Again the courage of John is accentuated, this time by a little word that is left out of the NIV translation but is in the original — the word “also.” The doorkeeper asked if Peter was “also” one of “this man’s” disciples, which indicates that she knew that John was a disciple of Jesus. John’s love for Jesus was so great that he went into the lion’s den in full knowledge that they knew he was a follower of the One they were trying to kill.

Peter faces a slave girl. He had probably been nerving himself for a stiff challenge and instead was approached by a little slave girl with a simple question, which was framed expecting a negative answer. When she says “this man” she undoubtedly made a contemptuous gesture toward Jesus. All in all she made it very easy for Peter to say “no” and he took that easy line of escape. He couldn’t have seen where this was going to lead him. Temple observes that to accept the suggestion of this first question “is scarcely more than a refusal to look for trouble. The suggestion is that he is not likely to be a disciple, and no one will suppose he is unless he says so; he had little more to do than to let well alone. But that little more is fatal.” Once committed, Peter found it hard to go back on his denial, much like sin in all of its forms. We are usually tempted by “little” sins and not by the big ones, but little ones grow and it becomes increasingly easier to say “yes” to temptation after we say “yes” the first time. What we learn here from Peter is to beware of all temptations and to always do the right thing and not seek the easy way out.