Jn. 18:17. The maidservant who kept the door then said to Peter: "Are you not also one of this Man's disciples?"
The woman asks Peter without audacity, without rudeness, but very meekly. For she did not say "are you not also one of the disciples of this deceiver," but rather "of this Man," and these were more the words of one who felt pity and compassion for the person. She said "are you not also one of the disciples" because John was inside the courtyard. This woman spoke so meekly, yet he noticed none of this, and disregarded the prediction of Christ.
Jn. 18:17. He said: no.
So weak in itself is human nature when it is forsaken by God. Some, vainly wishing to please Peter, say that Peter denied not because he was afraid, but because he constantly desired to be with Christ and to follow Him; and he knew that if he declared himself a disciple of Jesus, he would be separated from Him, and would not have the opportunity to follow Him and see the beloved. Therefore he denied, saying that he was not a disciple.
Jn. 18:18. Standing by were the servants and officers, who had made a fire of coals, because it was cold, and they were warming themselves. And Peter was standing with them and warming himself.
With this same thought he also warmed himself. For outwardly he did the same thing as the servants, as one of them, so that they would not detect him by a change in his countenance, drive him out from their midst as a disciple of Christ, and deprive him of the opportunity to see Him.
Jn. 18:19. The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and about His teaching.
The high priest asks Jesus about the disciples, perhaps in this manner: "Where are they, who are they, for what purpose did He gather them, and what is His intention?" He wanted to convict Him as some kind of innovator or instigator.
He also asks about the teaching: what it consists of, whether it differs from the Law, whether it is contrary to Moses, so that he might find in the teaching as well a pretext to kill Him, as one who opposes God.
Jn. 18:20. Jesus answered him: I spoke openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where the Jews always gather, and I said nothing in secret.
What then does the Lord do? He responds to his suspicions. "I," He says, "have said nothing in secret." You suspect Me of being some kind of rebel, secretly forming some conspiracies; but I tell you that in secret I have said nothing, that is, nothing seditious, and as you suppose, I introduce nothing new, and with cunning and secret intent I have said nothing of My own.
If we understand these words of the Lord not in accordance with the suspicion of the high priest, then He will appear to be speaking a lie. For He said many things in secret, namely those things that exceeded the understanding of the common people.
Christ, having said "I spoke nothing in secret," recalls the prophecy that says: "I have not spoken in secret, nor in a dark place of the earth" (Isa. 45:19).
Jn. 18:21. Why do you ask Me? Ask those who heard what I spoke to them; behold, they know what I said.
"Why do you ask Me? Ask those who heard." These are the words not of an arrogant man, but of one confident in the truth of his words. "Ask," He says, "these enemies, these haters, these officers who bound Me." For this is the most indisputable proof of truth, when someone brings his own enemies as witnesses to his words. And these very officers had previously testified thus: "Never has a man spoken like this Man" (Jn. 7:46).
Jn. 18:22. When He said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus on the cheek, saying: is that how You answer the high priest?
And after such an answer they do not marvel at Him, but strike Him on the cheek! What could be more insolent than this? But He Who can shake and destroy all things does nothing of the sort, but speaks words that can tame every brutality.
Jn. 18:23. Jesus answered him: If I have spoken evil, show what is evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?
"If," He says, "you can find fault with what I said, then prove that I spoke wrongly; but if you cannot, then why do you strike Me?" Or also thus: "If I spoke wrongly," that is, if I taught wrongly when I taught in the synagogues, then come forward now and testify about this wrong teaching of Mine and provide full information to the high priest, who is now asking Me about My teaching. But if I taught well, and you, officers, marveled at Me, then why do you now strike Me, at whom you previously marveled?
This servant struck the Lord in order to free himself from a great charge. Since Jesus called those present as witnesses, saying: "Behold, they know what I said," this servant, wishing to divert from himself the suspicion that he was among those who marveled at Jesus, struck Him.
Jn. 18:24. Annas sent Him bound to the high priest Caiaphas.
Since they found no fault in Him, they lead Him away to Caiaphas, perhaps hoping that he, being more cunning, would find something against Jesus worthy of death, either by catching Him in some answer, or by convicting Him of some deed.
Jn. 18:25. Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. Then they said to him: Are you not also one of His disciples? He denied it and said: No.
Jn. 18:26. One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, says: Did I not see you with Him in the garden?
Jn. 18:27. Peter denied again; and immediately the rooster crowed.