By the fire

Peter warms himself at the fire in the High Priest’s courtyard (Mark 14:54; John 18:18).

In only one passage of the Old Testament does anyone warm himself by a fire – in Isaiah 44:15-16. In Isaiah the fire is fueled by the wood left over from carving an idol.

Peter joins an idolatrous band warming by the fire. The fire is stoked up by the leftovers of the High Priest’s image-making.