He Went Outside And Wept Bitterly

Luke 22: 60-62 Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly.

         That must have hurt. To say what Peter said, when he said it. And to then have the Lord turn and look straight at Peter after his third denial of Jesus must have cut Peter to the quick. Peter’s brash statement of mere hours before is captured for all to read in Matthew 26:33 "Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will."  The denial by Peter was complete. The truth told by Christ in verse 34 must have struck Peter to the core. "Truly I tell you," Jesus answered, "this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times."  And to add salt to the wound are the words Peter countered with. "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you."   We know that this denial was felt deeply by Peter because he is reported to have wept bitterly.  A tragic scene is what would describe what we have just read.  Peter’s denial of Christ is complete.  No one could reasonably be left with any other impression. And in spite of all this, God used Peter as the rock to build his church. We know this because Jesus tells us this is how it will be in Matthew 16: 17-19 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."   God has a wonderful way of using those who would seem to be unfit, or in our eyes a poor choice to serve his purpose.  This is also true of the Apostle Paul. He spent much of the first part of his life persecuting those early followers of Christ. And then God uses Paul in a remarkable manner to spread His Gospel. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

         The word that captures what is going on here is redemption.  Christ died to redeem all sinners.  Not just those who think they sin little sins. He died on that cross for all sinners. The slate was wiped clean for you, for me, and for all mankind.  Mark 16:15-16 captures what it is all about.  He (Jesus) said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.  We who are just as flawed and prone to making mistakes as Peter and Paul are recipients of that same grace and redemption that Peter and Paul embraced so gratefully in their lives and ministries.  That is truly a cause for tears, tears of joy to gush from all.

Prayer:  Father, thank You for Your grace, love and redemption, Amen.