“The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.” (Luke 22:61-62)
Peter had made the strongest of vows in this darkest of moments: “I am ready to go with you to prison and to death” (Luke 22:33). Yet, here we find him in a few verses later, lurking behind the company of soldiers, just far enough to avoid detection of the guards (v. 54). He, the closest friend and follower Jesus had in life, now sits “down with [the crowd]” (v. 55) rather than standing to testify on behalf of his Lord!
Now that the light of the world has been arrested, Peter immediately seeks to slink away into the darkness and meld back into the company of the worldly. Yet, he is recognized – three times! With each denial, he becomes more insistent: I don’t know him. I am not one of them. I don’t know what you’re talking about!
It is only at the last moment, just when the rooster begins crowing, that Luke tells us “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter” (v. 61). What emotion and wordless thoughts must have transpired in that tortured, tragic moment!
The Lord knew Peter had denied him.
Peter knew that the Lord knew.
He, the most ardent of followers, was no better than the rest of them. Though they had argued earlier that very night “which of them was considered to be greatest” (v. 24) – here Peter reveals how great he truly is. A faithless friend and a fickle follower. The realization is too much for him, “he went outside and wept bitterly” (v. 62).
Jesus, he who commanded crowds, now walks alone to the cross, revealing what that familiar proverb tells us: “The closer you get to the Cross, the smaller the crowd gets.” Even Jesus’s closest friends betray and deny him. Yet, incredibly, Jesus turns wordlessly to face the trial of Pilate, the punishment of the guards, and the ridicule of the people without hesitation or bitterness. He does not condemn Peter, but perhaps the echo of his words even now rings in Peter’s ears: “I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail” (v. 32).
But Peter has failed! He has failed his friend and his faith! What hope is there for a faithless friend and follower?
It turns out, there still is hope for such people – not because they overcame their failures – but because in spite of them Jesus still loves them! To be a friend of Jesus is to fail him – and to still be loved by him!
“If we are faithless, he remains faithful” (2 Timothy 2:13)
