Insight
Jesus warned Peter that Satan had asked permission to test him and that Peter would falter in his faith (Luke 22:31–34). He cautioned Peter again before His arrest: “Watch and pray. . . . The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). When Jesus was arrested, all the disciples fled. But Peter and John had a change of heart and followed Jesus to the high priest’s house and were allowed to enter because John was “known to the high priest” (vv. 56–58; John 18:15–16). In the courtyard, Peter mingled with the high priest’s servants. There he crumbled under pressure and denied Christ three times (Luke 22:54–61). Years later, writing from his own failure, Peter warns us: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
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