Mark 14:66-72

⁶⁶ Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came.

⁶⁷ And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are saying.” And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed.

⁶⁹ And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, “This is one of them.”

⁷⁰ 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.”

⁷¹ Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!”

⁷² 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.

Also found in Matthew 26:69-75, Luke 22:55-62, and John 18:25-27.

courtyard (v.66) — the outer porch of the high priest’s house

looked (v.66) = gazed intently

curse and swear (v.71) = to declare anathema or cursed. The Jews had a practice of laying themselves under a curse (Acts 23:12) … Peter declares himself subject to the divine curse if he is not telling the truth when he disclaims all acquaintance with Jesus. … The English words “curse” and “swear” today usually are understood to mean that the person is using profanity. But the Greek text here shows that Peter was not guilty of that. — Wuest, page 275.

wept (v.72) — began to weep, and probably kept at it for a long time. Matthew 26:75 has, literally “burst into tears.”

From my notes on the passage in John — Most commentaries focus on what Peter did wrong. But perhaps the point is that we will fail but Christ won’t. The contrast in this passage is between Peter’s response to questions and Christ’s response to questions.It is not so much a focus on Peter but on the One who never fails.