Matthew 26:72

‘And again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the man.” '

This time Peter was more disturbed. It was bad enough being spotted by servant girls, but it was dangerous to be drawn to the attention of the men. So this time He denied that he knew Jesus with an oath. Here was a more vociferous denial than the previous one. And yet the truth is that if he was not willing to defend Jesus, and to confess Him, he should not have been there. The use of an oath reveals that because of his failure he is going deeper into disobedience. We are intended to see that if he had he been speaking the truth and had been confessing Jesus he would not have needed an oath. An oath indicated something which ‘came from evil' (Matthew 5:37).