Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 22:56

"And a certain maid seeing him as he sat in the light [of the fire], and looking stedfastly upon him, said, This man also was with him." — Luke 22:56 (ASV)

Jesus’ first trial took place in the high priest’s house (v.54)—possibly the house of Annas, father-in-law of the high priest Caiaphas (cf. Jn 18:13)—though this meeting seems also to have been a trial before the entire Sanhedrin (cf. comments on Mt 26:59; Mark 14:55).

Though he followed Jesus at a distance, Peter is the only disciple who, so far as we know, followed him at all. The fire in the courtyard was needed because the evenings are cool in springtime in Jerusalem. The denial had three phases. The first speaker was a servant girl. Who she was and what she said were relatively harmless and did not deserve a drastic response. Peter’s response is called a denial. The word “deny” (GK 766) is used in the NT as the polar opposite of the word “confess.” We are to confess (i.e., acknowledge) Christ but deny ourselves (i.e., disown our private interests for the sake of Christ; cf. comment on 9:23). Peter here does the reverse. He denies Christ in order to serve his own interests.