<p>22:57 <i>But he denied it, saying- </i>Matthew stresses the denial was before them all. Peter was living out the scene of condemnation at the last day, where the verdict likewise will be manifest &quot;before all&quot;. The Lord had used the same word in saying that whoever denied Him &quot;before men&quot; cp. &quot;before all&quot;, He will deny before the Father at the last day (Mt. 10:33). Peter appealed for Israel to repent on the basis that they had &quot;denied&quot; Christ (Acts 3:13,14 s.w.)- he is appealing for them to realize that they had done what he had done, and yet they could repent, convert and experience the same grace he had done. His appeal, made a stone's throw from where the denials were made and only 6 weeks later, was therefore so powerful. Peter likewise used his failure in his pastoral work with his converts, warning them that to even deny the Lord who redeemed us is the worst possible thing we can do (2 Pet. 2:1). Likewise 1 Jn. 2:22,23 speaks of denying Christ as being the characteristic of the AntiChrist. And John wrote in the context of the early church having Peter as its first leader, and John of course was fully aware of Peter's failure that night.</p><p>Peter in this life denied his Lord&nbsp;<i>in front of men</i>&nbsp;(Mt. 26:70)- and the record of his failure intentionally looks back to the Lord's warning that whoever denies Him&nbsp;<i>before men&nbsp;</i>will be denied by Him at judgment day (Mt. 10:33). He sinned, and in the court of Heaven was condemned. There is a passage in Proverbs 24:11,12 which has a strange relevance to Peter's self-condemnation. Having spoken of those being led away to death (the very context of Peter's denial), we read: &quot;If thou sayest, Behold we know not this man: doth not he that weigheth the hearts consider it? And shall not he render to every man according to his works?&quot;. This last phrase is quoted in Rev. 22:12 about the final judgment. Paul seems to consciously link Peter&rsquo;s church hypocrisy and legalism with his earlier denials that he had ever known the Lord Jesus. He writes of how he had to reveal Peter&rsquo;s denial of the Lord&rsquo;s grace &ldquo;before them all&rdquo; (Gal. 2:14), using the very same Greek phrase of Mt. 26:70, where &ldquo;before them all&rdquo; Peter made the same essential denial. &nbsp;</p><p><i>Woman, I do not know him</i>- Again, Peter was acting as the condemned, to whom the Lord will say &quot;I know you not&quot; (Mt. 25:12; Lk. 13:25). The whole idea of &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t know Him&rsquo; must, sadly, be connected with the Lord&rsquo;s words in Mt. 7:23 and 25:41, where He tells the rejected: &ldquo;I never knew you&rdquo;. By denying knowledge of the Saviour, Peter was effectively agreeing that the verdict of condemnation could appropriately be passed upon him.&nbsp; In one of his many allusions to the Gospels, Paul wrote that &ldquo;If we deny him, he also will deny us&rdquo; (2 Tim. 2:12). Peter in this life denied his Lord&nbsp;<i>in front of men</i>&nbsp;(Mt. 26:70)- and the record of his failure intentionally looks back to the Lord&rsquo;s warning that whoever denies Him&nbsp;<i>before men&nbsp;</i>will be denied by Him at judgment day (Mt. 10:33). He sinned, and in the court of Heaven was condemned; and yet he could change the verdict by repentance.</p>