Luke 22:55

‘And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the court, and had sat down together, Peter sat in the midst of them.'

Introduced into the courtyard of the house by the other disciple, who was known in those circles, Peter found himself surrounded by people who were no doubt discussing the arrest, and who were also no doubt mainly unsympathetic. Few, if any, would be Galileans.

Now up to this point in time, while there was still some action to take, Peter's courage had remained relatively firm. For his impulsive courage, the kind that wins medals of honour, was well up to such situations. But now as he looked around him in the semi-darkness, and realised that any one of those who were gathered there would be only too pleased to betray him to the guards if they knew who he was, a deep apprehension began to take hold of him. He was not so good at patient endurance.

And yet he felt that he had to remain quietly there and wait to see what would happen next, for he would not totally desert his Master. Thus he also had the courage for a decision like that. But the problem was that he was not a man who liked inaction, and the result was that the situation began to chafe him so that he became very uneasy, and then even frightened. And it was now, with nothing else taking up his thoughts, that the truth about the whole situation was beginning to come home to him. It was enough to try the strongest of men. Thus the longer he waited the more apprehensive he became. Every shadow began to appear like an arresting soldier, every voice a potential accuser, and he soon realised that if he was to escape with his liberty he would have to avoid being noticed. He was discovering what Jesus had meant when He had said, ‘You are those who have accompanied me in my temptations' (Luke 22:28, compare Luke 22:46). And at that stage he was not happy about it.

And behind it all we must remember the sinister figure of Satan, ‘sifting him as wheat' (Luke 22:31). So in the darkness he was also experiencing the power of darkness. And he did not have the resilience and strength of his Master. Nor was he fortified, as he should have been, by the prayer in which he should previously have engaged.