Was Peter bound to Jesus' prophecy to deny him or could he have avoided it?

Peter was hardheaded, but even hardheaded people get it sometimes.

The primary objective of Jesus was to lay down his life with power—to orchestrate the events that would lead to his crucifixion. He believed that that was the will of his Father.

Of course, Jesus believed also that he had the power to take up his life again.

A secondary objective of Jesus was to not lose any of them whom his Father gave to him. Simon Peter was one of them.

Jesus began to prepare them for his death before they got to Jerusalem at the last week. They did not understand him, but he got them thinking about those things which he said were of God.

Jesus knew that they were men who would die with him, but he did not want them to die with him. Therefore, he taught them that they had to deny themselves in order to follow him.

Just before his arrest, in his peculiar way, Jesus told them that it was written that they would scatter. Then, at his arrest, he cued them to scatter by saying that the scripture must be fulfilled.

Jesus knew that Peter was hardheaded. That is why he named him Peter. So when Peter declared his intention to die with Jesus, Jesus provided him with a safety net. The safety net was to have Peter deny that he knew him.

Sure enough, Peter balked at scattering. But on the plus side, his failure to follow the cue of Jesus gave him more time to think about what was happening and what he should do.

Peter saw that the others had scattered successfully. He, however, was left with Judas, and Judas had participated in the arrest. He sensed that the others were all acting as Jesus wanted, and that he himself was not. He now realized that he acted in accordance with only his own will when he attacked the servant of the high priest with his sword; and once again, that earned him the rebuke of Jesus.

Then came the damsel who kept the door, “Are you not also one of this man’s disciples?”

Satan desired to have Peter, but Jesus had prayed for him.

“I am not,” said Peter.

It was the most difficult thing Peter ever did. It was the ultimate denial of himself, and it was the cross which he had to take up in order to follow Jesus. And because his cross was to deny Jesus, the legend arose that he was crucified upside down.

Although Peter was hardheaded, he could not have avoided denying Jesus. He was in the hands of the Master.

Nevertheless, I say these thing only in my own name.