BULLSEYE!
ACCURATE
BIBLE KNOWLEDGE!
“BEFORE THE COCK CROWS
…. ONCE OR TWICE?”
QUESTION:
Matthew has Peter denying
the Lord three times before the cock crow once. It says“… before
the cock crow, thou shalt deny me
thrice.” (Matt 26:34). Luke and John both agree (Lk 22:34; Jn
13:38).
Mark’s gospel has Peter
denying the Lord three times before the cock crow twice - “… before
the cock crow twice, thou
shalt deny me thrice. (Mk 14:30).
IS THERE A CONTRADICTION?
EXPLANATION:
The
following diagram and explanation, clearly shows what happened:
Accusation#1 Accusation#2 Accusation#3
(a maid) (another
maid)
(a
man)
(Mk 14:66-67)
(Mk
14:69) (Lk
22:59-60)
1st
DENIAL 2nd
DENIAL
3rd DENIAL
1st
COCK CROW
2nd COCK CROW
An
abnormal time The
normal time
for ONE rooster to crow
for ALL
roosters to crow.
(Mk
14:68)
(Matt 26:34; Lk 22:34; Jn 13:38)
Called “the COCKCROWING” (Mk
13:35)
On that morning there were two episodes of roosters
crowing:
1. The 1st cock crow – only one
rooster crows (Mk
16:68)
2. The 2nd cock crow (Matt
26:34; Lk 22:34; Jn 13:38). This second time was called
“the COCKCROWING” (Mk 13:35). This was the NORMAL time for ALL
roosters to
crow.
Although we don’t know the time lapse between the 1st
and 2nd
denials, Luke says there was “the space of one hour” between the 2nd
and 3rd denials.
The 1st cock crow (Mk 14:68)
was a reminder
and warning to Peter, in that, Christ had said Peter would deny
him three
times before two cock crows. Peter still had the time to stop
before two
more denials. This was God’s grace
to Peter. There is NO
CONTRADICTION
BETWEEN ALL ACCOUNTS.
If before a judge
in the civil courts, four witnesses appear with exactly the
same story,
and all agreeing with each other down to the last detail,
then
the judge will throw the case out of court. Why? He knows that the
witnesses
are lying and have got together and manufactured their
evidence, to win
their case.
An example is a car
crash that is seen by four different witnesses.
All will tell the
truth as they see it, but inevitably, they will have different
accounts, but
when pieced together, make up the one true account. People that lie
guard
against the appearance of differences.
So it is with the four gospels, as we piece their evidence together, we find that although there may appear errors and/or discrepancies between their stories, they all combine to make one perfect truth. God deliberately gives the four gospel witnesses only certain details that they will bring to memory, but like a jig saw puzzle, the pieces all fit perfectly together.
Harley Hitchcock
www.
AustralianBibleMinistries
.com
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