I do not know this Man of whom you speak!

Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came.  And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, "You also were with Jesus of Nazareth."  But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are saying."  And he went on the porch, and a rooster crowed.  And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, "This is one of them."  But he denied it again.  And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, "Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it."  Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know this Man of whom you speak!"  A second time the rooster crowed.  Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times."  And when he thought about it, he wept.

- Mark 14:66-72

Yesterday we read that those who seized Jesus led Him away to the high priest; and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes.  But Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest.  And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.  Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.  For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree.  Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying, "We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.' "  But not even then did their testimony agree.  And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, "Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?"  But He kept silent and answered nothing.  Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?"  Jesus said, "I am.  And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."  Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "What further need do we have of witnesses?  You have heard the blasphemy!  What do you think?"  And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.  Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, "Prophesy!"  And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands.

Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came.  And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, "You also were with Jesus of Nazareth."  But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are saying."  And he went on the porch, and a rooster crowed.  And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, "This is one of them."  But he denied it again.  And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, "Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it."  Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know this Man of whom you speak!"   My study bible comments on the fact that a girl is the first to test Peter:  it is an icon of the temptation of Adam by Eve (Genesis 3:6).  Our fallen state, it notes, is overcome in Christ when it is women who are the first to hear, believe, and proclaim the Resurrection (Luke 24:1-10).  We notice how Peter's fear escalates to the point where he began to curse and swear that he did not know Jesus.  This happens particularly after the servant girl identifies him as a Galilean, by his accent and dialect.

A second time the rooster crowed.  Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times."  And when he thought about it, he wept.  Peter's fear was so strong that neither Christ's warning nor the first crowing of the rooster called him to repentance, but only after the second time the rooster crowed did he recall Christ's prophecy to him (see this reading).  In Luke's Gospel, it is Jesus' gaze, apparently from within the home of the high priest while Peter is outside in the courtyard, that calls him to awareness (Luke 22:60-62).  In his sudden consciousness of what had transpired, Peter wept.  St. Ambrose of Milan comments that nonetheless, "through tears, what cannot be defended can be purged, for tears wash away the offense which is shameful to confess out loud."

Once again, the Gospels give us a humiliating, cowardly moment in the life of one of the disciples.  And this isn't just any disciple; it is Peter, their ostensible leader and the one who speaks so often for all of the twelve.  And yet this story appears for each of us, and is present in all four Gospels.  What does it mean that the Church includes this in its life for all the faithful?  We don't get a sugar-coated story, meant only to please our ears nor simply to flatter the images of those who are the founders and pillars of the Church.  Peter got his very name from Christ, who pronounces him Cephas, (in Aramaic), or Peter, from the Greek petros, meaning stone - see John 1:42.  In Matthew's Gospel, it is Peter's confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ which prompts Jesus to pronounce that "on this rock I will build my Church" (see Matthew 16:15-19).  From the traditional Orthodox perspective, this pronunciation applies to the faith that Jesus is the Christ, and Peter speaks for all the disciples.  But nevertheless, it remains Peter who did so.  So this image of Peter the coward, the one who is afraid to tell the servant girl he was a follower of Christ, becomes something quite contradictory to the Peter that we know as leader and spokesman, and who would go on to become the powerful apostle and pillar of the Church.  Let us consider why this story is here, for all of us.  It is so important and crucial to our faith to understand that our faith is all about a wholistic journey of the self, toward an identity and meaning that strengthens us and helps us to grow as human beings.  It is within that realm of the faith of Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ in which we are able to participate in His life through grace -- a synergistic realm of God and human beings which works through faith and grace.  This Peter who denies Christ three times after swearing he was willing to die with Him is the same Peter whom tradition tells us requested to be martyred upside down, as he was unworthy to be crucified in the same manner in which Jesus was, an act of courage and humility that goes beyond normal understanding.  It is this same impulsive Peter who blurts out something rather insensible at the Transfiguration, and who earlier swore he would die with Jesus before denying Him, and yet who spoke first to confess that Jesus was the Christ.  Our faith gives us what it is to be all too human, with all our failings and disappointments -- even this scene in today's reading which must have been simply humiliating for Peter to recall -- and couches it within the story of what it is to struggle with faith and come to victory.  Peter's salvation from this moment comes when he rejoins the apostles and returns to Christ, still one of the twelve -- a sign of repentance and that his tears are cleansing and life-changing.  We may view this in contrast with the remorse or regret of Judas (as opposed to repentance, true change in humility), which does not lead to his return to the apostles nor to his salvation (see Matthew 27:3-5).  Our faith is not a process of simple reward and punishment, but works through the positive encouragement of repentance, a return to Christ for resurrection and renewal after our failures.   This is why humility remains the keystone and foundation of all virtue, because we must see ourselves in process of an approach to Christ, a sense of trial and error, always learning, getting back upon that road, facing ourselves and our failures and putting them properly into perspective through our participation in the Cross, in both carrying our own cross and living with Him in the Resurrection.  This is our journey!  Let us be grateful for its truth in all things, even our most shameful moments, which may be shared with Him for His direction and faith.  For our God is a God of love.