Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, April 2, 2014 Read John 18:15-18 We need to recall that Mark, Matthew, and Luke had all spoken of Peter following at a distance as Jesus is brought to the house of the high priest. All of them speak of Peter entering, by himself, into the courtyard and warming himself by the fire. That is where Mark and Matthew leave it at this time – Luke goes on to tell of the denial by Peter. John’s story is significantly different at this point. John tells us that Peter was not alone in following Jesus to the home of the high priest but “another disciple” who is unidentified also follows. Another disciple, the disciple who Jesus loved, will follow Peter to the empty tomb when Mary Magdalene comes with her “good news” of seeing Jesus. Here, this unidentified disciple facilitates Peter’s entry into the courtyard since he was “known to the high priest.” This is a rather striking piece of information. We could only wish that John would have given the identity of this other disciple. But John chooses to leave us with a mystery. This is not the first time John has done that. He has flirted with an unnamed disciple for some time. We first hear of an unnamed disciple in the first five followers of Jesus back at the time when John the Baptist first identifies Jesus as the “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” And, we have the “disciple who Jesus loved” present at the supper. Are we to think of the unnamed person in all of these accounts as the same person? Is this the “disciple who Jesus loved?” John does not say. If we decide that the unnamed disciple in each of the instances in John’s gospel and the disciple who Jesus loved are the same person, then it is highly likely that we can eliminate both Lazarus and John, the son of Zebedee, as a candidate for this person. It is hard to imagine either Lazarus or John, the son of Zebedee, as being “known to the high priest.” Yet, it is more likely than not that John has the same person in mind. The mystery of the unnamed disciple, the disciple who Jesus loved, the eye-witness behind the gospel of John continues to grow! Once inside the courtyard, the unnamed disciple disappears and Peter is left alone. He will not be mentioned again in this part of the story. We are left wondering where he is. Did he go inside the high priest’s house? Did he leave? John does not say. At this point John skillfully tells of the first instance of Peter’s denial. He will pick up the remainder of the story of denial shortly.