Jesus was restoring peter

JESUS WAS RESTORINGPETER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Luke 22:61 61The LORD turned and lookedstraight
at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the LORD
had spokento him: "Before the roostercrows today,
you will disown me three times."
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The Look Of Our Lord
Luke 22:61
W. Clarkson
And the Lord turned, and lookedupon Peter. What was there then, and what
is there now, in the glance ofJesus Christ?
I. HIS LOOK OF PENETRATION.We read of one of the earliestdisciples
being convinced by our Lord's discernment of him under the thick foliage of
the fig tree; he was then told to look for greaterthings than that (John 1:50).
And surely one of those greaterthings was found in that penetration which
saw through the thicker covering of the human flesh and of human speechand
demeanour to the very thought of the mind, to the very desire of the heart, to
the inmost secrets ofthe soul. He knew what was in man. It was his knowledge

of men that directed him in his varying treatment of them; it is his penetrating
insight into men now that determines his dealing with us all.
II. HIS LOOK OF COMPASSION.Whatdid the sick and the suffering, the
fevered and the paralyzed and the leprous, the men and womenwho had left
afflicted ones behind them at their homes - what depths of tender compassion
did these sons and daughters of Israel see in the eyes of Jesus Christ? And
what inexhaustible fullness of pity, what unbounded sympathy, may not the
strickenand the sorrowing souls who are badly bruised and wounded on life's
highway still find in "the face of Jesus Christ"!
III. HIS LOOK OF SAD REPROACH. Sometimes there was that in the
glance of Jesus Christfrom which the guilty shrank. When "he lookedround
about on them with anger," we may be sure that his baffled enemies quailed
before his glance. And when "the Lord turned, and lookedupon Peter," what
keensorrowfulreproach was then apparent in the face of Jesus Christ! how
that look gatheredup all possible words and tones of solemn expostulation, of
sad disappointment, of bitter sorrow!It was a look which wrought great
things in the apostle's soul, the remembrance of which, we may be sure, he
carried with him to the end. Christ has all too many occasions now to turn
toward us that reproachful glance.
1. When we fail to keepthe promises we made him at the time of our self-
surrender.
2. When we fail to pay the vows we made him in some hour of discipline.
3. When we fall seriouslyshort of the allegiance whichall his disciples owe to
him - in reverence, in obedience, in submission. Let us, who are professing to
follow him, ask ourselves whatwe should see in his countenance if we stood
face to face with him to-day. Would it be the benign look of Divine
commendation? or would it be the pained look of sorrowfulreproach? To
those who are inquiring their way to life it is a source of blessed
encouragementthat they will see, if they regardtheir Lord -
IV. HIS LOOK OF TENDER INTEREST. Whenthe rich young man came
and made his earnestinquiry of the greatTeacher, he was not yet in the

kingdom, and was not yet fully prepared to enter it; but he was a sincere and
earnestseekerafterGod, and "Jesus,beholding him, loved him" (Mark
10:21). With such tender regard, with such loving interest, does he look down
on every true suppliant who looks up to him with the vital question on his lips,
"GoodMaster, whatshall I do that I may inherit eternallife?" - C.
Biblical Illustrator
Peterfollowedafar off.
Luke 22:55-62
Decisionofcharacterenforced
W. Mudge.
I. WHAT IS IMPLIED IN FOLLOWING THE LORD AFAR OFF. Not
giving the whole heart's affectionto Him.
II. WHAT USUALLY INDUCES ANY PERSONS TO DO SO.
1. The fear of man.
2. The love of the world.
III. WHY WE SHOULD DETERMINETO FOLLOW HIM FULLY.
1. It is dishonourable to God to follow Him afaroff.
2. It is ruinous to our peace to be undecided in religion.
3. To follow the Lord afar off is injurious to the generalinterests of
religion.Allow me, in closing, to inquire —
1. Do you follow the Lord at all?

2. If you are following the Lord, how are you following Him? Is your heart in
your professedsubjectionto Jesus Christ.? What motive influences your
conduct?
(W. Mudge.)
Peter
R. D. Hitchcock, D. D.
I. THE MAN. A man of greatnatural audacity and force;coarse, homely,
rugged, stout, tenacious, powerful, of that class ofmen, not large, who break
down old wails, and bring in new ages. And yet a man of variable impulses,
and of changefulmoods. Under strong excitement, he stood firm as a granite
rock. Hence his surname, "Peter." But the quick heat might be quickly
chilled. And then the granite crumbled. The rock became a sand-heap. His
judgment could not always be trusted. His greateststrengthwas sometimes
his greatestweakness. His large, warm heart over. masteredhim. It was hard
for him to be parted from his friends. It was hard for him to go againstthe
wishes and opinions of his associates. Eventhose with whom he might be
casuallyin contact, had undue powerover him; not from lack of positive
convictions of his own, but because his great, hungry heart craved sympathy
and fellowship. He wantedmen to think well of him, and feel kindly towards
him. An over-weening love of approbation was his one greatweakness.And so
he lay, as such men always do, very much at the mercy of his companions and
his circumstances.
II. THE SIN OF PETER. There was reallyno excuse for it. Its was in no
personaldanger. All he had to fear was a momentary contempt from servants
and soldiers. Yet the paltry desire of standing well in the estimation of those
who happened to be about him, menials as they were, causedhim to prove
false to his Lord. Miserable man! It makes us blush to think of him; so brave
in meeting swords and clubs, so cowardlyin meeting sneers.
III. HIS REPENTANCE.The reproving look of Christ, standing meek among
His buffeters, and soonto start for Cavalry, was too much for the false and

recreantdisciple. "He wept bitterly," they tell us; and we may well believe it,
for he was at heart a good, true, brave man, and when he came to himself he
despisedand abhorred himself for the momentary weaknesswhichhad
allowedhim so baselyto deny his Lord... And so his characterstands before
us in proportions that do not appal and mock us as something quite
miraculous and above our reach. While we stand in awe of him as an apostle,
we are able to embrace him as a man, and walk on after him towards heaven.
Nay, our interest in him is altogetherpeculiar. Majestic in his original
endowments, we admire him. Inexcusable in his fall, we pity him. Elastic and
fearless in his subsequent career, we acceptit as a full and glorious atonement
for every slip and every error of his life. If he was cowardlyin the courtyard
of Caiaphas, he made up for it by being a hero at his crucifixion, when he
askedhis tormentors to nail him to the cross with his feet turned upwards into
heaven.
IV. THE PRACTICAL BEARING OF OUR SUBJECT is direct and obvious.
It might not be quite right theologically, to thank God for Peter's sin. But
since he did sin, we certainly ought to be very thankful for the record of it.
Had Judas alone offended, afterwards perishing by his own hands, and
sinking to his ownplace, Christians, once sinning, might well grow desperate.
Had Peterstood, as John did, unshakenand unsullied, our hard struggle with
manifold infirmities would be far harder than it is. But now we have a sinning
Peterbefore us; an apostle grievouslysinning, but grandly recovered. And
while we blush to look upon him, there is comfort in the sight. Be encouraged,
my feeble, imperfect, wavering brother, not indeed to sin, nor yet to think
lightly of sin; but if you have sinned, to go and sin no more. Remorse belongs
to Judas. Penitence to Peter. Penitence, and a better life.
(R. D. Hitchcock, D. D.)
The Lord turned and lookedup in Peter
Peter's sin and restoration
M. Braithwaite.

I. A grievous sin.
1. Its elements.
(1)Falsehood.
(2)Cowardice.
(3)Profanity.
(4)Persistence.
2. Its aggravations.
(1)His close connectionwith Christ.
(2)His recent specialprivileges.
(3)The repeatedwarnings given him.
(4)His strong professions ofdevotion
(5)The urgent demands of the time and place.
3. Its instigations.
(1)The failure was surprisingly sudden;
(2)of brief duration;
(3)never repeated.
4. Its chief causes.
(1)Self-confidence.
(2)Blindness to near danger.
(3)Neglectofprecautions.
(4)The fearof derision.
II. A GRACIOUS RESTORATION.
1. How was it brought about?

(1)By a predicted coincidence (ver. 60).
(2)By the Saviour's penetrating glance (ver. 61).
(3)By the actionof memory.
2. What proof have we of its genuineness?
(1)His contrite sorrow.
(2)His amended life.Learn:
1. The weaknessofthe strongest.
2. The sufficiency of Christ's grace.
(M. Braithwaite.)
The repentance of St. Peter
Canon T. T. Carter
First we learn the possibility of perfect repentance after grace has been
forfeited; of a return to God from sin committed after specialfavours and
gifts of love. Further, there was a wonderful mercy overruling St. Peter's fall,
bringing out of it even greatergood. It was made to teachhim what otherwise
he seemedunable to learn. He needed to learn distrust of self. And thou who
despondestat some past fall, hast thou no similar lessonto learn of deeper
humility, of closerdependence on God? Hast thou had no self-trust? Has thy
strength always been in prayer and watching? And the key-note of his Epistles
is — "Be clothed with humility." "Be sober, and watchunto prayer." May not
this be thy case — that the foundations of thy life need to be laid lower, in a
more perfect self-abasement;a deeper humility: a more entire leaning upon
God, a more complete abandonment of all high thoughts, independence of
will, self. glorying, vanity, spirit of contradiction, and such-like;that
beginning afresh, these hindrances being removed, thou mayesthide thyself
from thyself, hide thyself in a perpetual recollectionof the Divine presence
and support, as the only stay and safeguardof thy frail, ever-falling

humanity? Moreover, St. Peteris not merely the assurance to us of the
possibility of a perfect restorationafterfalling from God, he is also the model
of all true penitents. The first main element of St. Peter's recoverywas a spirit
of self-accusation, a ready acknowledgmentof sin and error. Here, then, is one
essentialelementof true repentance — self-accusationatthe feet of Jesus.
And how needful a lessonto learn well. The saddestpart of our sin is, that we
are so slow to confess it. Sin ever gathers round it an array of self-defences.
Subtleties and evasions, specialpleadings, shrinkings from humiliation,
lingerings of pride, all gather round the consciousness ofsin, and rise up
instantly to hinder the only remedy of guilt, the only hope of restoration.
Again, from St. Peterwe learn that faith is a main element of restoration,
preservedto him through the intercessionofhis Lord — "I have prayed for
thee, that thy faith fail not." Now faith is not the belief of any particular
dogma, nor is it the same as a spirit of assurance, neitheris it any peculiar
feeling appropriating some specialpromise; but it is the bent, the aim of the
whole soul. It is the prevailing direction of all the powers of man towardGod;
it is the apprehensionof the inner man embracing, grasping the invisible;
living in things which are unseen and eternal, and raising him out of the
sphere of sight which lives in things that are temporal. Faith may lay hold of
one particular promise at one time, of another at another. And thus he had
learnt to regardsin in the light of another world — sin abstractedlyin itself,
as a loss of spiritual life, as a thing abhorrent to God, as an utter contrariety
to all that his soul was aspiring after. To rise thus above all the worldly
consequencesofsin, all its mere temporal effects, to read one's sin in the light
of God's countenance, to view it as we shall view it on our death-bed, stripped
of all accidents, with its awful consequences, as we pass into eternity — this is
the attribute of faith; and through the preservationof his faith, as our Lord
assures us, St. Peterarose from his fall. Oh! how much need have we to pray,
"Lord, increase our faith"; that we may see our sins in their true form and
colour. The sense ofsin depends on our view of sanctity. As we grow better,
we see sin clearer. As we have more of God, we realize evil more vividly. The
greatestsaints are therefore the deepestpenitents. The bright light of purity in
which they live sets off more vividly the darkness of the spots which stain the
field of their souls' life. The more they advance, the more truly they repent.
As, e.g., we see more the power of truth, the more we are ashamed of our

deceits. As we perceive love and largenessofheart, so we despise our
selfishness. The more God shines into us, the more we loathe our own vileness.
We judge by the contrast. There is one more feature of a true repentance
which is exhibited in St. Peter. His repentance turned upon his love of the
person of Christ. This had been long the moving principle of his life. His
indignation at the idea of his Master's suffering: his refusing to be washed
before the administration of the blessedSacrament;his taking the sword, and
then striking with it; his entering the judgment-hall — were all impulses of a
fervent, though unchastened, love — a love to our Lord's person. And this was
the secretpowerof that look which our Lord, when He turned, castupon him.
It may seemas though St. Peter's love to our Lord were too human, too much
that of a man toward his fellow. It did indeed need chastening, increased
reverence, more of that deep, adoring awe which St. John earlier learnt; and
which St. Peter learnt at last in the shame and humiliations of his fall. But love
to our Lord must needs be human — human in its purest, highest form. The
Incarnation of God has made an essentialchange in the relations betweenGod
and man, and so in the love that binds us. He took our nature, and abideth in
that nature. He is Man eternal, as He is God eternal. He loves, and will
evermore love us, in that nature, and through its sensations,and He draws us
to love Him through the same nature, with the impulse of which humanity is
capable. He loved with a human love, and He is to be loved in return with a
human love. He consecratedthe human affections to Himself in His human
form as their proper end, so that through His humanity they might centre
upon the eternalGodhead. Love is of the very essenceofrepentance, and love
is ever associatedwith a person, and the true movement of the deepening and
enduring love of penitents circles around the Personof Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. In conclusion, I would briefly point out two habits of devotion
necessaryto be cherished, in order that the grace ofsuch a repentance as we
have been contemplating may be the more workedin us. One is the habit of
meditation on the Personof Jesus Christ. Again, love can be cherishedonly by
habitual intercourse, or ever-renewedinward feeding on the beloved object. If
there be no converse, orcommunion of thought, love must decline and die.
And how canan invisible person become the objectof love, except by inward
contemplation? But it is not in the nature of the human heart to love another,
unless that other become a constantcompanion, or unless his beauty and

amiableness become stronglyimpressed on the soul, and be borne always in
remembrance. The grace of Godmoves and operates according to the laws of
humanity. Grace is above nature, but it is according to nature. It acts on
nature, and raises nature up to the level of God, but is human still. What,
then, would stir the heart to love according to nature, the same will stir the
heart to love above nature. And what is this but the contemplation of the
object, followedby an habitual feeding upon it? The secondpoint is this: we
must learn to measure the guilt of our sins by the sorrows ofGod in the flesh.
We have no proper rule of our own by which to measure the guilt or sin. Sin
has ruined this lowercreationof God. Sin brought the flood and the fire of
Sodom, and it has in its train disease,and famine, and war. It has created
death, and made death eternal. All these are as certain rules and proportions
by which we can form some estimate of the guilt of sin. But they are partial
and imperfect measures, afterall. The only true and adequate measure is the
blood of GodIncarnate and the sorrows ofHis sacredheart. Learn, then, to
look at sin in this connection — not sin in the aggregate, but individual sins.
Measure by this price the specialbesetting sin of thy nature. Weigh it in the
scale againstthe weight of the sacrifice whichbowed to the cross the Incarnate
God.
(Canon T. T. Carter)
Peter's presumptuous sin and sorrowfulrepentance
Bishop Sherlock.
I. CONFIDENCEAND PRESUMPTION ARE VERY UNPROMISING
SIGNS OF STEDFASTNESS AND PERSEVERANCE IN RELIGION. Trust
in God is one thing, and trust in ourselves is another; and there is reasonto
think that they will differ as much in the successthat attends them as they do
in the powers upon which they are founded. It is in vain for you to promise
yourselves a superiority under trials and temptations, unless you lay the right
foundation, by imploring the aid and assistanceofGod's Holy Spirit, whose
province only it is to confirm the faithful to the end.

II. From this example of St. Peterwe may learn also WHAT LITTLE
REASON THERE IS TO PROMISE OURSELVESSUCCESSAGAINST
TEMPTATIONSWHICH ARE OF OUR OWN SEEKING. St. Peter had
warning given him, and was told by One whose word he might have taken,
that he was not able to undergo the trial, which he seemedso much to despise.
But try he would, and learnt to know his own weaknessin his miscarriage.
God knows our strength better than we ourselves do; and therefore, when He
has warned us to avoid the occasions ofsin, and to fly from the presence ofthe
enemy, it is presumption to think ourselves able to stand the attack, and our
preparations to meet the danger must be vain and ineffectual. When we strive
not lawfully, even victory is dis-honourable, and no successcanjustify
disobedience to orders.
III. From the example of St. Peterwe may learn now GREAT THE
ADVANTAGES OF REGULAR AND HABITUAL HOLINESS ARE. Good
Christians, though they may fall like other men through passion, or
presumption, or other infirmities, yet the way to their repentance is more
open and easy;their minds, not being hardened by sin, are awakenedby the
gentlestcalls, and the sense ofvirtue revives upon the first motion and
suggestionsofconscience. St. Peterfell, and his fall was very shameful; but his
repentance was as surprising and remarkable as his fall.
IV. You may observe that THE SINS OF THE BEST MEN ARE EXPIATED
WITH THE GREATESTSENSEOF SORROW AND AFFLICTION. It is
impossible to have a sense ofreligion, to think of God and ourselves as we
ought to do, without being affected with the deepestsorrow for our offences.
When men are truly concerned, they do not considerwhat they are to get by
their tears, or what profit their sorrow will yield. The soul must vent its grief;
and godly sorrow is as truly the natural expressionof an inward pain as
worldly sorrow, howeverthey differ in their causes andobjects.
(Bishop Sherlock.)
Peter's sin, and Peter's repentance

A. Gray.
I. PETER'SSIN.
1. The sin itself. It was the denial of his Lord. He denied that he knew Jesus.
He was ashamedto own his connectionwith Jesus. And he yielded to the
impulse of his shame and base fear.
2. But, secondly, let us attend to the circumstances ofPeter's sin. We cannot
take the measure of it, or see it in a just light, till these are considered. The
circumstances are of two sorts.(1)In the first place, there are the aggravating
circumstances —(a)The first circumstance ofan aggravating nature was the
rank he held among the followers ofJesus. Peterwas more than an ordinary
disciple. He was one of the twelve. He was an apostle. Moreover, he was one of
the three nearestto the Lord in intercourse and love.(b) The second
circumstance of aggravationwas, thatPeterhad been warned of his
danger.(c)It was also an aggravating circumstance in the case,that Peterhad
made greatprofessions. Whenwe read the sad story of his threefold denial, we
are disposedto exclaim, What canthis mean? Is this the bold confessorwho
was the first to avow his faith in the MessiahshipofJesus?(d)Fourthly,
Peter's sin took aa aggravationfrom the circumstance that it was committed
in the presence ofJesus.(e)Peterdenied his Lord at a time of love. He had just
receivedthe Holy Communion. And now the Passionofthe Saviour was
begun:(2) The extenuating circumstances in Peter's case. It is no less
important to mark these, than to consider, as has been done, such as were of
an aggravating nature.(a) First, then, it was an extenuating circumstance that
he was surprised into the commissionof his sin. The denial of his Lord was
not deliberate.(b) Secondly, an important circumstance ofextenuation was,
that the sin was contrary to the tenor of Peter's life.(c) It should not be
overlooked, thatit seems to have been Peter's love for Christ that exposedhim
to the temptation by which he was overcome.(d)Fourthly, Peterwas
comparatively ignorant. Some allowance mustbe made, in the case ofour
apostle, for the prejudices which affectedthe universal Jewishmind. We must
not judge him as if he had understood, as we do, or as he himself did
afterwards, by what means it was that the peculiar work of Jesus, as the

Messiah, was to be accomplished.(e)It is fit we should remember that the
hour and the power of darkness were come.
II. PETER'S REPENTANCE.
1. Its origin.
(1)Christ's prayer was the procuring cause of it.
(2)The instrumental cause.
(a)Christ's look.
(b)Christ's word.(3)The influence of the Spirit of God was the efficient cause.
2. The signs, tokens, and manifestation of Peter's repentance.
(1)He went out. A change came over his feelings, and he could remain no
longerin the societyof the irreligious servants and officers.
(2)He deeply mourned for his sin.
(3)He sought the societyof Christ's disciples.
(4)His love to the Lord revived.
3. The acceptance ofPeter's repentance.
(1)A messagesentthrough the holy women.
(2)Christ's interview with him alone.
(3)The more public interview in Galilee.
4. Peter's repentance thus graciouslyaccepted, whatwere the issues of it? He
was the boldest of the bold, from that time forward, in confessing Christ.
There was less boasting than there had been before; but he never flinched
again. There were no more denials.
(A. Gray.)

Peter's restoration
C. H. Spurgeon.
I. First, LET US LOOK AT THE LORD, WHO LOOKED UPON PETER.
1. I see in that look, first, that which makes me exclaim — What thoughtful
love! Jesus is bound, He is accused, He has just been smitten on the face, but
His thought is of wandering Peter. He lookedto others, but He never lookedto
Himself. I see, then, in our Lord's looking upon Peter, a wondrously
thoughtful love.
2. I exclaimnext, what a boundless condescension!He had actedmost
shamefully and cruelly, and yet the Master's eye soughthim out in boundless
pity!
3. But then, again, What tender wisdom do I see here! "The Lord turned, and
lookedupon Peter." He knew bestwhat to do; He did not speak to him, but
lookedupon him.
4. As I think of that look again, I am compelledto cry out, "What Divine
poweris here! This lock workedwonders. I sometimes preachwith all my soul
to Peter, and, alas!he likes my sermon and forgets it. I have known Peterread
a goodbook full of most powerful pleading, and when he has read it through,
he has shut it up and gone to sleep. I remember my Peter when he lost his
wife, and one would have thought it would have touched him, and it did, with
some natural feeling; yet he did not return to the Lord, whom he had
forsaken, but continued in his backsliding. See, then, how our Lord can do
with a look what we cannot do with a sermon, what the most powerful writer
cannot do with hundreds of pages, andwhat affliction cannotdo with even its
heavieststroke.
II. LET US LOOK INTO THE LOOK WHICH THE LORD GIVE TO
PETER. Help us again, most gracious Spirit!
1. That look was, first of all, a marvellous refreshment to Peter's memory,
"The Lord turned, and lookedupon Peter." He saw the Man whom he loved
as he had never seenHim before. This was He who calledhim, when he was

fishing, to become a fisher of men; this was He who bade him spreadthe net,
and causedhim to take an incredible quantity of fishes, insomuch that the
boat beganto sink, and he cried out, "Departfrom me; for I am a sinful man,
O Lord"; this was He who had made him walk on the water, and at other
times had rebuked the winds, and raised the dead. This was He with whom
Peterhad been upon the Mount of Transfiguration!
2. Next, that turning of the Masterwas a specialreminder of His warning
words. Jesus did not sayit in words, but He did more than sayit by His look.
"Ah, Peter!did not I tell you it would be so?"
3. Surely it was, also, a moving appeal to Peter's heart.
4. What do you think that look chiefly said? My thought about it, as I turned
it over, was this: When the Lord lookedupon Peter, though He did refresh his
memory, and make an appeal to his conscience, yetthere was still more
evidently a glorious manifestation of love. If I may be permitted humbly and
reverently to read what was written on my Master's face, I think it was this —
"And yet I love thee, Peter, I love thee still! Thou hast denied Me, but I look
upon thee still as Mine. I cannotgive thee up."
5. Again, this look penetrated Peter's inmost heart. It is not every look that we
receive that goes very deep.
6. One factmay not escape ournotice: our Lord's look at Peterwas a revival
of all Peter's looking unto Jesus. The Lord's look upon Peter took effect
because Peterwas looking to the Lord. Do you catch it? If the Lord had
turned and lookedon Peter, and Peter's back had been turned on the Lord,
that look would not have reachedPeter, nor affectedhim. The eyes met to
produce the desiredresult.
7. This look was altogetherbetweenthe Lord and Peter. Nobody knew that
the Lord lookedon Peter, exceptPeterand his Lord. That grace which saves a
soul is not a noisy thing; neither is it visible to any but the receiver.
III. Now I must go to my third point: LET US LOOK AT PETER AFTER
THE LORD HAD LOOKED AT HIM. What is Peter doing?

1. When the Lord lookedon Peterthe first thing Peterdid was to feel
awakened. Peter's mind bad been sleeping.
2. The next effect was, it took awayall Peter's foolhardiness from him. Peter
had made his wayinto the high priest's hall, but now he made his wayout of
it.
3. The look of Christ severedPeterfrom the crowd. He was no longeramong
the fellows around the fire. He had not another word to say to them; he
quitted their company in haste. It is well for believers to feel that they are not
of the world. Oh, that the arrows of the greatLord would this morning pierce
some soul even as a huntsman wounds a stag!Oh, that the wounded soul, like
Peter, would seek solitude!The stag seeksthe thicketto bleed and die alone;
but the Lord will come in secretto the wounded heart, and draw out the
arrow.
4. That look of Christ also opened the sluices ofPeter's heart; he went out,
and wept bitterly. There was gallin the tears he wept, for they were the
washings of his hitter sorrow.
5. Yet I want you to notice that that look of Christ gave him relief. It is a good
thing to be able to weep. Those who cannot weepare the people that suffer
most. A pent-up sorrow is a terrible sorrow.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Condemned by a look
Spencer.
When Sapores, King of Persia, raiseda violent persecutionagainstthe
Christians, Usthezanes, aa old nobleman, a courtier, that had served in
Sapores'governmentin his minority, being a Christian, was so terrified that
he left off his profession. But he, sitting at the court-gate when Simon, an aged
holy bishop, was leading to prison, and rising up to salute him, the good
bishop frowned upon him. and turned awayhis face with indignation, as being
loth to look upon a man that had denied the faith: Usthezanes fell a weeping,

went into his chamber, put off his courtly attire, and broke out into these
words: "Ah, how shall I appear before the greatGod of heaven whom I have
denied, when Simon, but a man, will not endure to look upon me; if he frown,
how will God behold me when I come before his tribunal?" The thought of
God's judgment-seat wrought so strongly upon him, that he recoveredhis
spiritual strength, and died a glorious martyr.
(Spencer.)
Peter's penitence
J. Whyte.
Dr. Moody Stewartwas once praising some preacherto Dr. Duncan, who said,
"He's too unbroken for me; plenty of learning and talents, but too unbroken
yet." You speak about being broken in business, do you know anything of
being broken in heart? The man who has been broken himself will he tender
to other broken men. There is a story told in the Early Church how, if the
cock crowedwhenPeterwas preaching and the echoes came into the Church,
he could go no further. The sermonwas cut short; but when he began again
there would be an unction and tenderness in it which would satisfythe most
broken sinner in the congregation.
(J. Whyte.)
God connects His moral commands with natural objects
H. Macmillan, LL. D.
Instead of giving His moral command as a mere abstractannouncement
addressedonly to the ear, which would then be in danger of being forgotten,
He linked His words with objects which appealedto the eye, and were fitted to
call up, when the eye rested upon them, the moral ideas connectedwith them.
Though driven out of Eden, God has pursued the same plan in educating and
disciplining man out of the consequencesofthe fall, as He pursued in Eden to

keephim from falling. He connectedhis whole moral history as closelyas
before with the objects around him. Everything with which he deals preaches
to him. The thorns and thistles coming up in his cultivated fields remind him
of the curse;and the difficulties and disabilities which he finds in earning his
daily bread are proofs and punishments to him of his sin. As truly as God
made the tree of life to be a sacrament, as it were, in the midst of Eden, to
keepalive in Adam's heart perpetually the conditions of life; as truly as Jesus
associatedthe moral lessonto Peterwith the crowing of the cock, so truly does
God still make nature one of the greatpowers by which dead consciencesand
sluggishmemories are awakened. Ourmoral experiences andactions are thus
as closelylinked with the trees and flowers as they were in Paradise. In our
progress through life we are continually impressing our own moral history
upon the objects around us; and these objects possessthe powerof recalling it,
and setting it before us in all its vividness, even after the lapse of many years.
Our feelings and actions pass from ourselves and become a part of the
constitution of nature, become subtle powers pervading the scenesin which
we felt and performed them. They endow the inanimate earth itself with a
kind of consciousness, a kind of moral testimony which may afterwards
witness for or againstus. We cannot live in any place, or go through any
scene, without leaving traces of ourselves behind in it; without mixing up our
own experiences with its features, taking its inanimate things into our
confidence, unbosoming ourselves to them, colouring them with our own
nature, and placing ourselves completelyin their power. They keepa silent
record of what we are and do in the associationsconnectedwith our thoughts
and actions;and that record they unfold for us to read when at any time we
come into contactwith them. And hence the significance ofGod's own words,
"He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge
His people." There is a moral purpose, as I have said, in all this. It is not for
the mere vivifying of our feelings of pleasure or pain that the objects ofnature
are endowedwith this strange power of association. Godmeant it to perform
a most important part in our moral training. He meant it to remind us of sins
which we should otherwise have forgotten, and to awakenourconsciences
that would otherwise have slumbered. By associating oursinful thoughts and
actions with outward objects, He designedthat they should be brought and
kept before us in all their reality in order to produce the proper impression

upon us, instead of allowing them to sink into the vague, ghostly abstractions
which past sins are apt to become in the mind. And not seldomhas this silent
powerof witness-bearing, whichlurks in the scenes andobjects of nature,
been felt by guilty men, bringing them to a sense of their guilt.
(H. Macmillan, LL. D.)
The effectof an external agency
H. Macmillan, LL. D.
George MacDonald, in his story of "RobertFalconer,"relates a well-
authenticated incident of a notorious convict in one of our colonies having
been led to reform his ways, through going one day into a church, where the
matting along the aisle happened to be of the same pattern as that in the little
English church where he worshipped with his mother when a boy. That old
familiar matting vividly recalledthe memories of childhood, "the mysteries of
the kingdom of innocence," whichhad long been hid and overpoweredby the
sins and sufferings of later years. An unfortunate outcast, sunk in misery and
vice, wandering in the streets of a large city, meets suddenly a child carrying a
bunch of some common wild flowers — hawthorn, cowslips, orviolets. A
chord is touched which has long slumbered in the outcast's bosom. The
innocent past comes back;the little child sitting on the fond mother's knee;
the long, happy wanderings in the summer woods and hawthorn-shaded
lanes;the cottage home, with all its old-fashioned ways and dear delights; all
this sweeps overher like a blissful dream at the sight or smell of these humble
wild flowers. Overpoweredby the recollectionsofthe past, and the awful
contrastbetweenwhat she was and might have been and what she is now, she
turns awayand weeps bitterly, perhaps to see at that moment the tender,
reproachful eye of Him whom she has long denied, fixed upon her, and to hear
His words of pity, "Go in peace, and sin no more." Two young men are
spending their last evening togetheramid the rural scenes in which they have
been bred. They are going up to the greatcity on the morrow to push their
fortunes, and are talking over their plans. While they are conversing, one of
those little Italian boys who penetrate to the remotestnooks with their hurdy-

gurdies, comes up and plays severaltunes, which attract their attention, and
draw from them a few coins. The young men part. One prospers by industry
and talent; the other gives himself up to dissipation, is sent adrift, and
becomes a wreck. Worn out with debauchery, and in the last stage ofdisease,
he sends for his former friend. They meet; and at that moment the sound of a
hurdy-gurdy is heard in the street. It is the little Italian boy playing the same
tunes which he played on that well-rememberedevening when the friends
bade farewellto the country. It wantedbut this to fill up the cup of the dying
man's shame and sorrow. All that he has hazarded for the pleasures ofthe city
comes rushing upon his memory. He has lost his money, his health, his
character, his peace ofmind, and his hope of heaven;and he has gained in
exchange sorrow, pain, privation, an insupportable weariness oflife, and a
dread of death. That sound of the Italian hurdy-gurdy comes to him like the
crowing of the cock to Peter. It is the turning point of his life. It awakens
within him "the late remorse of love"; and he dies in the peace of Divine
pardon and acceptance.All these are not mere fancy pictures; they are true to
life; they have often happened, and the number of them might be indefinitely
increased. Suchexamples impress upon our minds the solemn truth that there
is nothing really forgotten in this world.
(H. Macmillan, LL. D.)
Lessons from the fall of St. Peter
James Foote, M. A.
1. Mark and admire the honesty and impartiality of the sacredhistorians. All
four state this blot on Peter's character;and their combined accountpresents
it fully and with many dreadful aggravations.
2. Let the example of Christ, in this case, teachus to pity and to seek to restore
the fallen.
3. Let us considerPeter's denial of his Lord as a warning to us all. We may
soonbecome very guilty, and be exposedto shame in an unguarded moment;
and there is hardly any sin we may not be guilty of, if left to ourselves.

4. Let us be on our guard againstthe particular causes that led more
immediately to Peter's fall.
(1)Self-confidence.
(2)Indecision.
(3)Fearof man.
(4)False shame.
(5)Bad company.
5. Let those who, like Peter, have fallen, imitate Peterin his repentance.
(James Foote, M. A.)
The repentance of Peter
C. Bradley, M. A.
I. PETER'SREPENTANCE.
1. The repentance of Peteris ascribed, in the first instance, to a circumstance
apparently unimportant. The crowing of a cock. How observantthen ought
we to be o! all which surrounds or befals us; and how anxious to obtain from
it instruction in righteousness!
2. The text ascribes it also to the interposition of Christ. Without this, the
warning voice of the cock wouldhave been heard in vain.
3. But what followedthe look which the compassionateSaviourdirected
towards His fallen apostle? It was a look of the mildest reproof and the
tenderestpity, but the lightning's flash could not have done more. Piercing his
heart, it produced there that serious reflectionfrom which his contrition
sprung.
II. PETER'S SORROW.

1. His sorrow was of a softening nature. "He wept." It was not that horror of
soul, which has its origin solely in fear, and leaves the heart as hard as it finds
it. It was the sorrow which springs from love, and fill the breast with the
tenderestemotions, while it disquiets and humbles it.
2. But the sorrow of Peterwas acute, as well as softening. He not only wept,
but he wept" bitterly." And bitterly does every sinner weep, who really
bewails his transgressions.
3. The sorrow of Peter was, further, a secretsorrow;a grief which sought
retirement. "He went out" when he wept. Notthat he was now afraid to
acknowledge Christ, or unwilling to condemn himself for the crime which he
had committed; but like penitent Ephraim, "he was ashamed, yea, even
confounded"; and he soughtwhere to give vent to his sorrow unseen, and to
implore undisturbed that mercy which he so greatly needed. And every real
penitent is often "sitting alone." Flying from scenes ofvanity which he once
loved, and from societywhich his folly once enlivened, he retires to his closet,
and there, when he has shut his door, he communes with his heart, prays to
his offended Father, and weeps.
III. WHAT EFFECTSPETER'S REPENTANCE AFTERWARDS
PRODUCED.
1. An increasing love for his Lord.
2. Greaterzealand boldness in the service of Christ.
(C. Bradley, M. A.)
Peter's repentance
J. Thorp.
I. THE LOOK OF JESUS. We cannot picture to ourselves the countenance he
exhibited, or the point and pungency of the sentiment it conveyed;but I
observe it was doubtless the look of offended dignity; it was the look of
insulted friendship; it was the look of betrayed confidence;it was the look of

keenand humiliating reproof, and such reproof the whole of Peter's conduct
justly merited. I observe, further, that the look of Jesus was a look which
conveyedconviction. And, once more, it was a look of compassion. Whata
conflict of feeling must have been produced by the emotions displayed on this
deeply interesting occasion. Humbled by reproof, pursued by conviction,
melted by love, what tongue can describe his grief, or what artist give a hue
sufficiently deep to the manifestationof his contrition I These are the feelings
— a knowledge ofwhich must be acquired in the most impressive and
affecting schoolin the world. These are feelings — a knowledge ofwhich must
be acquired on Mount Calvary. The man who has been brought to look on
Him whom he has pierced has an idea more clear, a conceptionmore strong of
the feelings of Peterthan the art of eloquence, or the line of the pencil can
convey.
II. THE RECOLLECTIONSWHICH THE LOOK OF JESUS REVIVED.
1. The recollectionof previous obligation.
2. The recollectionof oft-repeatedand solemnprotestations of fidelity and
affection.
3. The recollectionof the scene at the Last Supper.
III. THE EFFECTSPRODUCED.
1. The retirement he sought. True repentance flies to solitude, and shrinks
even from sympathy.
2. The depth of his sorrow.Concluding lessons:
1. Consolationto those who, like Peter, weepbitterly in secret. Specialnews of
Christ's resurrectionsent to Peter: "Seekhim in his solitude, and tell him that
the Lord waits with open arms to receive him."
2. But remember that the great moral of the whole is caution. Learn,
therefore, by way of application in the first place, the necessityof guarding
vigilantly againstthe approaches oftemptation. Learn, secondly, from this
subject, the necessityofprudence in making a profession, but of integrity in

acting up to it when it is made. Learn, then, in the last place, the necessityof
decisionof characterin matters of religion.
(J. Thorp.)
The Saviour's look upon Peter
Christian at Work.
Doubtless it was a look of blended significance. There must have been in the
Saviour's countenance an expressionof mingled emotions. At a single glance
there may have been conveyedto Peterwhat would have required many
words to express.
I. It doubtless spoke to him REPROOF.An impressive reminder of the great
wrong he had done.
II. It was, too, a GRIEVED LOOK. Such a look as a kind mother turns upon
a waywardson who has wrongedher.
III. It was, at the same time, A PITYING LOOK. The Saviour felt for Peterin
his wretchedcondition. Forgetting His own greatimpending sorrows, He had
it in His heart to sympathize with poor, unhappy Peter. He knew that,
notwithstanding all he had done, he was a genuine disciple, and that the time
of reflection would sooncome, when he would be overwhelmed with grief.
IV. And, still further, it was a FORGIVING LOOK. The Lord knew how deep
would be Peter's self-reproachand anguish of soul when he came to himself,
and that he would be tempted to despair of forgiveness. So by this look he
would inspire him with hope.
(Christian at Work.)
Knowledge of self through Christ
NewmanSmyth, D. D.

He remembered. He realized under the eye of Jesus whathe had been doing.
A glance of God into his soul revealedhis loss of himself. Beholding his Lord,
as he stoodin the calm triumph of His Divine manhood looking into his timid
soul, he could not help knowing himself in his weaknessand shame. Nota
word was spoken. Goddoes not need to speak to judge us. He will only need to
look upon us. One look of divinity is enough to convince of sin. Peterthe
denier, under the eye of the Sonof God, became at once Peterthe penitent.
And we know how afterwards Peterthe penitent became Peterthe man —
firm as the rock — the true Peter, hero of faith, and made worthy at last of
meeting and returning with joy the look of the risen and ascendedLord
among the sons of God on high. These effects ofJesus'flashings of God upon
Petershow very simply and plainly Jesus'method of convincing men of sin,
and of lifting them up through repentance to real and everlasting manliness.
No man ever felt Jesus'eye upon him, and went away without a look into his
own heart which he had never had so clearly before. Some men went away
from Christ to the judgment. The thoughts of many hearts, as Simeon
foresaw, were revealedby him. Jesus'gospel,therefore, being thus intensely
personal, real, and revealing, is the most honestthing in this whole world. It is
no form, no fiction of life, no exaggerationoffeeling, no mere speechabout
God and the world to come;it is the one essentiallyand perfectly honest thing
in this world of words and forms and fictions of life. Now let me specify two or
three particulars which are brought out in Jesus'revelationof men to
themselves. He made men, whom His divinity searched, understand that they
were personally responsible for their own real characters. He did not allow
His disciples to condemn men for their misery, or their misfortunes, or the
consequencesoftheir circumstances, orany of those influences which meet
from beyond their own wills in men's lives. But He made every soul of man
realize that within life's circumstances there is a living centre of personal
responsibility. Jesus made men understand, also, that in their sinning they
have to do with personalbeings. We do not sin againstabstractions, oragainst
a system of commandments only; we are persons in a societyof persons of
which God is the centre and the source. All sin is againstthe realities of a most
personaluniverse. Sin strikes againstbeings. Petersinned againstthe Lord
who had chosenhim, and who was about to die for him. The sinfulness of sin
is not that it is simply a transgressionofa law; but it beats againstlove. All sin

is againstlove, againstall love; for it is sin againstthe living, personalbeing of
God. Again, as Jesus Christ showedmen themselves in their sins, he showed
them also that those sins of theirs are something which God cannotendure for
ever. They must not be. They shall not be. God cannot always endure them,
and be the God He is. Jesus saidHe did not come to judge the world; and yet
againHe said, "Now is the judgment of this world." God on high cannot
suffer us to go on in this wayfor ever. He must redeem us and make us like
Himself, or He must do something else worthy of Himself with us. This is
morally certain. And one thing more is clearas a starin the mystery of
Godliness. There is one thing more which we need to know which Jesus makes
as bright as day in His gospelofGod to man. When Peterwas at Jesus'knees
saying in the first honest instinct of a man who saw himself, "I am a sinful
man," Jesus stoodoverhim radiant like a God, and said, "Fearnot." Such is
God's lovely attitude towards every penitent at the feetof His Almightiness!
Fearnot! Sin is forgiven and all its darkness made bright in the love which
reveals it. The cloud of our sky becomes a glory at the touch of the sun. If we
will not come to the light to be made known and to be forgiven, then we
remain in the darkness. Penitenceis holding ourselves up in God's pure and
infinite light, and letting Him shine our darkness away. Fearnot; sin is
vouchsafedforgiveness in the same love which it shows to sin, and condemns
it.
(NewmanSmyth, D. D.)
Peterwent out, and wept bitterly
Peter's repentance
B. M. Palmer, D. D.
I. OBSERVE HOW NEAR THE SIN OF PETER COMESTO THAT OF
JUDAS.
1. Peter, like Judas, surrenders his Lord to His foes.

2. The sin of Peter, like that of Judas, was the act of an intimate and
confidential friend.
3. This denial by Peter occurredimmediately after the Supper, and after
witnessing the agony of Christ in the garden.
4. Peter's denial was in the face of his own protestations to the contrary, and
of Christ's recent and explicit warning.
5. Peter's denial was aggravatedby repetition, and at eachrepetition he
contracteddeeperguilt.
6. This sin of Peter was committed in the very presence and hearing of the
Lord.
II. YET, WITH ALL THESE AGGRAVATIONS, THE SIN OF PETER
MUST BE DISCRIMINATED FROM THAT OF JUDAS.
1. Forinstance, Peter's sin was sudden, under strong temptation; while the sin
of Judas was deliberate and long-premeditated.
2. Then, too, the motives by which the two were prompted — Peter, by a
natural fear and the instinctive love of life; Judas, by the most sordid of all the
passions that move the human heart — the base love of gold.
3. In Peter's case there was no heart-denial of his Lord; it was only of the lips.
4. In Peterthere was only the suppressionof his discipleship.
III. CONSIDER THE CONTRASTBETWEENTHE TWO MEN AFTER
THEY ARE BROUGHT TO A RECOGNITION OF THEIR GUILT.
1. Judas is judicially abandoned; Peter, only temporarily deserted.
2. In the case ofJudas there was only remorse;in that of Peter, sincere
repentance.
3. In Judas there was a total and final rejectionof Christ; in Peter, a loving
return to Him.

4. Judas sealedhis guilt by his suicide; Petersealedhis repentance by a life of
consecrationto his Master's service.Concluding reflections:
1. You have the plainest evidence, in all the actions of Judas and of Peter, that
they were flee and responsible, acting under the power of motives.
2. We see in Peter's fall the wonderful discipline by which he was graciously
prepared for his work, revealing to us that paradox of the gospel, how grace,
in its power, brings evil out of good, and transmutes the poor, fallen, erring
sinner into the acceptedmessengerofGod.
3. These two, Judas and Peter, are the types, respectively, of the only two
classesofsinners. The difference between sinner and saint is found in the
behaviour of the two in respectto their sins — the one persisting in it, the
other weeping bitterly.
(B. M. Palmer, D. D.).
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(61) And the Lord turned, and lookedupon Peter.—The glance whichwas
thus the turning point of Peter’s life, is mentioned only by St. Luke. As he was
sitting in the porch, our Lord must have lookedon the disciple as He was
being led from Annas to the more public trial before the Sanhedrin. The form
in which the fact is narrated, “the Lord turned,” points, probably, as in other
instances, to its having been gatheredby St. Luke from his informants at a
time when that mode of naming Him had become habitual; and possibly in
answerto inquiries, natural in one who sought to analyse the motives that led
to action, as to what had brought about the change that led Peter, as in a
moment, from the curses of denial to the tears of penitence.
MacLaren's Expositions

Luke
IN THE HIGH PRIEST’S PALACE
CHRIST’S LOOK
Luke 22:61.
All four Evangelists tell the story of Peter’s threefold denial and swift
repentance, but we owe the knowledge ofthis look of Christ’s to Luke only.
The other Evangelists connectthe sudden change in the denier with his
hearing the cock crow only, but according to Luke there were two causesco-
operating to bring about that sudden repentance, for, he says, ‘Immediately,
while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned and lookedupon
Peter.’And we cannot doubt that it was the Lord’s look enforcing the
fulfilment of His prediction of the cock-crow thatbroke down the denier.
Now, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to weave a consecutive whole out of
the four versions of the story of Peter’s triple denial. But this at leastis clear
from them all, that Jesus was awayatthe upper, probably the raised, end of
the greathall, and that if any of the three instances of denial took place within
that building, it was at such a distance that neither could the words be heard,
nor could a look from one end of it to the other have been caught. I think that
if we try to localise, andpicture the whole scene ourselves, we are obligedto
suppose that that look, which smote Peterinto swift collapse ofpenitence,
came as the Lord Jesus was being led bound down the hall out through the
porch, past the fire, and into the gloomy archway, on His road to further
suffering. As He was thus brought for a moment close to him, ‘the Lord

turned and lookedupon Peter,’and then He passedfrom his sight for ever, as
he would fear.
I wish, then, to deal-although it must be very imperfectly and inadequately-
with that look that changedthis man. And I desire to consider two things
about it: what it said, and what it did.
I. What it said.-It spoke of Christ’s knowledge, ofChrist’s pain, of Christ’s
love.
Of Christ’s knowledge-Ihave already suggestedthat we cannot suppose that
the Prisonerat one end of the hall, intensely occupiedwith the questionings
and argumentation of the priests, and with the false witnesses,couldhave
heard the denial, given in tones subdued by the place, at the other end. Still
less could He have heard the denials in louder tones, and accompaniedwith
execrations, whichseemedto have been repeatedin the porch without. But as
He passedthe Apostle that look said: ‘I heard them all-denials and oaths and
passion;I heard them all.’ No wonder that after the Resurrection, Peter, with
that remembrance in his mind, fell at the Master’s feetand said, ‘Lord! Thou
knowestallthings. Thou didst know what Thou didst not hear, my muttered
recreancyand treason, and my blurted out oaths of denial. Thou knowestall
things.’ No wonder that when he stoodup amongstthe Apostles after the
Resurrectionand the Ascension, and was the mouthpiece of their prayers,
remembering this scene as well as other incidents, he began his prayer with
‘Thou, Lord, which knowestthe hearts of all men.’ But let us remember that
this-call it, if you like, supernatural-knowledge whichJesus Christ had of the
denial, is only one of a greatbody of facts in His life, if we acceptthese
Gospels, whichshow that, as one of the Evangelists says, atalmost the
beginning of his history, ‘He needed not that any man should testify of man,
for He knew what was in man.’ It is precisely on the same line, as His first
words to Peter, whom He greetedas he came to Him with ‘Thou art Simon;

thou shalt be Cephas.’It is entirely on the same line as the words with which
He greetedanother of this little group, ‘When thou wastunder the fig-tree I
saw thee.’ It is on the same line as the words with which He penetratedto the
unspokenthoughts of His churlish entertainerwhen He said, ‘Simon! I have
somewhatto sayunto thee.’ It is on the lines on which we have to think of that
Lord now as knowing us all. He looks still from the judgment-seat, where He
does not stand as a criminal, but sits as the supreme and omniscient Arbiter of
our fates, and Judge of our actions. And He beholds us, eachof us, moment by
moment, as we go about our work, and often, by our cowardice, by our
faithlessness,by our inconsistencies, ‘deny the Lord that bought’ us. It is an
awful thought, and therefore do men put it awayfrom them: ‘Thou God seest
me.’ But it is stripped of all its awfulness, while it retains all its purifying and
quickening power, when we think, as our old hymn has it:
‘Though now ascendedup on high,
He bends on earth a Brother’s eye.’
And we have not only to feel that the eye that looks upon us is cognisantof our
denials, but that it is an eye that pities our infirmities, and knowing us
altogether, loves us better than we know. Oh! if we believed in Christ’s look,
and that it was the look of infinite love, life would be less solitary, less sad, and
we should feel that whereverHis glance fell there His help was sure, and there
were illumination and blessedness. The look spoke ofChrist’s knowledge.
Again, it spoke of Christ’s pain. Peter had not thought that he was hurting his
Masterby his denials; he only thought of saving himself. And, perhaps, if it
had come into his loving and impulsive nature, which yielded to the
temptation the more readily because ofthe same impulsiveness which also led
it to yield swiftly to goodinfluences, if he had thought that he was adding

another pang to the pains of his Lord whom he had loved through all his
denial, even his cowardicewould have plucked up courage to ‘confess, and
deny not but confess,’that he belongedto the Christ. But he did not
remember all that. And now there came into his mind-from that look, the
bitter thought, ‘I have wrung His heart with yet another pang, and at this
supreme moment, when there is so much to rack and pain; I have joined the
tormentors.’
And so, do we not pain Jesus Christ? Mysterious as it is, yet it seems as if,
since it is true that we please Him when we are obeying Him, it must be
somehow true that we pain Him when we deny Him, and some kind of shadow
of grief may pass even over that glorified nature when we sin againstHim,
and forgetHim, and repay His love with indifference, and rejectHis counsel.
We know that in His earthly life there was no bitterer pang inflicted upon
Him than the one which the Psalmistprophesied, ‘He that ate bread with Me
hath lifted up his heel againstMe.’And we know that in the measure in which
human nature is purified and perfected, in that measure does it become more
susceptible and sensitive to the pain of faithless friends. Chilled love, rejected
endeavours to help-which are, perhaps, the deepestand the most spiritual of
sorrows whichmen can inflict upon one another, Jesus Christexperienced in
full measure, heapedup and running over. And we, even we today, may be
‘grieving the Holy Spirit of God, whereby we are sealedunto the day of
redemption.’ Christ’s knowledge ofthe Apostle’s denials brought pain to His
heart.
Again, the look spoke ofChrist’s love. There was in it saddened
disapprobation, but there was not in it any spark of anger;nor what, perhaps,
would be worse, any ice of withdrawal or indifference. But there even at that
supreme moment, lied againstby false witnesses, insulted and spit upon by
rude soldiers, rejectedby the priests as an impostor and a blasphemer, and on
His road to the Cross, when, if ever, He might have been absorbedin Himself,
was His heart at leisure from itself, and in divine and calm self-oblivion could

think of helping the poor denier that stoodtrembling there beneath His
glance. Thatis of a piece with the majestic, yet not repelling calm, which
marks the Lord in all His life, and which reaches its very climax in the Passion
and on the Cross. Justas, whilst nailed there, He had leisure to think of the
penitent thief, and of the weeping mother, and of the disciple whose loss of his
Lord would be compensatedby the gaining of her to take care of, so as He was
being borne to Pilate’s judgment, He turned with a love that forgot itself, and
poured itself into the denier’s heart. Is not that a divine and eternal revelation
for us? We speak ofthe love of a brother who, sinned againstseventy times
seven, yet forgives. We bow in reverence before the love of a mother who
cannot forget, but must have compassionon the son of her womb. We wonder
at the love of a father who goes out to seek the prodigal. But all these are less
than that love which beamed lambent from the eye of Christ, as it fell on the
denier, and which therein, in that one transitory glance, revealedfor the faith
and thankfulness of all ages aneternal fact. That love is steadfastas the
heavens, firm as the foundations of the earth. ‘Yea! the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed, but My loving kindness shall not depart, neither
shall the covenantof My peace be removed.’ It cannotbe frozen, into
indifference. It cannot be stirred into heat of anger. It cannotbe provokedto
withdrawal. Repelled, it returns; sinned against, it forgives;denied, it meekly
beams on in self-revelation;it hopeth all things, it beareth all things. And He
who, as He passedout to Pilate’s bar, castHis look of love on the denier, is
looking upon eachof us, if we would believe it, with the same look, pitiful and
patient, reproachful, and yet forgiving, which unveils all His love, and would
fain draw us in answering love, to castourselves atHis feet, and tell Him all
our sin.
And now, let us turn to the secondpoint that I suggested.
II. What the look did.

First, it tore awaythe veil that hid Peter’s sin from himself. He had not
thought that he was doing anything wrong when he denied. He had not
thought about anything but saving his own skin. If he had reflectedfor a
moment no doubt he would have found excuses, as we all cando. But when
Christ stoodthere, what had become of the excuses?As by a flash he saw the
ugliness of the deed that he himself had done. And there came, no doubt, into
his mind in aggravationofthe denial, all that had passedfrom that very first
day when he had come to Christ’s presence, all the confidences that had been
given to him, how his wife’s mother had been healed, how he himself had been
caredfor and educated, how he had been honoured and distinguished, how he
had boastedand vowed and hectoredthe day before. And so he ‘went out and
wept bitterly.’
Now our sin captures us by lying to us, by blinding our consciences. You
cannot hear the shouts of the men on the bank warning you of your danger
when you are in the midst of the rapids, and so our sin deafens us to the still
small voice of conscience.But nothing so surely reveals to us the true moral
characterof any of our actions, be they right or wrong, as bringing them
under Christ’s eye, and thinking to ourselves. ‘DurstI do that if He stood
there beside me and saw it?’ Petercould deny Him when He was at the far
end of the hall. He could not have denied Him if he had had Him by his side.
And if we will take our actions, especiallyany of them about which we are in
doubt, into His presence, thenit will be wonderful how consciencewillbe
enlightened and quickened, how the fiend will start up in his own shape, and
how poor and small the motives which tempted so strongly to do wrong will
come to look, when we think of adducing them to Jesus. Whatdid a maid-
servant’s flippant tongue matter to Peterthen? And how wretchedly
inadequate the reasonfor his denial lookedwhen Christ’s eye fell upon him.
The most recentsurgicalmethod of treating skin diseasesis to bring an
electric light, ten times as strong as the brightest streetlights, to bear upon the
diseasedpatch, and fifty minutes of that search-lightclears awaythe disease.
Bring the beam from Christ’s eye to bear on your lives, and you will see a
greatdeal of leprosy, and scurf, and lupus, and all that you see will be cleared
away. The look tore down the veil.

What more did it do? It melted the denier’s heart into sorrow. I can quite
understand a consciencebeing so enlightened as to be convinced of the evil of
a certain course, and yet there being none of that melting into sorrow, which,
as I believe, is absolutelynecessaryfor any permanent victory over sins. No
man will ever conquer his evil as long as he only shudderingly recoils from it.
He has to be brokendown into the penitential mood before he will secure the
victory over his sin. You remember the profound words in our Lord’s
pregnant parable of the seeds, how one class which transitorily was Christian,
had for its characteristic thatimmediately with joy they receivedthe word.
Yes; a Christianity that puts repentance into a parenthesis, and talks about
faith only, will never underlie a permanent and thorough moral reformation.
There is nothing that brings ‘godly sorrow,’so surely as a glimpse of Christ’s
love; and nothing that reveals the love so certainly as the ‘look.’You may
hammer at a man’s heart with law, principle, and moral duty, and all the rest
of it, and you may get him to feel that he is a very poor creature, but unless
the sunshine of Christ’s love shines down upon him, there will be no melting,
and if there is no melting there will be no permanent bettering.
And there was another thing that the look did. It tore awaythe veil from the
sin; it made rivers of waterflow from the melted heart in sorrow of true
repentance;and it kept the sorrow from turning into despair. Judas ‘went out
and hanged himself.’ Peter‘went out and wept bitterly.’ What made the one
the victim of remorse, and the other the glad child of repentance? How was it
that the one was stiffened into despair that had no tears, and the other was
savedbecause he could weep? Because the one saw his sin in the lurid light of
an awakenedconscience, andthe other saw his sin in the loving look of a
pardoning Lord. And that is how you and I ought to see our sins. Be sure,
dear friend, that the same long-suffering, patient love is looking down upon
eachof us, and that if we will, like Peter, let the look melt us into penitent self-
distrust and heart-sorrow for our clinging sins, then Jesus will do for us, as He
did for that penitent denier on the Resurrectionmorning. He will take us
apart by ourselves and speak healing words of forgiveness andreconciliation,

so that we, like him, will dare in spite of our faithlessness, to fall at His feet
and say, ‘Lord, Thou knowestall things; Thou knowestthat I, erst faithless
and treacherous, love Thee;and all the more because Thouhast forgiven the
denial and restoredthe denier.’
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
22:54-62 Peter's fallwas his denying that he knew Christ, and was his
disciple; disowning him because ofdistress and danger. He that has once told
a lie, is strongly tempted to persist: the beginning of that sin, like strife, is as
the letting forth of water. The Lord turned and lookedupon Peter. 1. It was a
convincing look. Jesus turned and lookedupon him, as if he should say, Dost
thou not know me, Peter? 2. It was a chiding look. Let us think with what a
rebuking countenance Christ may justly look upon us when we have sinned. 3.
It was an expostulating look. Thou who wastthe most forward to confess me
to be the Son of God, and didst solemnly promise thou wouldestnever disown
me! 4. It was a compassionate look. Peter, how art thou fallen and undone if I
do not help thee! 5. It was a directing look, to go and bethink himself. 6. It was
a significant look;it signified the conveying of grace to Peter's heart, to enable
him to repent. The grace ofGod works in and by the word of God, brings that
to mind, and sets that home upon the conscience, and so gives the soul the
happy turn. Christ lookedupon the chief priests, and made no impression
upon them as he did on Peter. It was not the mere look from Christ, but the
Divine grace with it, that restoredPeter.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
See the notes at Matthew 26:57-75.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
61. And the Lord turned, and lookedupon Peter—(Also see on [1728]Mr
14:72.)
Matthew Poole's Commentary
See Poole on"Luke 22:54"
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the Lord turned,.... Himself, his back being to Peter, whilst he was
examining before the high priest; but he knew full well what was doing, what
had been said to Peter, and how often he had denied him:
and lookedupon Peter;with his bodily eyes, with greatearnestness,
expressing in his looks concernand pity for him; for it was a look, not of
wrath and resentment, but of love and mercy, and power went along with it; it
was not only a signal to Peter, to put him in remembrance of what he had
said, but it was a melting look to him, and a means of convincing and
humbling him, and of bringing him to repentance:
and Peterremembered the word of the Lord, how he had saidunto him,
before the cock crow, thou shall deny me thrice; See Gill on Matthew 26:75.
Geneva Study Bible
And the Lord turned, and lookedupon Peter. And Peterremembered the
word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt
deny me thrice.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Expositor's Greek Testament
Luke 22:61. στραφεὶς, etc., the Lord, turning, lookedatPeter; that look, not
the cock crowing, recalledthe prophetic word of Jesus, andbrought about the
penitent reaction.—ὑπεμνήσθη,remembered, was reminded, passive here only
in N.T.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
61. the Lord turned, and lookedupon Peter]St Luke alone preserves this most
touching incident. Jesus must have lookedon His erring Apostle either from
the chamber in which He was being tried, if it was one of those chambers with
open front (called in the Eastmuck’ad); or else at the moment when the trial
was over, and He was being led across the courtyard amid the coarse insults of
the servants. If so the moment would have been one of awful pathos to the
unhappy Apostle.

Bengel's Gnomen
Luke 22:61. Ἐνέβλεψε, lookedupon) By this one intimation of a mere look,
when there was no opportunity of speaking, Jesusrousedthe whole mind and
attention of Peter. Comp. John 1:42 [Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. And
when Jesus beheld him (ἐμβλέψας αὐτῷ) He said, “Thouart Simon,” etc.] as
regards “the look,” whichPetermay even afterwards have remembered.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 61. - And the Lord turned, and lookedupon Peter. As he was passing
from the interrogationbefore Caiaphas to be examined before the Sanhedrin
assembledin solemn council, he heard his servant's well-knownvoice raised
and accompaniedwith oaths and curses, assuring the by-standers he had no
connectionwith and knew nothing of Jesus ofNazareth. Then, as he passed,
the Masterturned and lookedon his old friend, that disciple who so lately had
declaredthat even if all others desertedthe Lord, he never would! The glance
of Jesus was full of the tenderestpity; it was not angry, only sorrowful; but it
recalledPeterto his better, nobler self. SS. Matthew and Mark (Peter's own
Gospel)recordhow, when he heard the cock crow, which St. Luke tells us
happened as our Lord turned to look on the recreantdisciple, he remembered
all, and burst into bitter weeping. We meet him again on the Resurrection
morning in company with St. John (John 20:3), whence, it would seem, that in
his bitter sorrow he had turned to his old friend, who had probably heard his
denial. St. John, who briefly in his narrative touches upon the "denial," omits
to mention the repentance, but, according to his custom, speciallyillustrates it
in the scene by the lake (John 21:15, and following verses).
A. MACLAREN
Luke 22:61

And the Lord turned, and lookedupon Peter. And Peterremembered the
word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt
deny me thrice.
Luke
IN THE HIGH PRIEST’S PALACE
CHRIST’S LOOK
Luke 22:61.
All four Evangelists tell the story of Peter’s threefold denial and swift
repentance, but we owe the knowledge ofthis look of Christ’s to Luke only.
The other Evangelists connectthe sudden change in the denier with his
hearing the cock crow only, but according to Luke there were two causesco-
operating to bring about that sudden repentance, for, he says, ‘Immediately,
while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned and lookedupon
Peter.’And we cannot doubt that it was the Lord’s look enforcing the
fulfilment of His prediction of the cock-crow thatbroke down the denier.
Now, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to weave a consecutive whole out of
the four versions of the story of Peter’s triple denial. But this at leastis clear
from them all, that Jesus was awayatthe upper, probably the raised, end of
the greathall, and that if any of the three instances of denial took place within
that building, it was at such a distance that neither could the words be heard,
nor could a look from one end of it to the other have been caught. I think that
if we try to localise, andpicture the whole scene ourselves, we are obligedto
suppose that that look, which smote Peterinto swift collapse ofpenitence,
came as the Lord Jesus was being led bound down the hall out through the

porch, past the fire, and into the gloomy archway, on His road to further
suffering. As He was thus brought for a moment close to him, ‘the Lord
turned and lookedupon Peter,’and then He passedfrom his sight for ever, as
he would fear.
I wish, then, to deal-although it must be very imperfectly and inadequately-
with that look that changedthis man. And I desire to consider two things
about it: what it said, and what it did.
I. What it said.-It spoke of Christ’s knowledge, ofChrist’s pain, of Christ’s
love.
Of Christ’s knowledge-Ihave already suggestedthat we cannot suppose that
the Prisonerat one end of the hall, intensely occupiedwith the questionings
and argumentation of the priests, and with the false witnesses,couldhave
heard the denial, given in tones subdued by the place, at the other end. Still
less could He have heard the denials in louder tones, and accompaniedwith
execrations, whichseemedto have been repeatedin the porch without. But as
He passedthe Apostle that look said: ‘I heard them all-denials and oaths and
passion;I heard them all.’ No wonder that after the Resurrection, Peter, with
that remembrance in his mind, fell at the Master’s feetand said, ‘Lord! Thou
knowestallthings. Thou didst know what Thou didst not hear, my muttered
recreancyand treason, and my blurted out oaths of denial. Thou knowestall
things.’ No wonder that when he stoodup amongstthe Apostles after the
Resurrectionand the Ascension, and was the mouthpiece of their prayers,
remembering this scene as well as other incidents, he began his prayer with
‘Thou, Lord, which knowestthe hearts of all men.’ But let us remember that
this-call it, if you like, supernatural-knowledge whichJesus Christ had of the
denial, is only one of a great body of facts in His life, if we acceptthese
Gospels, whichshow that, as one of the Evangelists says, atalmost the
beginning of his history, ‘He needed not that any man should testify of man,

for He knew what was in man.’ It is precisely on the same line, as His first
words to Peter, whom He greetedas he came to Him with ‘Thou art Simon;
thou shalt be Cephas.’It is entirely on the same line as the words with which
He greetedanother of this little group, ‘When thou wastunder the fig-tree I
saw thee.’ It is on the same line as the words with which He penetratedto the
unspokenthoughts of His churlish entertainerwhen He said, ‘Simon! I have
somewhatto sayunto thee.’ It is on the lines on which we have to think of that
Lord now as knowing us all. He looks still from the judgment-seat, where He
does not stand as a criminal, but sits as the supreme and omniscient Arbiter of
our fates, and Judge of our actions. And He beholds us, eachof us, moment by
moment, as we go about our work, and often, by our cowardice, by our
faithlessness,by our inconsistencies, ‘deny the Lord that bought’ us. It is an
awful thought, and therefore do men put it awayfrom them: ‘Thou God seest
me.’ But it is stripped of all its awfulness, while it retains all its purifying and
quickening power, when we think, as our old hymn has it:
‘Though now ascendedup on high,
He bends on earth a Brother’s eye.’
And we have not only to feel that the eye that looks upon us is cognisantof our
denials, but that it is an eye that pities our infirmities, and knowing us
altogether, loves us better than we know. Oh! if we believed in Christ’s look,
and that it was the look of infinite love, life would be less solitary, less sad, and
we should feel that whereverHis glance fell there His help was sure, and there
were illumination and blessedness. The look spoke ofChrist’s knowledge.
Again, it spoke of Christ’s pain. Peter had not thought that he was hurting his
Masterby his denials; he only thought of saving himself. And, perhaps, if it
had come into his loving and impulsive nature, which yielded to the

temptation the more readily because ofthe same impulsiveness which also led
it to yield swiftly to goodinfluences, if he had thought that he was adding
another pang to the pains of his Lord whom he had loved through all his
denial, even his cowardicewould have plucked up courage to ‘confess, and
deny not but confess,’ that he belongedto the Christ. But he did not
remember all that. And now there came into his mind-from that look, the
bitter thought, ‘I have wrung His heart with yet another pang, and at this
supreme moment, when there is so much to rack and pain; I have joined the
tormentors.’
And so, do we not pain Jesus Christ? Mysterious as it is, yet it seems as if,
since it is true that we please Him when we are obeying Him, it must be
somehow true that we pain Him when we deny Him, and some kind of shadow
of grief may pass even over that glorified nature when we sin againstHim,
and forgetHim, and repay His love with indifference, and rejectHis counsel.
We know that in His earthly life there was no bitterer pang inflicted upon
Him than the one which the Psalmist prophesied, ‘He that ate bread with Me
hath lifted up his heel againstMe.’And we know that in the measure in which
human nature is purified and perfected, in that measure does it become more
susceptible and sensitive to the pain of faithless friends. Chilled love, rejected
endeavours to help-which are, perhaps, the deepestand the most spiritual of
sorrows whichmen can inflict upon one another, Jesus Christexperienced in
full measure, heapedup and running over. And we, even we today, may be
‘grieving the Holy Spirit of God, whereby we are sealedunto the day of
redemption.’ Christ’s knowledge ofthe Apostle’s denials brought pain to His
heart.
Again, the look spoke ofChrist’s love. There was in it saddened
disapprobation, but there was not in it any spark of anger;nor what, perhaps,
would be worse, any ice of withdrawal or indifference. But there even at that
supreme moment, lied againstby false witnesses, insulted and spit upon by
rude soldiers, rejectedby the priests as an impostor and a blasphemer, and on

His road to the Cross, when, if ever, He might have been absorbedin Himself,
was His heart at leisure from itself, and in divine and calm self-oblivion could
think of helping the poor denier that stoodtrembling there beneath His
glance. Thatis of a piece with the majestic, yet not repelling calm, which
marks the Lord in all His life, and which reaches its very climax in the Passion
and on the Cross. Justas, whilst nailed there, He had leisure to think of the
penitent thief, and of the weeping mother, and of the disciple whose loss of his
Lord would be compensatedby the gaining of her to take care of, so as He was
being borne to Pilate’s judgment, He turned with a love that forgot itself, and
poured itself into the denier’s heart. Is not that a divine and eternal revelation
for us? We speak ofthe love of a brother who, sinned againstseventy times
seven, yet forgives. We bow in reverence before the love of a mother who
cannot forget, but must have compassionon the son of her womb. We wonder
at the love of a father who goes out to seek the prodigal. But all these are less
than that love which beamed lambent from the eye of Christ, as it fell on the
denier, and which therein, in that one transitory glance, revealedfor the faith
and thankfulness of all ages aneternal fact. That love is steadfastas the
heavens, firm as the foundations of the earth. ‘Yea! the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed, but My loving kindness shall not depart, neither
shall the covenantof My peace be removed.’ It cannotbe frozen, into
indifference. It cannot be stirred into heat of anger. It cannotbe provokedto
withdrawal. Repelled, it returns; sinned against, it forgives;denied, it meekly
beams on in self-revelation;it hopeth all things, it beareth all things. And He
who, as He passedout to Pilate’s bar, castHis look of love on the denier, is
looking upon eachof us, if we would believe it, with the same look, pitiful and
patient, reproachful, and yet forgiving, which unveils all His love, and would
fain draw us in answering love, to castourselves atHis feet, and tell Him all
our sin.
And now, let us turn to the secondpoint that I suggested.
II. What the look did.

First, it tore awaythe veil that hid Peter’s sin from himself. He had not
thought that he was doing anything wrong when he denied. He had not
thought about anything but saving his own skin. If he had reflectedfor a
moment no doubt he would have found excuses, as we all cando. But when
Christ stoodthere, what had become of the excuses?As by a flash he saw the
ugliness of the deed that he himself had done. And there came, no doubt, into
his mind in aggravationofthe denial, all that had passedfrom that very first
day when he had come to Christ’s presence, all the confidences that had been
given to him, how his wife’s mother had been healed, how he himself had been
caredfor and educated, how he had been honoured and distinguished, how he
had boastedand vowed and hectoredthe day before. And so he ‘went out and
wept bitterly.’
Now our sin captures us by lying to us, by blinding our consciences. You
cannot hear the shouts of the men on the bank warning you of your danger
when you are in the midst of the rapids, and so our sin deafens us to the still
small voice of conscience.But nothing so surely reveals to us the true moral
characterof any of our actions, be they right or wrong, as bringing them
under Christ’s eye, and thinking to ourselves. ‘DurstI do that if He stood
there beside me and saw it?’ Petercould deny Him when He was at the far
end of the hall. He could not have denied Him if he had had Him by his side.
And if we will take our actions, especiallyany of them about which we are in
doubt, into His presence, thenit will be wonderful how consciencewillbe
enlightened and quickened, how the fiend will start up in his own shape, and
how poor and small the motives which tempted so strongly to do wrong will
come to look, when we think of adducing them to Jesus. Whatdid a maid-
servant’s flippant tongue matter to Peterthen? And how wretchedly
inadequate the reasonfor his denial lookedwhen Christ’s eye fell upon him.
The most recentsurgicalmethod of treating skin diseasesis to bring an
electric light, ten times as strong as the brightest streetlights, to bear upon the
diseasedpatch, and fifty minutes of that search-lightclears awaythe disease.
Bring the beam from Christ’s eye to bear on your lives, and you will see a

greatdeal of leprosy, and scurf, and lupus, and all that you see will be cleared
away. The look tore down the veil.
What more did it do? It melted the denier’s heart into sorrow. I can quite
understand a consciencebeing so enlightened as to be convinced of the evil of
a certain course, and yet there being none of that melting into sorrow, which,
as I believe, is absolutelynecessaryfor any permanent victory over sins. No
man will ever conquer his evil as long as he only shudderingly recoils from it.
He has to be brokendown into the penitential mood before he will secure the
victory over his sin. You remember the profound words in our Lord’s
pregnant parable of the seeds, how one class which transitorily was Christian,
had for its characteristic thatimmediately with joy they receivedthe word.
Yes; a Christianity that puts repentance into a parenthesis, and talks about
faith only, will never underlie a permanent and thorough moral reformation.
There is nothing that brings ‘godly sorrow,’so surely as a glimpse of Christ’s
love; and nothing that reveals the love so certainly as the ‘look.’You may
hammer at a man’s heart with law, principle, and moral duty, and all the rest
of it, and you may get him to feel that he is a very poor creature, but unless
the sunshine of Christ’s love shines down upon him, there will be no melting,
and if there is no melting there will be no permanent bettering.
And there was another thing that the look did. It tore awaythe veil from the
sin; it made rivers of waterflow from the melted heart in sorrow of true
repentance;and it kept the sorrow from turning into despair. Judas ‘went out
and hanged himself.’ Peter‘went out and wept bitterly.’ What made the one
the victim of remorse, and the other the glad child of repentance? How was it
that the one was stiffened into despair that had no tears, and the other was
savedbecause he could weep? Because the one saw his sin in the lurid light of
an awakenedconscience, andthe other saw his sin in the loving look of a
pardoning Lord. And that is how you and I ought to see our sins. Be sure,
dear friend, that the same long-suffering, patient love is looking down upon
eachof us, and that if we will, like Peter, let the look melt us into penitent self-

distrust and heart-sorrow for our clinging sins, then Jesus will do for us, as He
did for that penitent denier on the Resurrectionmorning. He will take us
apart by ourselves and speak healing words of forgiveness andreconciliation,
so that we, like him, will dare in spite of our faithlessness, to fall at His feet
and say, ‘Lord, Thou knowestall things; Thou knowestthat I, erst faithless
and treacherous, love Thee;and all the more because Thouhast forgiven the
denial and restoredthe denier.’
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
Peter’s Restoration BY SPURGEON
“And immediately, while he yet spoke, the cock crowed. And the Lord
turned and lookedupon Peter. And Peterremembered the word of the
Lord, how He had said unto him, Before the cock crowed, you shall
deny Me thrice. And Peterwent out and wept bitterly.”
Luke 22:60-62
PETER had fallen terribly. He had denied his Master, denied Him repeatedly,
denied Him with oaths, denied Him in His Presence, while His Masterwas
being smitten and falselycharged. He denied Him, though he was an Apostle.
Denied him, though he had declaredthat should all men forsake Him, yet he
never would. It was a sad, sadsin. Remember what led up to it. It was, first,
Peter’s presumption and self-confidence. He reckonedthat he could never
stumble and for that very reasonhe speedily fell. A haughty spirit goes before
a fall. Oh, that we might look to the roots of bitter flowers and destroy them!
If presumption is flourishing in the soil of our hearts today we shall soonsee
the evil fruit which will come of it. Reliance upon our firmness of character,
depth of experience, clearness ofinsight, or maturity in grace will, in the end,

land us in disgracefulfailure. We must either deny ourselves, orwe shall deny
our Lord. If we cleave to self-confidence, we shallnot cleave to Him.
Immediately, Peter’s denial was owing to cowardice. The brave Peterin the
presence ofa maid was ashamed. He could not bear to be pointed out as a
followerof the Galilean. He did not know what might follow upon it–but he
saw his Lord without a friend and felt that it was a lostcause and he did not
care to avow it. Only to think that Peter, under temporary discouragement,
should play the coward!Yet cowardice treads upon the heels of boasting–he
that thinks he canfight the world will be the first man to run away.
His sin also arose from his want of watchfulness. His Masterhad said to him,
“What, could you not watchwith Me one hour?” And no doubt there was
more meaning in the words than appearedon the surface. The Lord several
times said to him, “Pray, that you enter not into temptation.” The words were
repeatedwith deep impressiveness, forthey were greatly needed. But Peter
had not watched–he had been warming his hands. He did not pray–he felt too
strong in himself to be driven to specialprayer. Therefore, whenthe gusts of
temptation came, they found Peter’s boat unprepared for the storm and they
drove it upon a rock.
When Peter first denied his Mastera cock crowed. Petermust have heard that
crowing or he would not have communicated the fact to the Evangelists who
recordedit. But though he heard it, he was an example of those who have ears
but hear not. One would have thought that the warning would have touched
his conscience.But it did not. And when the cock croweda secondtime, after
he had committed three denials, it might not have awakenedhim from his
dreadful sleepif a higher instrumentality had not been used, namely, a look
from the Lord Jesus.
God keepus free from this spirit of slumber, for it is to the last degree
dangerous!Peterwas under the direful influence of Satan, for it was a night
wherein the powers of darkness were speciallyactive. “This is your hour,”
said Jesus, “andthe power of darkness.” Thatsame influence which assailed
the Saviorunsuccessfully–for, saidHe, “the prince of this world comes and
has nothing in Me”–assailedPeterwith sad result. For the Evil One had
something in Peterand he soonfound it out. The sparks from Satan’s flint
and steelfell upon our Lord as upon water. But Peter’s heart was like a
tinder-box. And when the sparks fell, they found fuel there. Oh, that we may
be kept from the assaults ofSatan!
“Leadus not into temptation” is a necessaryprayer. But the next petition is
speciallynoteworthy–“but deliver us from the Evil One.” A man never gets

anything out of the devil, even if he conquers him. You will find in combat
with him that even if you win the victory, you come off with gashes and
wounds of which you will carry the scars to your grave. “All the while,” says
Mr. Bunyan, while Christian was fighting with Apollyon, “I did note that he
did not so much as give one smile.” Oh no, there is nothing to smile about
when the arch-enemy is upon us. He is such a masterof the cruel art of soul-
wounding, that every stroke tells.
He knows our weak places in the present. He brings to remembrance our
errors in the past and he paints in blackestcolors the miseries of the future
and so seeks to destroyour faith. All his darts are fiery ones. It takes all a
man’s strength and a greatdeal more to ward off his cunning and cruel cuts.
The worstof it is that as in Peter’s case,he casts a spell over men so that they
do not fight at all but yield themselves an easyprey. Our Saviorsaid to Peter,
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satanhas desired to have you, that he may sift you as
wheat: but I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not.” Peterwas as much
under the powerof Satanas corn is in the hand of the man who winnows it.
He went up and down in that sieve like a helpless thing and so passedfrom
simple falsehoodto plain denials of his Masterwith oaths and curses.
I desire in this discourse to speak chiefly of Peter’s restoration. Peterwas
down. But he was soonup again. One writer says the story should rather be
calledPeter’s restorationthan Peter’s fall. His fall was soonover–he was like
a little child learning to walk, scarcelydownbefore his mother has him up
again. It was not a continuance in a sin, like that of David, who remained for
months without repentance. But it was the quick speechofa man carried
awayby sudden temptation and it was followedby a speedy repentance. Upon
his restorationwe are going to meditate.
It was brought about by two outward means. I like to think of the singular
combination–the crowing of the cock and a look from the Lord. When I come
to preach to you it almostmakes me smile to think that God should save a soul
through me. I may find a fit image of myself in the poor rooster. Mine is poor
crowing. But as the Master’s look wentwith the bird’s crowing, so, I trust, it
will go with my feeble preaching. The next time you also go out to try and win
a soul for Jesus, sayto yourself, “I cannot do it–I cannotmelt a hard,
rebellious heart. But yet the Lord may use me. And if there comes a happy
conjunction of my feeble words with my Lord’s potent look, then the heart
will dissolve in streams of repentance.”
Crow away, poor bird–if Jesus looks while you are crowing, you will not crow
in vain–but Peter’s heart will break. The two things are joined togetherand
let no man put them asunder– commonplace instrumentality and the Divine

Worker. Christ has all the glory and all the more glory because He works by
humble means. I trust that there will be, this morning, a conjunction of the
weakness ofthe preacherwith the strength of the Holy Spirit so that stony
hearts may be brokenand God glorified.
This morning, first, let us look at the Lord who looked. And secondlylet us
look into the look which the Lord looked. And then, thirdly, let us look at
Peter, upon whom the Lord looked. We will be all the while looking–mayour
Lord look upon us. May His Holy Spirit work with His Holy Word!
1. First, LET US LOOK AT THE LORD, WHO LOOKED UPON
PETER. Canyou picture Him up there in the hall, up yonder steps,
before the high priest and the council? Peter is down below in the area
of the house warming his hands at the fire. Can you see the Lord Jesus
turning round and fixing His eyes intently upon His erring disciple?
What do you see in that look?
I see in that look, first, that which makes me exclaim–Whatthoughtful love!
Jesus is bound, He is accused, He has just been smitten on the face–but His
thought is of wandering Peter. You want all your wits about you when you are
before cruel judges and are calledupon to answerfalse charges. Youare the
more tried when there is no man to stand by you, or bear witness on your
behalf–it is natural, at such an hour–that all your thoughts should be engaged
with your own cares and sorrows. It would have been no reproach had the
thoughts of our Lord been concentratedon His personalsufferings. And all
the less so because these were forthe sake ofothers.
But our blessedMasteris thinking of Peter and His heart is going out towards
His unworthy disciple. That same influence which made His heart drive out its
store of blood through every pore of His body in the bloody sweatnow acted
upon His soul and drove His thoughts outward towards that member of His
mystical body which was mostin danger. Peterwas thought of when the
Redeemerwas standing to be mockedand reviled. Blessedbe His dear name,
Jesus always has an eye for His people, whether He is in His shame or in His
Glory.
Jesus always has an eye for those for whom He shed His blood. Though now
He reigns in Glory, He still looks steadilyupon His own–His delight is in them
and His care is over them. There was not a particle of selfishness aboutour
Savior. “He savedothers; Himself He could not save.” He lookedto others but
He never lookedto Himself. I see, then, in our Lord’s looking upon Peter, a
wondrously thoughtful love.

I exclaim, next, What a boundless condescension!If our Lord’s eyes had
wandered that day upon “that other disciple” that was knownto the high
priest, or if He had even lookedupon some of the servants of the house, we
should not have been so astonished. But when Jesus turns, it is to look upon
Peter, the man from whom we should naturally have turned awayour faces,
after his wretchedconduct. He had actedmost shamefully and cruelly and yet
the Master’s eyes soughthim out in boundless pity! If there is a man here who
feels himself to be near akin to the devil, I pray the Lord to look first at him.
If you feel as if you have sinned yourself out of the pale of humanity by having
castoff all goodthings and by having denied the Lord that bought you, yet
still considerthe amazing mercy of the Lord. If you are one of His, His pitying
eyes will find you out. For even now it follows you as it did Hagar, when she
cried, “Godsee me.” But oh, the compassionof that look!When first I
understood that the Lord lookedon me with love in the midst of my sin, it did
seemso wonderful! He whom the heavens adore, before whose sight the whole
universe is stretched out as on a map, yet passes by all the glories of Heaven
that He may fix His tender gaze upon a wandering sheepand may in great
mercy bring it back againto the fold. For the Lord of Glory to look upon a
disciple who denies Him is boundless condescension!
But then, again, what tender wisdom do I see here! “The Lord turned and
lookedupon Peter.” He knew bestwhat to do–He did not speak to him but
lookedupon him. He had spokento Peter before and that voice had calledhim
to be a fisher of men. He had given PeterHis hand before and saved him from
a watery grave when he was beginning to sink. But this time He gives him
neither His voice nor His hand but that which was equally effectual and
intensely suitable–He lent him His eyes–“The Lordlookedupon Peter.”
How wiselydoes Christ always choosethe way of expressing His affectionand
working our good!If He had spokento Peter, the mob would have assailed
him, or at leastthe ribald crowdwould have remarked upon the sorrow of the
Masterand the treacheryof the disciple–ourgracious Lord will never
needlesslyexpose the faults of His chosen. Possiblyno words could have
expressedall that was thrown into that look of compassion. Why, Brethren, a
volume as big as a Bible is contained within that look of Jesus.
I defy all the tongues and all the pens in the world to tell us all that our Divine
Lord meant by that look. Our Savior employed the most prudent, the most
comprehensive, the most useful method of speaking to the heart of His erring
follower. He lookedvolumes into him. His glance was a Divine hieroglyphic
full of unutterable meanings which it conveyedin a more clearand vivid way
than words could have done.

As I think of that look again, I am compelled to cry out–What Divine poweris
here! Why, dear Friends, this look workedwonders. I sometimes preachwith
all my soul to Peterand, alas–he likes my sermon and forgets it. I have known
Peterread a goodbook full of most powerful pleading and when he has read it
through, he has shut it up and gone to sleep. I remember my Peterwhen he
lost his wife and one would have thought it would have touched him and it
did–with some natural feeling. Yet he did not return to the Lord, whom he
had forsakenbut continued in his backsliding.
See, then, how our Lord cando with a look what we cannot do with a sermon!
What the most powerful writer cannotdo with hundreds of pages and what
affliction cannot do with even its heavieststroke. The Lord lookedand Peter
wept bitterly. I cannot help thinking with Isaac Williams that there is a
majestic simplicity in the expressions here used–“The Lord turned and looked
upon Peter. And Peterwent out and wept bitterly.” The passagereminds us of
that first of Genesis–“AndGod said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
As the Lord lookedunto the host of the Egyptians and troubled the Egyptians,
so did He now look into Peter’s heart and his thoughts troubled him. Oh, the
powerof the Lord Christ! If there was this powerabout Him when He was
bound before His accusers, whatis His power now that He is able to save unto
the uttermost them that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make
intercessionfor them? In that look there was Divinity. The Son of Godlooked
upon Peter–the text does not use the name Jesus but it expressly says, “The
Lord turned and lookedupon Peter.” That Divine look did the deed.
Let me beg you to note what sacredteaching is here. The teaching is of
practicalvalue and should be at once carried out by the followers ofJesus.
You, dear Friend, are a Christian man or a Christian woman. You have been
kept by Divine Grace from anything like disgracefulsin. Thank God it is so. I
dare say if you look within you will find much to be ashamedof. But yet you
have been kept from presumptuous and open sins. Alas, one who was once a
friend of yours has disgracedhimself–he was a little while ago a member of
the Church but he has shamefully turned aside. You cannot excuse his sin–on
the contrary, you are forcedto feel greatindignation againsthis folly, his
untruthfulness, his wickedness.
He has causedthe enemies of the Lord to blaspheme and has done awful
mischief to the cause ofrighteousness. Now Iknow what will be suggestedto
you. You will be inclined to cut his acquaintance, to disown him altogether
and scarcelyto look at him if you meet him in the street. This is the manner of
men–but not the manner of Jesus. Icharge you, act not in so un-Christlike a
manner. The Lord turned and lookedon Peter–willnot His servants look on

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