broke; scalding tears flooded
Peter's eyes. They came from his very heart. He walked a little way down
the dark street and stopped, leaning against a stone wall. Desperately
he pressed his face into his hands. How could he stand this bitter
remorse? If only he had been faithful to his Master!

Peter was certain that the end had come; he dreaded seeing his Master
condemned to death by the Roman governor, Pilate. All night he walked
the deserted streets of Jerusalem. But when morning came he could not
stay away from the fortress of Antonia, where he knew that Jesus would
soon be brought before Pilate.

In the cold dawn it was a forbidding sight. Herod the Great, who had
ruled before Pilate's time, had covered the massive rock on which the
fortress stood with stones too steep and smooth for attackers to climb.
The walls rose sixty feet above this and towers were built at each
corner. The guards on the highest towers were one hundred and eighty
feet above the pavement inside the fortress. From it they could see
everything in the Temple below as well as the countryside north, east,
and west of Jerusalem.

A short stairway led from the Temple porch into the fort. A crowd of men
were gathered in the Temple' courtyard, among them not one who had ever
heard Jesus teach. Peter had lost all fear of being seen. As he waited,
his mind was entirely taken up with thoughts of what might be happening
to his Master behind the closed doors of Pilate's judgment hall.

Peter was surprised to see Pilate come out of the fort down the steps
into the Temple. Where was Jesus? Why did Pilate come here? Then Peter
remembered: the priests would not enter the Roman building, for fear of
making themselves impure for the Passover.

After a delay Pilate came slowly out of the high priest's council
chamber. He stopped and looked at the men crowded before him. A few
cried out, "Where is the Galilean?"

Pilate waved his hand for silence. "I have examined this Jesus. He has
not committed any crime."

A priest in the crowd cried out loudly: "He is stirring up the people!
He has made trouble both in Galilee and in Judea."

"I have examined him, and so has Herod," declared Pilate. "We agree that
he does not deserve to die. I am going to order my soldiers to whip him
and let him go." The crowd was still. Then a priest cried out: "No! Away
with him! He is destroying our holy religion!" The rabble in the court
burst out with angry shouts: "To the cross