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Our Blessed  Lord's  Omniscience.  When,  the  evening  before,  our Lord said  to  His  disciples: “All  of  you  shall  be  scandalized  in  Me  this night”, Peter  would  not  admit  the  possibility  of  such  a thing  in  his  case: “Although all  shall  be  scandalized”,  he  protested,  “I  will  never  be scandalized!”  In  spite  of  his  protest,  our  Lord  then  distinctly  told  him: “To-day, even  in  this  night,  before  the  cock  crow  twice,  thou  shalt deny Me  thrice”; and  so  it  came  to  pass. He knew’  beforehand  precisely how many  times,  and  exactly  at  what  hours  Peter  would  deny  Him; and, though  He  could  not  possibly  have  seen  with  His  eyes  at  the  time, what was  happening  in  the  outer  court  of  the  High  Priest’s  house,  He knew  exactly  what  was  occurring. Our Blessed  Lord  proved  Himself to be  Omniscient,  i.  e.  God.

Peter’s sin  was  a very  grievous  one. Out  of  fear  of  man,  Peter  lied three times,  and  denied  his  faith;  and  the  third  time  he  even  swore falsely. The sin  of  Peter  grew,  and  became  more  grievous  each  time he committed  it. At his  first  denial,  he  simply  said  of  our  Lord:  “I know Him  not.”  The  second  time,  he  asserted:  “I  know  not  the Man”, thus  repudiating  as  a disgrace  any  connexion  with  Jesus;  and the third  time  he  confirmed  this  assertion  by  an  oath. He contemptuously called  his  Lord  and  Master  “the  Man”,  acting  as  if  he  did not even  know  His  Name! And this  was  the  same  Peter  who,  but  a few  hours  before,  had  declared  that  he  was  ready  to  lay  down  his  life for his  Lord!

The following  circumstances  may  serve  as  ''a partial  excuse  for  Peter. '' He was  thoroughly  exhausted,  excited,  confused,  and  half  out  of  his  mind with sorrow  at  the  events  of  that  terrible  night. Moreover, from  the moment he  joined  the  company  of  his  Master's  fierce  enemies,  he  was in a very  real  danger  of  death. Finally, he  did  not  sin  from  malice, but from  weakness  and  panic;  and  he  did  not  lose  his  faith,  although he outwardly  denied  it.

The causes  of  Peter's  fall  were  these:  1. He did  not  avoid  the proximate occasions  of  sin; for  at  the  time  of  his  fall  he  was  associating with the  enemies  of  Christ. If he  had  left  their  company  even  after his first  denial,  he  would  not  have  fallen  so  low. “He that  loveth danger shall  perish  in  it”  (Ecclus.  3,  27). 2. He  had  paid  too  little attention to  our  Lord’s  warning  words:  “Satan  hath  desired  to  sift  you as wheat. . . This night  thou  shalt  deny  Me  thrice”;  and  he  trusted too much  in  himself: “Though  all  shall  be  scandalized,  yet  not  I.  I will lay down  my  life  for  Thee!”  When  he  said  those  words  he  meant them, for  Peter  had  a very  firm  faith  in  our  Lord,  and  an  ardent  love for Him; but  he  ought  not  to  have  forgotten  that  he  was  a weak  man, and that  without  God’s  grace  he  could  not  remain  faithful. Our Lord had said  to  him  but  a very  short  time  before,  as  they  were  walking up the  Mount  of  Olives:  “Without  Me  you  can  do  nothing!”  3. He