Then Peter began to curse and to swear: “I do not know that man.” And immediately the rooster crowed.
In this verse Peter denies in an extreme way. If the previous time he simply denied, now he confirms his words with a curse and an oath. This shows that fear had reached its peak. At that moment Peter is acting not out of malice, but under the influence of fear and the impulse of self-preservation. Yet right here, at the moment of his deepest fall, the rooster’s crow is heard as a divine reminder. At that very moment Jesus’ prophecy is fulfilled, and that sound becomes not condemnation, but an awakening: a reminder that grace is still at work within him. The rooster’s crow is also a sign of dawn, a voice of hope sounding in the darkness.