26:58
(Verse 58.) But Peter followed Him from afar off, even unto the palace of the high priest. He followed Him from afar off, who was to deny the Lord.
26:59-60
(V. 59, 60.) And entering inside, he sat with the ministers, to see the end. But the chief priests and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, so that they could deliver him to death. And they did not find any, although many false witnesses came forward. Whether out of love for his disciples or out of human curiosity, the high priest wanted to know what he would decide about the Lord: whether he would condemn him to death or release him after beating him. And there was a difference of opinion among the ten apostles and Peter. Those (people) flee, but this one, although far away, still follows the Savior.
26:61
(Verse 61.) But finally came two false witnesses, and said: He said: I can destroy the temple of God, and after three days rebuild it. How are they false witnesses if they say the things that we read the Lord said? But a false witness is one who does not understand the words in the same sense in which they are spoken. For the Lord had spoken about the temple of his body. But even in the words themselves, they slander, and by adding or changing a few things, they make it seem like a just accusation. The Savior had said: Destroy this temple; those men change it and say: I can destroy the temple of God. You, he said, destroy it, not me, because it is unlawful for us to lay hands on ourselves. Then they turn it: and after three days rebuild it; so that it may seem he had spoken properly about the Jewish temple. But the Lord, in order to show that an animal and breathing temple, had said: And in three days I will raise it up. To build is one thing, to raise is another.
26:62
(Verse 62) And the high priest stood up and said to Him, 'Do You answer nothing? What is it that these men testify against You?' But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest became furious and impatient, unable to find a place for false accusations, he threw the high priest off his seat, in order to demonstrate his madness of mind through the movement of his body. The more Jesus remained silent in response to unworthy individuals, false witnesses, and wicked priests, the more the high priest, overcome with rage, provoked Him to respond, so that he could find an opportunity in any occasion of conversation to accuse Him. Nevertheless, Jesus remained silent. For he knew, as if God, whatever response he gave would be twisted into a false accusation.
26:63
(Verse 63.) And the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God that you tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Why do you swear, most wicked of priests, to accuse rather than to believe? If to accuse, others argue: condemn the silent one. If to believe, why did you not want to believe the one confessing?
26:64
(Verse 64.) Jesus said to him: You have said it. Nevertheless, I tell you: from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the power of God, and coming on the clouds of heaven. And against Pilate, and against Caiaphas, a similar response, so that they are condemned by their own sentence.
26:65-66
(Vers. 65, 66.) Then the high priest tore his garments, saying: He has blasphemed. What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think? And they answered, saying: He is deserving of death. The same fury that had driven him from the priestly throne now provokes him to tear his garments. He tore his garments to show that the Jews had lost the glory of priesthood and that the high priests had an empty seat. But it is also a Jewish custom, when they hear something blasphemous and seemingly against God, to tear their garments. We read that Paul and Barnabas did the same when they were esteemed as gods in Lycaonia. However, Herod, because he did not give honor to God but acquiesced to the excessive favor of the people, was immediately struck by an angel.
26:67
(Verse 67.) Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists. As it was foretold: I have given my cheeks to those who struck me; I have not turned my face from disgrace and spitting. (Lamentations 3:30)
26:68
(Verse 68.) But others slapped his face and said: Prophesy to us, Christ, who is it that struck you? It would have been foolish to respond to those who were beating him and to prophesy about the one who was striking him, since it would seem like madness to openly predict someone who was already striking. But just as he did not prophesy this to you, so he prophesied very clearly that Jerusalem would be surrounded by an army and not a single stone would be left upon another in the temple.
26:69
(Verse 69.) But Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. He was sitting outside to see the outcome. And he did not come near Jesus, so that no suspicion would arise among the servants.
26:72
(Verse 72.) And again he denied it with an oath, 'I do not know the man.' And after a little while those standing there came up and said to Peter, 'Surely you also are one of them, for your accent betrays you.' Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, 'I do not know the man.' And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, 'Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.' And he went out and wept bitterly. Some pious people have interpreted this passage in such a way that they say Peter did not deny God but only a man, and the meaning is: 'I do not know the man, for I know God.' A discerning reader understands how frivolous this interpretation is; they defend Peter in such a way as to make God guilty of lying. For if he did not deny, then the Lord lied, who said, 'Truly I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.' See what he says, you will deny me, not a man.
26:73
(Verse 73.) Truly, you are also one of them: for even your speech gives you away. Not that Peter spoke a different language or came from a foreign nation. For all of them were Hebrews, both those who accused and those who were accused. But each province and region has its own peculiarities, and cannot avoid the sound of their native language. Hence, even the Ephraimites in the Book of Judges (chapter 12) could not pronounce the word σύνθημα.
26:74-75