When Thou Art Converted

All four gospels describe the story of Peter denying his association with the Savior on the night of His arrest. They first tell the prediction of the Savior to Peter that he would deny Jesus three times. Mark’s account reads, “And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice” (Mark 14:30). The other three accounts refer to the cock crowing only once, but they all agree that Peter would deny three times. In all four accounts the first denial was to a woman. Matthew’s reads this way: “Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest” (Matthew 26:69-70). All but Matthew’s account describe how he was getting warm by the fire when this conversation ensued. Luke’s account says, “And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him. And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not” (Luke 22:55-57). While his body warmed his courage seemed to have gone temporarily cold.  

There is less agreement among the four gospels about the second denial. Matthew and Mark’s accounts both suggest that it was also to a woman. Mark’s says, “And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them. And he denied it again” (Mark 14:69-70). Matthew’s similarly reads, “And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man” (Matthew 26:71-72). Luke’s account says that the second denial was to a man: “And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not” (Luke 22:58). John’s record, on the other hand, describes multiple people there: “And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not” (John 18:25). Given these variations in the accounts, it may be that there were both a man and a woman there (and likely others), and Peter denied to both at essentially the same time. The three synoptic gospels all agree that there was a period of time between this second denial and the final one.

The third denial is described in similar words in the synoptic gospels, whereas the account of John is different. Matthew recorded, “And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man” (Matthew 26:73-74). Mark’s account similarly says that one accused him of being a Galilean because of his speech. Luke’s description suggests that multiple people were there and gives a specific amount of time between the second and third denials: “And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilæan. And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest” (Luke 22:59-60). John’s description of this third denial doesn’t include a reference to Peter’s speech but does provide a very interesting detail about who he was speaking to: “One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? Peter then denied again” (John 18:26-27). So a relative of Malchus, who was also among the group that arrested Jesus, recognized Peter and accused him. It is not clear whether he understood that Peter had been the one that cut off the ear of his kinsman. The accounts don’t necessarily disagree, and perhaps there were multiple people, one of which highlighted Peter’s Galilean accent and another which was this man who had seen Peter at the arrest. All accounts describe how the cock crew after this (Mark’s says that it was the second time), and the three synoptic gospels give us the reaction of Peter. Matthew’s reads this way: “And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75). Mark’s similarly says that “he wept” and Luke likewise wrote that he “wept bitterly” (Mark 14:72, Luke 22:62). Clearly that was a low point for Peter on that fateful night.

Despite some differences, all four gospels agree on the basics of this story and found it important enough to include in their accounts of this most important night in history. They all implicitly invite us to consider our devotion to the Savior amidst persecution and pressure from the world. Luke’s account is framed in the context of these words of the Savior to Peter: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:31-32). Peter may not have been fully converted at that point, but eventually he was and became a rock of faith in the subsequent stories described by Luke in the book of Acts. And so if we have occasionally faltered in our devotion to the Savior, we can look to the future and work towards true conversion, knowing that the Savior is praying for us too that our faith fail not.