May 8, 2022
What Happened When He Quit Crying
Darkness reigned. Violence had the upper hand that
night in the city of Jerusalem. Moments from praying in anguish, on his knees
in the Mount of Olives garden, Jesus had been seized by callous Roman soldiers.
Forcefully they marched him like a criminal toward the home of the high priest.
Jesus’
disciples had fled, except for Peter. Having followed the soldiers at a
distance, he was now in the courtyard, bewildered and cold. He joined others
who were warming their hands by a fire. Looking closely at him, a servant girl cried
out, “This man was with Jesus!” Peter replied acidly, “Woman, I don’t even know
the man!” Soon, someone else accused Peter of being a friend of Jesus. Again,
Peter responded sharply, “Man, I am not!” Later, when it was almost morning,
another man declared he was certain Peter was a disciple of Jesus. Angrily,
Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about!”
At
that very moment, as Peter was spitting out those words, he heard the sound of
a rooster crowing. He immediately looked toward Jesus, who was standing nearby
with the soldiers. Jesus was looking straight at him. As their eyes met, Peter
wanted to die as he remembered the words Jesus had spoken to him hours earlier,
“Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” Shattered by
his shame, Peter turned and ran outside the courtyard, weeping bitterly.
He
was a broken man. Only days before he had been the outspoken leader of the
disciples. He was “the Big Fisherman.” Now, embarrassed and humiliated, he felt
the terrible weight of his denial crushing his soul. A faithful disciple of
Jesus? No, he thought, “I am a fraud! a
hypocrite! I boasted that I would die
for Jesus, but now I am hiding like a coward while Jesus is out there being
beaten half to death!”
You
can see him there sobbing, his body shaking, his heart breaking with anguish
that made breathing difficult. Disgrace was never more burdensome for a man.
Yet he did not opt for suicide, as Judas had. What happened? Why did he stop
crying and repent of his sins? How did a man who was such a failure become a
great leader of the Christian movement?
I
believe it was what he saw in the eyes of Jesus while the rooster was crowing.
What Peter saw was the compassion of the God whose love endures forever. He saw
no condemnation in the eyes of Jesus. He saw grace, the unmerited grace of the
Lord who loves us in spite of our sins. He saw love, the redeeming love that
can deliver us from the shame of our failures and give us new lives of fruitful
service. He saw forgiveness, that beautiful gift of God that frees us from sin
and gives us the power to live a life that honors the Christ who died so we
might come alive to God.
In
a world where so many people define themselves by their failures, should we not
invite them to define themselves by the grace of God? Should we not tell those
who are weeping in shameful failure the beautiful story of a man called Peter?
Please say Yes, we should; and go do it! + + +