69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” 71 And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” 73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74 Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the cock crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
The story of Peter's denial is a sad, but human one, and has much to teach us. It has not been without its misconceptions, one of which lies in the contrast it presents to the case of Judas Iscariot. The view which thinks of Judas as a black villain and of Peter as essentially right at heart is not only superficial, it is erroneous. There was very little to choose between the two failures. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, Peter denied Him with a curse. Betrayal and denial amount to the same thing: both disowned Christ. And Peter was restored but Judas not, not because Peter's sin was less heinous than the other's, but because Peter showed true repentance, while Judas showed only remorse. And the lesson we are taught is that Peter was restored that none need despair of mercy, having failed like this; and Judas went out into the darkness of night that none might presume on mercy.