Mark 14:66-67 As Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Nazarene.”

Where is Peter as Jesus is being questioned by the Council?

“As Peter was below in the courtyard . . .” (Mark 14:66).

·      What had Peter done after Jesus was arrested on the Mount of Olives and led away to the high priest where all the chief priests, elders, and scribes gathered?

“Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers and warming himself at the fire” (Mark 14:54).

·      Before His arrest, what had Jesus foretold of Peter?

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times’” (Mark 14:30).

·      How had Peter responded to Jesus’ prediction?

“But Peter kept saying insistently, ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’ And they all were saying the same thing” (Mark 14:31).

Who comes and sees Peter warming himself with the officers in the courtyard of the high priest?

“one of the servant-girls of the high priest” (Mark 14:66).

• παιδίσκῶν (paidiskōn) (“servant-girl) Partitive Genitive

        “in our literature always of the slave class, female slave” (BDAG, 750).

What does the servant-girl of the high priest say as she looks at Peter?

“You also were with Jesus the Nazarene” (Mark 14:67).

·      Ναζαρηνοῦ (Nazarēnou) (“Nazarene”) Substantival Adjective, 

    “ή, όν coming from Nazareth, only substantively. ὁ N. the Nazarene, inhabitant of Nazareth applied only to Jesus” (BDAG, 664).

·      What had the unclean spirit cried out when he saw Jesus at the onset of Jesus’ ministry before Jesus cast him out?

“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—The Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24).

·      What had blind Bartimaeus cried out when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth passing through Jericho?

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47).

·      What did the young man sitting on the right side of the tomb say to the women who went to the tomb?

“And he said to them, “ Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified.  He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.  “But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘ He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’” (Mark 16:6-7).

·      In the messianic prophecy of Isaiah 11:1, what will come forth from the roots of Jesse and bear fruit?

נצר (nētser) (“a shoot”) 

(Connection of נצר [nētser] to Nazarene, Class Notes "Isaiah",  Dr. Ron Allen, Dallas Theological Seminary, 2014)

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1).

·      How does Jesus identify Himself in Revelation 22:16?

“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star” (Rev 22:16).

What does the servant-girl of the high priest call Jesus?

“Jesus the Nazarene” (Mark 14:67).

Father, Jesus is the true vine, and You are the vinedresser. Every branch in Jesus that does not bear fruit, You take away; and every branch that bears fruit, You prune it so that it may bear more fruit. We are already clean because of the word which Jesus has spoken. May we abide in Him, and He in us. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can we unless we abide in Jesus. He is the vine, we are the branches; he who abides in Jesus and Jesus in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Jesus we can do nothing. May we abide in Him and His words abide in us. May You be glorified by this, that we bear much fruit, and so prove to be Jesus’ disciples. May we abide in Jesus’ love, keeping His commandments. May His joy be in us, and may our joy be made full. (drawn from John 15:1-11)

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.