18:17 The account of Peter’s denial is interrupted in John’s Gospel by part of the trial proceedings (vv. 19–24). It would appear that there were three occasions of denial rather than three single sentences by Peter. This is what one would expect with a number of people coming and going and warming themselves by a fire. There may be different legitimate ways of distinguishing the occasions to yield the figure three predicted by Jesus (13:38). All four Gospels agree that the first denial was in response to a question of a “servant girl,” in other words, a harmless person of no great importance in the household.

I am not. Peter’s denial points out that when Jesus endures God’s punishment against sin, He does so without comfort or consolation. Peter’s denial is foretold in Zech. 13:6, 7. Jesus’ solitude in His suffering is anticipated in Ps. 69:20.