Matthew 26:69 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.”

NIV: Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. 'You also were with Jesus of Galilee,' she said.

NASB: Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a slave woman came to him and said, 'You too were with Jesus the Galilean.'

CSB: Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl approached him and said, "You were with Jesus the Galilean too."

NLT: Meanwhile, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl came over and said to him, 'You were one of those with Jesus the Galilean.'

KJV: Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.

NKJV: Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.”

As Jesus begins to suffer physical abuse (Matthew 26:67–68), the scene shifts to Peter just outside in the courtyard of the high priest's home (Matthew 26:57). He is in the most dangerous place he could possibly be at this moment. His master has just been condemned to death for blasphemy (Matthew 26:64–66). This is not where Jesus wanted Peter to be (John 18:8), though He has already predicted what will happen (Matthew 26:30–35).

A servant girl approaches Peter with an accusation. She has recognized him. She says that he was with Jesus the Galilean—a connection others will make due to Peter's distinctive regional accent (Matthew 26:73). Peter knows if he acknowledges his connection to Jesus in this moment, he may well be arrested. He could also be tried and suffer the same sentence as the "false Messiah."

Peter, once ready to die with Jesus fighting a group of soldiers at Gethsemane (Matthew 26:51; John 18:10), is now pressured to decide whether to admit his relationship with Jesus to a servant girl.

Matthew 26:69–75 finds Peter sitting outside in the courtyard of the high priest's home. Inside, Jesus is being unfairly convicted and condemned to die. Three times, Peter is accused of being a Jesus-follower. Three times, he denies even knowing Jesus, swearing oaths and cursing himself if he is lying. Hearing a rooster, Peter remembers Jesus had said he would deny Him in exactly this way. The man who bragged he would die before turning from Jesus now flees in tears of shame. Parallel accounts are found in Mark 14:66–72, Luke 22:54–62, John 18:15–18, and John 18:25–27.

The Jewish religious leaders further their plots to arrest and kill Jesus, finding a willing traitor in Judas Iscariot. A woman anoints Christ with oil during a dinner at Bethany. Next, Jesus and the disciples hold the Passover meal in an upper room where Jesus predicts His arrests and introduces the sacrament of communion. Then Jesus prays in unimaginable agony in the garden of Gethsemane before being betrayed by Judas and captured. The disciples scatter. Before the high priest, Jesus explicitly claims to be divine. They convict Him of blasphemy and sentence Him to death. As this happens, Peter denies knowing Jesus and runs away in shame.

After a long series of teaching (Matthew 24—25), Matthew 26 begins with Jesus saying He will be delivered up for death. Christ is anointed at a dinner in Bethany and Judas agrees to turn Him over to the chief priests. Jesus holds a Passover meal with the disciples, predicts an act of treachery, and introduces the sacrament of communion. He tells the disciples they will run in fear and that Peter will deny Him, which happens just as prophesied. Christ prays in great sorrow in a garden and is then arrested and taken away and unfairly sentenced to death. After this, Jesus will be taken to the Roman governor, where Jewish leadership will press for Him to be executed as an insurgent.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.

Accessed 5/6/2024 11:14:39 PM