The Sign Of Understanding
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Luke 22:54-62 54 Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest’s house. But Peter followed at a distance. 55 Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. 56 And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, “This man was also with Him.” 57 But he denied Him, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” 58 And after a little while another saw him and said, “You also are of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59 Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, “Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying!” Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 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.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… I wonder if you have ever felt the strangeness of seeming unreality which surrounds the words of our text: “And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter… And Peter went out and wept bitterly.” This is one of the few silent moments in a long night that was filled with shouting and lying and noise. One of the night’s most significant events came when two men suddenly looked at each other. The hour was perhaps close to dawn. It was the end of a long and bitter night. Men were trying literally to get rid of their God.
In this scene there were two men. One, Jesus, was only about ten hours away from death. The other, Peter, had just told a group of people around the fire that he did not know the Man who was going to His death. 58 And after a little while another saw him and said, “You also are of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59 Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, “Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying!”
And just then a rooster crowed to greet the dawn. The Prisoner, Jesus, being led from one area of the palace to another, passed through the yard where there was a fire. He looked at the other man, Peter, who stood there. It was only a look. And suddenly the gate slammed, and out into the cold dawn fled the man who had been so loud and brave a short time before. He ran away and down the silent streets to hide himself in a corner of the great city. And as he ran, tears poured down his face. They were hot and bitter tears, washing away something that was like dirt on his face but blood on his soul.
Certainly this is a strange scene, and it is worth our time to examine it a bit more closely. Just what happened there? The scene cannot be clear unless we understand that its meaning is far and deep and holy. Here at dawn, in one man looking at another, we catch a glimpse, revealing, terrifying, and healing, of the true meaning of the Christian faith.
Surely every thoughtful man or woman has, at times, asked the question: Just what is this religion which has captivated the world for two thousand years? There is a snapshot of it here in the courtyard at dawn. In the long history of Christianity some have said that the Christian religion is essentially a system of doctrines to be believed. If you know the doctrines and believe them, you are a Christian. This, of course, is only partially true; but this alone would not explain the look which our Lord gave Peter or the resulting sudden tears.
There are others who have said Christianity is a way of life. Until recent years this has been the great modern heresy, particularly in our own country. This, of course, is also only partially true. In one sense Christianity is a way of life. But this definition, too, is far from complete.
This scene, as few others in the Scriptures, shows again that Christianity is basically and essentially a living relationship with Christ. It is always and forever the relationship of a redeemed human soul to the redeeming Jesus Christ in faith, in love, in trust, in obedience, in all the ways in which one person is connected to another. This is real Christianity, nothing more and nothing less.
Now we can begin to understand what happened in the palace courtyard at dawn. As Peter was standing by the fire, lying to save his own hide, he had broken that relationship to his Lord. He had literally thrown it away. He had turned against his Friend, his Savior, his King. When Jesus turned and looked at Peter, that is when Peter suddenly was given to realize what he had done. He saw with his own eyes the Person and the relationship he had betrayed and thrown away; he saw and remembered with his own eyes what he had forgotten. And then there was nothing to do but to stumble out into the dark, blinded by tears, afraid and alone, until another dawn a few weeks later when he would hear the voice of his Savior again, compelling, healing, and warm, by the lake: “Simon, son of John, do you truly love Me more than these?” (Jn 21:15)
Certainly all of us, if we are honest with ourselves and with God, will have to say that we have done the same sort of thing. Perhaps we have not done it quite so obviously or so publicly, but then again, maybe we have. There have been hours when we have forgotten. We have broken the bond between Jesus Christ and our soul. We, too, have stood by the sputtering little fires of our lusts, our greed, our hate, our tongues, our envy, our malice. We have spoken and acted as if we had never even heard of Jesus Christ.
It is clear that a pattern for denial of Christ was set that night, for a denial always has four parts. (1) It begins with a bad situation. Peter should never have been standing by the fire. And there are times in our lives when we never should be where we were or doing what we were doing. And in so doing we set ourselves up for failure and denial. (2) There comes a moment of forgetfulness. We want to be accepted by our friends, peers, co-workers. We want to be part of the crowd, no matter how bad and how evil it may be. (3) The break always comes. In our time and in our lives, it is usually a denial by deed rather than by word. We do something which, in its very nature, is a denial of our Lord.
(4) We can thank God that there is always the sign of understanding, there is always the look of our Lord. Sometimes it is long in coming. There may be years of seemingly just getting by. But it is necessary that we mark it down and be certain that the look of our Lord always comes. He always turns around to give us the look. Sometimes He looks at us in the still, small voice of our conscience, telling us that we did wrong and reminding us that we are indeed a poor, sinful person.
Sometimes He sees us in the voice of our pastor, the warning of a true friend, or a word from the Scriptures which suddenly strikes our mind and soul. But make no mistake; He always turns around! He turns around to look at us and tell us that we are playing with life and with fire and dragging the sorrow of the ages across His soul, that we are breaking His heart and our own. If that realization leads to tears of regret and shame and repentance, then good! It means that we, too, as Peter, are on the road to a new day, a tender voice, remembering, and forgiving: “Do you love Me more than these?”
It is vitally important for us to understand fully what our Lord’s look can do. For this reason we examine it very closely. What was there in the look of our Lord that brought Peter’s world crashing about his ears and sent him out into the night in tears? Was it anger? No man who has merely been scolded has ever gone out into the night as Peter did. Was it reproach? Some, perhaps, but that was not all.
The great, crushing power in that look, the force which drove Peter into the night with heaven crying in his heart, the one thing that would remain with him in all the long and lonely years of wandering around the Mediterranean world, the one great power which would lift him, keep him, and drive him… was love.
It was the look of understanding that Jesus gave to Peter that night. The look which said, “Oh, Peter, I know your situation. I know you didn’t really want to say and do those things. And I want you to know that I love you no matter what. I am about to go to the horrid cross and die for you and all mankind, Peter. That is how and how much I love you. And I want you to be with Me.”
This, then, is the sign of understanding and of love. It was only a glance, but in that glance were all the memories of blessed companionship and all the unending tenderness the Shepherd had for one of His sheep that temporarily had lost his way.
“And Peter went out and wept bitterly.” In heaven the recording angel wrote his name, indelibly and forever, among those who were b brought back home again by God’s love. This is the Christian Gospel – that Jesus Christ loves His own to death and back to life again by taking the sins of all mankind into Himself and paying the eternal price that we could not. This is the sign of understanding and forgiveness. In it is the greatness of God-given faith and the power of God’s love. This is the Gospel of another chance. This is the Gospel of unconditional love and forgiveness which can only come from our Lord Jesus Christ.
And it is yours, dear fellow redeemed. It is yours because God the Father has gifted you with His endless love and forgiveness in Christ. Christ suffered, died, and rose again for you in order to make you His own dear child. And that is exactly what you are: His forever.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
