When Peter voiced unselfish commitment to Christ Jesus at the Last Supper, he expressed a spirit of deep loyalty: "I am ready to go with thee . . . to death." Luke 22:33; Similar in tone, marriage vows that pledge enduring love hint at a higher basis for the relationship than the merely personal.
Jesus had taken Peter for the purpose of teaching him how to help others, and the disciple had not balked when rebuked by Jesus. Peter was a learner. He had been privileged to see what appears to have been the whole of Jesus' career as a healer and had been included in Jesus' public and private teachings. Probably only James and John had been so close to Jesus. It was not, therefore, unnatural for him to respond with such loyalty to his friend and Master.
Yet when Jesus heard Peter's vow, he said Peter would deny him before the cock crowed. Sure enough, Peter was soon saying, "I know him [Jesus] not . . . I am not [a disciple] . . . I know not what thou sayest." "And," the account continues, "immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew." vv. 57, 58, 60;
