walked up to Jesus. “Rabbi!” he exclaimed, and gave him the kiss.

⁴⁶ Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him. ⁴⁷ But one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, slashing off his ear.

⁴⁸ Jesus asked them, “Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? ⁴⁹ Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there among you teaching every day. But these things are happening to fulfill what the Scriptures say about me.”

⁵⁰ Then all his disciples deserted him and ran away. ⁵¹ One young man following behind was clothed only in a long linen shirt. When the mob tried to grab him, ⁵² he slipped out of his shirt and ran away naked.

In these last two verses, we read about one of Jesus’ lesser-known followers running away naked. This detail that is only found in Mark’s gospel is both interesting and very unique. This has led some Bible scholars and commentators to conclude that Mark, the author of this gospel, was that young man who ran away naked. This young man is not described as a disciple, and I believe this lack of a detail or description also supports the theory this was Mark.

I don’t have any reason to doubt this conclusion as it seems plausible, but I do also find it a little humorous that if you are going to include yourself in the details of a significant event, this might not be the best way to do so. Imagine your claim to fame as being the follower of Jesus who escaped the garden naked. While this might make this gospel less believable, in some peoples’ eyes, this type of detail aids to this being a record of history, specifically what actually happened, and not some fiction or summary that is edited to only include the good details.

However, Mark’s inclusion of this detail also tells us something else. Because Mark included this detail, we can know that the mob, while being primarily interested in arresting Jesus, was also interested in arresting everyone else present in Jesus’ group of followers. Knowing that every one of Jesus’ followers had an arrest warrant out on them helps frame why they were extra nervous in Jerusalem over that weekend, and why they spent most of their time behind locked doors.

When we place the detail that the mob likely wanted to arrest every one of Jesus’ followers, and place it next to the verses describing Jesus’ followers deserting Him and this young man escaping naked, we discover that even while Jesus appeared to be losing, God was still present. Even when evil seemed to have the upper hand, God was in control and God was protecting those present.

Another gospel writer includes the detail that Jesus tells the mob to let Jesus’ followers go. However, while Jesus makes this command, this statement is attributed to fulfilling a prophecy more than being a command that would have been expected to be obeyed. However, it is amazing that Jesus giving a command like this that is actually obeyed by His enemies is testament enough that Jesus is extraordinary.

Nothing in this event suggests that the mob would have even been interested in following through with Jesus’ command to let His followers go. The most logical action to crush a movement is to arrest and kill the leader and all the followers unwilling to give up their beliefs. Arresting the leader and letting the followers escape is illogical at best.

However, because all of Jesus’ followers escaped, we can know that God was with them during Jesus’ arrest, and we can know today that regardless of what we face in this life that comes against our faith, God is with us and He is in control.

When we face challenges in our lives and challenges against our faith, remember that God is with us and that even when evil appears to have the upper hand, God is in control. While not all of us might escape with our clothing intact, we can trust that God is still with us. In the challenges that we face in this world, we might even face death, but whenever death comes our way, we can know and trust that God is ready and willing to resurrect His followers who have endured to the end (as one of our previous podcast episode’s focused in on). And God is more than willing to give us a new body, new clothing, and a new home together with Him in heaven when we place our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally and purposefully seek God first in your life and trust Him regardless of what Satan, culture, or the world wants to pressure us into doing or giving up. Know that the rewards God offers will easily outlast the reward the world offers us and the rewards of sin. Remember and trust that when evil looks like it has the upper hand, God is still in control, God is still with us, and God will see us through these challenges. Remember that for followers of Jesus, death is merely a pit stop on the path leading into eternity.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to grow closer to God each and every day. Don’t let other people filter the Bible for you. Choose to study it for yourself and make up your own mind about it. While skeptics may challenge you to do this, they expect you to reject the Bible because that is what they think you should do. Study and make up your own mind about the Bible after trying God’s way out for yourself. You may be surprised to find what skeptics are missing in the pages of God’s Word and His truth.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue moving through John’s gospel, we are focusing in on the details this gospel includes during the 24 hours leading up to Jesus’ death. From the start of chapter 13, all the way to the end of chapter 19, John’s gospel records the 24 hours leading up to Jesus’ death in detail. John takes 7 of the 21 chapters in his gospel to emphasize this single point in time, and looking at exclusively the chapter breaks, we could conclude that one third of John’s gospel focuses on the 24 hours between the special supper Jesus shared with His disciples, to Jesus’ corpse being removed from the cross and buried.

However, I’m jumping ahead a little. While we are most of the way through the details John includes, we are still early on in the details of what happened. In our last episode, we looked at Judas Iscariot betraying Jesus, and for this episode, we begin with Jesus’ arrest and what happened the rest of that night.

Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 18, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 12, John tells us:

¹² So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him, ¹³ and led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. ¹⁴ Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people.

¹⁵ Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, ¹⁶ but Peter was standing at the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter in. ¹⁷ Then the slave-girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸ Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves; and Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself.

Let’s pause reading briefly here. When reading this, I am amazed that Peter and one other disciple, after running away to avoid being arrested, followed behind the mob and were ultimately brought into the courtyard of the high priest. I suspect that this was because both disciples wanted to know what would happen to Jesus.

This means that three of Jesus’ disciples were near Jesus during this night. While our passage doesn’t mention him by name, since Judas Iscariot brought the mob, and since Judas Iscariot wanted to see Jesus escape, we can be confident that he was there. Matthew’s gospel describes Judas committing suicide when realizing that Jesus was condemned, and Judas died before Jesus did. With this information, we can conclude that Judas Iscariot was present during the trial of Jesus.

The other person this passage does not name specifically is a disciple who was known to the high priest and this disciple let Peter in. While logic might suggest that this unnamed disciple could have been Judas Iscariot, it would be unlike John to not name Judas. More than any other gospel, John shares names of people involved, and the only disciple never to be named directly is John himself. This gives weight to John being the author of this gospel, and this is why tradition describes John as the disciple who let Peter into the courtyard. I don’t know much about John’s life prior to being a disciple of Jesus, but something in John’s past made him known and recognized by those living with the high priest.

The only named disciple in this passage is Peter, and ironically enough, if Peter had not followed Jesus or been let into the courtyard, Jesus’ prediction would not have happened. In the part of our passage we just finished reading, Peter denied Jesus one time, and before John tells us about Peter’s other denials, he shifts focus to describe the pretrial questioning that took place.

Continuing in verse 19, John tells us that:

¹⁹ The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching. ²⁰ Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret. ²¹ Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; they know what I said.” ²² When He had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus, saying, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?” ²³ Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?” ²⁴ So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Pausing our reading again, from the way John described this part of Jesus questioning, I am a little intrigued about how John frames this portion of the night.

While the first part of this passage describes Jesus being brought first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest, in verse 19, during the time Jesus was with Annas, John describes the high priest questioning Jesus: “The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching.” This is also reemphasized in verse 22, when an officer standing near Jesus struck Him and said, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?”

From the way this event is described, we can reach one of two conclusions. The first conclusion we could reach, which is more likely to be the case, is that Annas was the former high priest, and many people still saw him in this role, even if he wasn’t officially the one who held the title. With this logic, he was still considered the high priest because of his past, even though there was a new high priest serving in that role.

The second conclusion we could reach, which is less likely but interesting to consider, is that Caiaphas questioned Jesus while he was with Annas, and this questioning was to discover information that would ultimately be used to condemn Jesus. Because this wasn’t the official trial, Caiaphas would have been a significant questioner, but this happened outside of Caiaphas’ courtroom because they wanted a clear charge to bring against Jesus before they went into court where Caiaphas would sit as judge.

While the first conclusion is more likely, it is fascinating to look at the second conclusion, because it holds a strong parallel. In Jesus’ trial, the prosecuting attorney, and the judge condemning Jesus were the high priest. In our defense trial against the challenges of Satan and the sin in our lives, our Judge and defense lawyer is Jesus. Jesus was tried in a very similar way that He defends us, and with the Judge and best Attorney on our side, nothing Satan can bring our way can break through Jesus’ defense.

However, when the questioning doesn’t amount to much, they move to the official trial. Before moving to focus on the trial, John transitions back to the courtyard to tell us about Peter. Continuing in verse 25, John tells us:

²⁵ Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it, and said, “I am not.” ²⁶ One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” ²⁷ Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

At the conclusion of our passage, we find Peter’s big regret. While Peter had promised Jesus he would never deny Him, we find Jesus’ prediction happen exactly like Jesus described.

However, while this was Peter’s big failure, and one that he would likely never forget, Peter’s story is far from over. Instead, through Peter’s story, we discover a powerful truth that Jesus came to redeem us, and that even when we fail Jesus, He never gives up on or fails us.

But this is jumping ahead in the story. Jesus is our Redeemer, and in a future episode, we will focus on how Peter is personally redeemed from this monumental failure.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life, and choose to let Jesus be your Judge, your Defense Attorney, and especially your Redeemer.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to intentionally and purposefully grow closer to God each and every day. Through a personal relationship with God that is built on prayer and Bible study, discover who God is, what He is like, and the redemption and future He has promised for all of His people!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!