John 18:15 Commentary and Bible Study

But suddenly John interrupts his narrative and switches to Simon Peter and to this first denial – ‘Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest.’ We assume that the other disciple mentioned here is John; we assume that because this is very like the way John describes himself elsewhere. But more generally we believe it was John not least because he, as the inspired author of this Gospel, he alone names Malchus and various other people; he must be the one who was acquainted in some way with the high priest. There are any amount of guesses why or how John was known. Perhaps among this group of fishermen who became disciples John was the one who did the marketing. Perhaps he had frequently and personally sold fish to the household of the high priest. Maybe he was related in some way, although there was a great distance between them socially. But anyway he went in; he wanted to follow the hearing, and he had no trouble getting into the palace of the high priest because he was known there, and the maiden on the door – people say, a maiden on the door? A maid on the door of the palace of the high priest? Well possibly – it’s night. Nobody was expecting violence towards the high priest; it’s probably not the main entrance, it’s probably the lesser archway for the servants that might be the one you could get in at night if you were the right sort of person. He had no problem; this disciple, whether John or another outer circle disciple, but Peter followed Jesus at a distance, we are told elsewhere.