Lives of the apostles of Jesus ChristBacon, David Francis
Religion
Lives of the apostles of Jesus Christ
Bacon, David Francis
Apostles
Peter, however, had he not so soon forgot his zealous attachment to
Jesus, as to leave him in such hands, without farther knowledge of his
fate; but as soon as he was satisfied that the pursuit of the disciples
was given up, he, in company with John, followed the band of officers
at safe distance, and ascertained whither they were carrying the
captive. After they had seen the train proceed to the palace of the
high priest, they proceeded directly to the same place. Here John,
being known to the high priest, and having friends in the family, went
boldly in, feeling secure by his friendship in that quarter, against
any danger in consequence of his connection with Jesus. Being known to
the servant girl who kept the door, as a friend of the family, he got
in without difficulty, and had also influence enough to get leave to
introduce Peter, as a friend of his who had some curiosity to see what
was going on. Peter, who had stood without the door waiting for the
result of John’s maneuver, was now brought into the palace, and walked
boldly into the hall where the examination of Jesus was going on,
hoping to escape entirely unnoticed by keeping in the dimly lighted
parts of the hall, by which he would be secure, at the same time that
he would the better see what was going on near the lights. Standing
thus out of the way in the back part of the room, he might have
witnessed the whole without incurring the notice of anybody. But the
servants and others, who had been out over the damp valley of the
Kedron after Jesus, feeling chilled with the walk, (for the long nights
of that season are in Jerusalem frequently in strong contrast with the
warmth of mid-day,) made up a good fire of coal in the back part of the
hall, where they stood looking on. Peter himself being, too, no doubt
thoroughly chilled with his long exposure to the cold night air, very
naturally and unreflectingly came forward to the fire, where he sat
down and warmed himself among the servants and soldiers. The bright
light of the coals shining directly on his anxious face, those who
stood by, noticing a stranger taking such interest in the proceedings,
began to scrutinize him more narrowly. At last, the servant girl
who had let him in at the door, with the inquisitive curiosity so
peculiarly strong in her sex, knowing that he had come in with John
as his particular acquaintance, and concluding that he was like him
associated with Jesus, boldly said to him, “Thou also art one of this
man’s disciples.” But Peter, like a true Galilean, as ready to lie
as to fight, thinking only of the danger of the recognition, at once
denied him, forgetting the lately offensive prediction, in his sudden
alarm. He said before them all, “Woman, I am not!――I know him not;
neither do I understand what thou sayest.” This bold and downright
denial silenced the forward impertinence of the girl, and for a time
may have quieted the suspicions of those around. Peter, however,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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