61.<\/strong> the Lord turned<\/em>, and looked upon Peter<\/em> ] St Luke alone preserves this most touching incident. Jesus must have looked on 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 East muck’ad);<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Verse 61. The Lord turned, and looked upon Peter.<\/B><\/I>] See Clarke on <\/span>Mt 26:75<\/span><\/span>, where this delicate reproof is particularly noted.<\/P><\/p>\n 61. And the Lord turned, and lookedupon Peter<\/B>(Also see on Mr14:72<\/span>.)<\/P><\/p>\n And the Lord turned<\/strong>,…. 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:<\/p>\n and looked upon Peter<\/strong>; with his bodily eyes, with great earnestness, expressing in his looks concern and 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:<\/p>\n and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, before the cock crow, thou shall deny me thrice<\/strong>;<\/p>\n [See comments on Mt 26:75]<\/span>.<\/p>\n The Lord turned <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Second aorist passive participle of <\/SPAN><\/span>, coming verb. Graphic picture drawn by Luke alone.<\/P> Looked upon Peter <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Ingressive aorist active indicative of <\/SPAN><\/span>, an old and vivid verb, to glance at.<\/P> Remembered <\/B> (<\/SPAN><\/span>). First aorist passive indicative of <\/SPAN><\/span>, common verb to remind one of something (<\/SPAN><\/span> giving a suggestion or hint). The cock crowing and the look brought swiftly back to Peter’s mind the prophecy of Jesus and his sad denials. The mystery is how he had forgotten that warning. <\/P> <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 1) “And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter.” <\/strong>(kai strapheis ho kurios eneblepsen to Petro) “And upon turning the Lord looked (glanced) at Peter,” when the cock crowed this second time. Jesus turned from His accusers to look upon His friend, who had denied Him for the third time, with oaths and cursings.<\/p>\n 2) “And Peter remembered the word of the Lord,” <\/strong>(kai hupemnesthe ho Petros tou logou tou kuriou) “And Peter remembered (recalled) the word of the Lord,” or thought thereon, Mar 14:72<\/span>.<\/p>\n 3) “How he had said unto him,” <\/strong>(his eipen auto) “As he had told it to him,” Mar 14:72<\/span>.<\/p>\n 4) “Before the cock crow,” <\/strong>(hoti prin aldktora pheonesai semeron) “That before a cock sounds (crows) today,” Mar 14:72<\/span>.<\/p>\n 5) “Thou shalt deny me thrice.” <\/strong>(aparnese me tris) “You will deny me three times,” Mar 14:72<\/span>; Mat 26:75<\/span>.<\/p>\n (61) And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter.<\/strong>The glance which was thus the turning point of Peters life, is mentioned only by St. Luke. As he was sitting in the porch, our Lord must have looked on 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<\/em> turned, points, probably, as in other instances, to its having been gathered by St. Luke from his informants at a time when that mode of naming Him had become habitual; and possibly in answer to 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.<\/p>\n ‘And the Lord turned, and looked on Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crow this day you will deny me three times.” ’<\/p>\n And at that moment he became aware of Jesus, possibly at this point being led through the courtyard from one trial to another. And as his eyes lighted on Him, the Lord turned and looked at him. It was immediately clear to Peter that He knew exactly what had happened. And he remembered the words of Jesus and recognised the truth about what he had done. Within the aura of the Light of the world all his excuses collapsed. The truth was that instead of bearing witness to Jesus’ innocence he had not only sat by and done nothing, he had denied him vehemently. Jesus’ words had been fulfilled to the letter. He had denied his Lord three times.<\/p>\n DISCOURSE: 1580 Luk 22:61-62<\/span>. And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shall deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly<\/em>.<\/p>\n THE fidelity of the sacred historians is a strong argument for the truth of what they wrote, and for the divine commission which they bore. Had they been impostors, they would never have recorded all their own failings in such an artless and faithful manner. A greater blemish could scarcely exist in the character of an Apostle, than that which is here exposed: and yet it is not only mentioned by all the four Evangelists, but St. Mark, who wrote his Gospel under the immediate inspection of St. Peter himself, is most diffuse in aggravating the crime, and most reserved in noticing the repentance: he tells us of Peters oaths and curses; but observes only, that he wept: whereas St. Luke, who omits the former, tells us, that he wept bitterly. The immediate occasion of Peters repentance is mentioned only by St. Luke. It should seem, that his heart was affected by the expressive look which our Lord gave him. I.<\/p>\n What that look expressed<\/p>\n We may be certain that there was nothing vindictive in it Nevertheless it, doubtless, conveyed a reproof to Peter But the principal thing expressed in that look, we apprehend to have been pity and compassion That something inexpressibly moving was intimated in that look, cannot be doubted, if we consider,<\/p>\n II.<\/p>\n What effect it produced<\/p>\n A voice from heaven could not have been attended with a more instantaneous or powerful effect on the mind of Peter:<\/p>\n 1.<\/p>\n It brought his sin to remembrance<\/p>\n [It is astonishing to see how awfully the conscience even of a child of God may, on some occasions, be lulled asleep. David, after his fall, seemed wholly insensible of his wickedness, for no less than nine months. While he was disposed to punish, with most excessive severity, a crime of infinitely less enormity than that which he had committed, he appeared unconscious of having himself contracted any guilt at all [Note: 2Sa 12:1-7<\/span>.]. Thus it was with Peter on this occasion. He had denied his Master; he had repeated that denial with yet greater vehemence; and no less than an hour had clapsed without his discovering any signs of penitence and contrition [Note: ver. 59.]. His heart even seemed to be more and more hardened: for, not contented with continuing to deny his Lord, he added oaths to his protestations, and perjury to lies.<\/p>\n And is it not thus with too many professors of religion, who allow themselves in pride, envy, malice, wrath, covetousness, impurity, or some other secret evil, and go on from year to year without being sensible that they have done any thing amiss? Perhaps there may be instances, wherein even a follower of Christ has acquired unjust gains, defrauding his customers by false weights and measures, or by bad commodities: defrauding the revenue too by withholding customs, and taxes, that were clearly due. O that the consciences of all such persons might be awakened from their lethargy, and be excited to remonstrate against such unchristian practices! 2.<\/p>\n It filled him with compunction and contrition<\/p>\n [Instantly his heart bled with a sense of sin, and was tortured with the bitterest anguish. Had Jesus reproached him with severity, it is probable he would have yielded to despondency, and sought refuge in suicide, from the horrors of a guilty conscience. But the look that pierced his soul poured also a healing balm into the wound. He could now no longer continue in the company of the ungodly, or indulge a vain curiosity respecting the issue of his Masters trial: his heart was now full; and he sought retirement, that he might give vent to his feelings, and implore that mercy which he so greatly needed. To improve this subject, let us consider, To what a shameful state the most exalted Christian may be reduced, if he be left to himself one single moment!<\/p>\n [Who, that had been witness to Peters confession of Christ [Note: Mat 16:16<\/span>.], or had seen him jump into the sea to embrace his Master [Note: Joh 21:7<\/span>.], or had beheld him wielding a sword in his defence [Note: Joh 18:10<\/span>.], and above all, had heard his promises of being faithful unto death [Note: Mar 14:31<\/span>.], would have supposed that, in so short a time, this most favoured Apostle should so grievously transgress? Let this then be a lesson to us all. Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall [Note: 1Co 10:12<\/span>.]. Let every one of us remember, that there is not any sin whatever, which we shall not commit, if we be left to ourselves; and let our daily prayer be, Hold thou up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not; hold thou me up, and I shall be safe [Note: Psa 17:5<\/span>; Psa 119:117<\/span>.]]<\/p>\n 2.<\/p>\n How connected and precipitous are the ways of sin!<\/p>\n [Peter began by indulging a confidence in his own strength: then he followed Jesus afar off [Note: ver. 54.]: then he mixed himself needlessly with ungodly company [Note: ver. 55.]: then he yielded to the fear of man: and then he denied his Lord with oaths and curses. And have not we also found that we have proceeded from one sin to another; and that, when once we have given advantage to the enemy, he has prevailed against us in a far greater degree than we ever could have imagined? Let us then inquire, whether there have not been some warnings given us of which we are unmindful; some resolutions, which, having been made in our own strength, we have violated in the hour of temptation? Let us inquire, whether we be not at this moment walking at too great a distance from our Lord? whether we be not influenced by the fear of man? whether we be not associating too much with the enemies of our Lord? or whether there be not some other sin, which we allowedly indulge? Let us remember, that to descend is easy; and that, when we enter on the downward road, none but God can tell where we shall stop [Note: Compare Ecclus. 9:1, with Pro 28:18<\/span>.].]<\/p>\n 3.<\/p>\n How unbounded is the compassion of our blessed Lord!<\/p>\n [Well might our Lord have exposed Peter to those whom he feared: or rather, well might the insulted Jesus have looked him dead upon the spot, even as Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead with a lie in their mouths [Note: Act 5:1-10<\/span>.]. But that compassionate Saviour cast only on his apostate servant a look of love and pity; yea, and that too, in the very midst of his sin.<\/p>\n And may we not suppose, that he is at this very moment looking in the same manner on some amongst us, who have dishonoured their profession, and grieved him by their unworthy conduct? Let us endeavour to realize this thought. Let us examine whether there be not a cause, which our blinded consciences have been too backward to condemn? And, if we can find any thing that has grieved his soul, let us instantly go home, and weep bitterly, till he forgive us. Let us then think on our ways, and turn unto Gods testimonies: let us make haste, and not delay<\/em>, to keep his commandments [Note: Psa 119:59-60<\/span>.].]<\/p>\n<\/p>\n 61 And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Ver. 61. And looked upon Peter<\/strong> ] A stroke from guilt broke Judas’ heart into despair: but a look from Christ broke Peter’s heart into tears. <\/p>\n 61.<\/strong> ] See extract from Robinson’s notes on Mat 26:69<\/span> . If, as there supposed, the trial was going on in an open chamber looking on the court<\/em> ( ), the look might well have been given from a considerable distance. We<\/em> need not enquire, how<\/em> our Lord could hear what was going on round the fire in the court, as some Commentators have done. But even were such an enquiry necessary, I see no difficulty in answering it. The anathemas of Peter, spoken to with vehemence, and the crowing of the cock, were not these audible? But our Lord needed not these to attract His attention.<\/p>\n Luk 22:61<\/span> . , etc., the Lord, turning, looked at Peter; that look, not the cock crowing, recalled the prophetic word of Jesus, and brought about the penitent reaction. , remembered, was reminded, passive here only in N.T.<\/p>\n Luke<\/p>\n IN THE HIGH PRIEST’ S PALACE<\/p>\n CHRIST’S LOOK<\/p>\n Luk 22:61 <\/strong> .<\/p>\n All four Evangelists tell the story of Peter’s threefold denial and swift repentance, but we owe the knowledge of this look of Christ’s to Luke only. The other Evangelists connect the sudden change in the denier with his hearing the cock crow only, but according to Luke there were two causes co-operating to bring about that sudden repentance, for, he says, ‘Immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter.’ And we cannot doubt that it was the Lord’s look enforcing the fulfilment of His prediction of the cock-crow that broke down the denier.<\/p>\n 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 least is clear from them all, that Jesus was away at the upper, probably the raised, end of the great hall, 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, and picture the whole scene ourselves, we are obliged to suppose that that look, which smote Peter into swift collapse of penitence, 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 looked upon Peter,’ and then He passed from his sight for ever, as he would fear.<\/p>\n I wish, then, to deal-although it must be very imperfectly and inadequately-with that look that changed this man. And I desire to consider two things about it: what it said, and what it did.<\/p>\n I. What it said.-It spoke of Christ’s knowledge, of Christ’s pain, of Christ’s love.<\/p>\n <\/strong> Of Christ’s knowledge-I have already suggested that we cannot suppose that the Prisoner at one end of the hall, intensely occupied with the questionings and argumentation of the priests, and with the false witnesses, could have 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 accompanied with execrations, which seemed to have been repeated in the porch without. But as He passed the 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 feet and said, ‘Lord! Thou knowest all things. Thou didst know what Thou didst not hear, my muttered recreancy and treason, and my blurted out oaths of denial. Thou knowest all things.’ No wonder that when he stood up amongst the Apostles after the Resurrection and 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 knowest the hearts of all men.’ But let us remember that this-call it, if you like, supernatural-knowledge which Jesus Christ had of the denial, is only one of a great body of facts in His life, if we accept these Gospels, which show that, as one of the Evangelists says, at almost 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 greeted as 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 greeted another of this little group, ‘When thou wast under the fig-tree I saw thee.’ It is on the same line as the words with which He penetrated to the unspoken thoughts of His churlish entertainer when He said, ‘Simon! I have somewhat to say unto 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, each of 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 away from 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:<\/p>\n ‘Though now ascended up on high,<\/p>\n He bends on earth a Brother’s eye.’<\/p>\n <\/em> And we have not only to feel that the eye that looks upon us is cognisant of 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 wherever His glance fell there His help was sure, and there were illumination and blessedness. The look spoke of Christ’s knowledge.<\/p>\n Again, it spoke of Christ’s pain. Peter had not thought that he was hurting his Master by 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 of the same impulsiveness which also led it to yield swiftly to good influences, 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 cowardice would have plucked up courage to ‘confess, and deny not but confess,’ that he belonged to 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.’<\/p>\n 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 against Him, and forget Him, and repay His love with indifference, and reject His 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 against Me.’ 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 deepest and the most spiritual of sorrows which men can inflict upon one another, Jesus Christ experienced in full measure, heaped up and running over. And we, even we today, may be ‘grieving the Holy Spirit of God, whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption.’ Christ’s knowledge of the Apostle’s denials brought pain to His heart.<\/p>\n Again, the look spoke of Christ’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 against by false witnesses, insulted and spit upon by rude soldiers, rejected by the priests as an impostor and a blasphemer, and on His road to the Cross, when, if ever, He might have been absorbed in Himself, was His heart at leisure from itself, and in divine and calm self-oblivion could think of helping the poor denier that stood trembling there beneath His glance. That is 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. Just as, 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 compensated by 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 of the love of a brother who, sinned against seventy times seven, yet forgives. We bow in reverence before the love of a mother who cannot forget, but must have compassion on 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, revealed for the faith and thankfulness of all ages an eternal fact. That love is steadfast as 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 covenant of My peace be removed.’ It cannot be frozen, into indifference. It cannot be stirred into heat of anger. It cannot be provoked to 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 passed out to Pilate’s bar, cast His look of love on the denier, is looking upon each of 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 cast ourselves at His feet, and tell Him all our sin.<\/p>\n And now, let us turn to the second point that I suggested.<\/p>\n II. What the look did.<\/p>\n <\/strong> First, it tore away the 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 reflected for a moment no doubt he would have found excuses, as we all can do. But when Christ stood there, 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 aggravation of the denial, all that had passed from 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 cared for and educated, how he had been honoured and distinguished, how he had boasted and vowed and hectored the day before. And so he ‘went out and wept bitterly.’<\/p>\n Now our<\/em> 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 character of any of our actions, be they right or wrong, as bringing them under Christ’s eye, and thinking to ourselves. ‘Durst I do that if He stood there beside me and saw it?’ Peter could 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, especially any of them about which we are in doubt, into His presence, then it will be wonderful how conscience will be 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. What did a maid-servant’s flippant tongue matter to Peter then? And how wretchedly inadequate the reason for his denial looked when Christ’s eye fell upon him. The most recent surgical method of treating skin diseases is to bring an electric light, ten times as strong as the brightest street lights, to bear upon the diseased patch, and fifty minutes of that search-light clears away the disease. Bring the beam from Christ’s eye to bear on your lives, and you will see a great deal of leprosy, and scurf, and lupus, and all that you see will be cleared away. The look tore down the veil.<\/p>\n What more did it do? It melted the denier’s heart into sorrow. I can quite understand a conscience being 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 absolutely necessary for 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 broken down 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 that immediately with joy they received the 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.<\/p>\n And there was another thing that the look did. It tore away the veil from the sin; it made rivers of water flow 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 saved because he could weep? Because the one saw his sin in the lurid light of an awakened conscience, and the 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 each of 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 Resurrection morning. He will take us apart by ourselves and speak healing words of forgiveness and reconciliation, so that we, like him, will dare in spite of our faithlessness, to fall at His feet and say, ‘Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I, erst faithless and treacherous, love Thee; and all the more because Thou hast forgiven the denial and restored the denier.’<\/p>\n and looked. He was bound; and to speak aloud was out of the question, looked upon Greek. emblepo. App-133. <\/p>\n word. Greek. logos. See note on Mar 9:32. <\/p>\n 61.] See extract from Robinsons notes on Mat 26:69. If, as there supposed, the trial was going on in an open chamber looking on the court (), the look might well have been given from a considerable distance. We need not enquire, how our Lord could hear what was going on round the fire in the court, as some Commentators have done. But even were such an enquiry necessary, I see no difficulty in answering it. The anathemas of Peter, spoken to with vehemence, and the crowing of the cock,-were not these audible? But our Lord needed not these to attract His attention.<\/p>\n Luk 22:61. , looked upon) By this one intimation of a mere look, when there was no opportunity of speaking, Jesus roused the whole mind and attention of Peter. Comp. Joh 1:42 [Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him ( ) He said, Thou art Simon, etc.] as regards the look, which Peter may even afterwards have remembered.<\/p>\n turned: Luk 10:41, Mar 5:30 <\/p>\n looked: Job 33:27, Isa 57:15-18, Jer 31:18-20, Hos 11:8, Act 5:31 <\/p>\n And Peter: Eze 16:63, Eze 36:31, Eze 36:32, Eph 2:11, Rev 2:5 <\/p>\n Before: Luk 22:34, Mat 26:34, Mat 26:75, Joh 13:38 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Son 5:6 – my soul Mar 8:33 – turned Luk 20:17 – beheld Luk 22:32 – and when Joh 1:38 – turned Joh 21:17 – grieved 2Co 7:8 – though I made<\/p>\n THE SAVIOURS LOOK<\/p>\n And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter.<\/p>\n Luk 22:61<\/p>\n I. The Lords look.Has there ever been a painter who had genius enoughit would have to be genius direct from heavento paint the look that Christ cast upon St. Peter? There would be, at least, three things in that looksorrow, love, and encouragement.<\/p>\n (a) Sorrow that St. Peter, after his promise, I am ready to go with Thee both to prison and to death, should prove so sorry a coward.<\/p>\n (b) Lovea love so great, so strong, that it cannot be quenched even by a denial such as this.<\/p>\n (c) Encouragement. I have prayed for thee.<\/p>\n Has there ever been a poetthe man who is supposed to know most about the human heartwho could write down on paper what St. Peter must have felt when the Lord turned and looked upon him?<\/p>\n II. The denial.Now what is the use of a story like this? You say, if I had been in St. Peters place I should not have acted as he did. But you are not in St. Peters place; you are here. St. Peter denied Christ. Do we ever deny Christ to-day? Every time we do Christ turns and looks upon us. On the first Good Friday, Pontius Pilate asked the question: Which do you chooseJesus or Barabbas? Which do you choose to-day?<\/p>\n III. The right choice.If we only all chose Christ, what a bringing down of that great city the Holy Jerusalem out of heaven there would be! And when we do so choose Him, the Lord turns and looks upon us; but the look is altered. It is no longer a sad one; it is a glad one. We say we love Christ. Do we not want to make Him glad? And so, when the great question is put to usand it is always being put, every dayAre you this Mans disciple? we will turn a deaf ear to our passions, which urge us to deny the Master, and range ourselves bravely on the side of Christ, calling upon our great Elder Brother to help us to make our lives worthy of the children of the Father Which is in heaven.<\/p>\n Rev. W. C. Heaton.<\/p>\n Illustration<\/p>\n What were some, at least, of the downward steps that were to make the fall? Pride, neglected duties, jealousy, a deaf ear, sleep, rashness, fear, desertion, falsehood, treachery, alienation, rejection? Side by side let me place, for a moment, the steps up the opposite side of the hill. A look from Jesus, a look to Jesus, bitter tears, faith restored, lovedeeper love, simpler love, humbler lovelove that makes no comparison, a bravery not his own, a bravery that never failed, a dedicated life, a lifelong humiliation in lifelong service, a sin made grace, and the fall of one, in the beautiful alchemy of Omnipotence, turned into the strength and the comfort and the salvation of many.<\/p>\n Luk 22:61. And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. This detail, so interesting and touching, may be explained by supposing, that even during the trial our Lord could think on Peter and be aware of what he was doing, though at some distance. But probably the first examination before Caiaphas was now over, and the officers were leading Him away to prison to await the more formal morning examination, or possibly keeping Him in custody in the court.<\/p>\n And Peter remembered. His memory was assisted by the cockcrow, but doubtless the Lords look of pity, love, and consolation was the chief cause of his penitence. After the first burst of penitence, he probably remembered our Lords prayer for him and his own boast, yet the look was designed to recall these also.<\/p>\n Luke had not told his readers that Jesus was anywhere near Peter. Perhaps Jesus was visible through a window, or His guards may have been leading Him past a place where He could see Peter. Luke’s unique reference to His turning and looking at Peter adds to the shock effect of the moment. The word that Luke used to describe Jesus’ looking usually means to look with interest, love, or concern (Gr. emblepo<\/span>). Peter suddenly remembered what Jesus had predicted earlier that evening (Luk 22:34) and, undoubtedly, His profession of loyalty to Jesus (Luk 22:33). The realization of his unfaithfulness in this light, along with Jesus’ teaching on the importance of faithfulness, caused Peter to leave the courtyard and to weep tears of bitter remorse.<\/p>\n Luke’s account of this outstanding disciple’s tragic failure stresses the importance of adequate spiritual preparation for times of testing. Like the other evangelists, Luke included this incident because of its timeless importance for all of Jesus’ followers.<\/p>\n And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 61. the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter ] St Luke alone preserves this most touching incident. Jesus must have looked on His erring … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 22:61”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25907\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
PETERS FALL AND REPENTANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n
It will be useful therefore to inquire,<\/p>\n
[Never on any occasion did our Lord assume a menacing tone towards those who injured him: when he suffered, he threatened not. When Judas came to betray him, he saluted the traitor by the tender appellation of Friend; Friend, wherefore art thou come [Note: Mat 26:50<\/span>.]? When the people came to apprehend him, he only asked whom they sought? and then told them, that he was the person. Yea, in the midst of all the torment and ignominy of crucifixion, he extenuated the guilt of his very murderers, and prayed to his heavenly Father to forgive them. Justly indeed might he have looked on Peter with anger, and have intimated, by an indignant aspect, that he, who now thus basely denied his Master, should speedily he denied by him at the bar of judgment. But, as no such words ever escaped his lips, so no such disposition ever manifested itself in his looks: he was altogether meek and silent, like a sheep before her shearers, or a lamb led to the slaughter [Note: Isa 53:7<\/span>.].]<\/p>\n
[We may conceive, that our Lord intended to remind him of his folly in boasting, and of the presumption he had manifested, in declaring that, though all the Disciples should deny their Master, he never would; and, that he would rather die with him than deny him. Such a reproof was necessary: but still it was expressed only in a look: and how different was it from the rebuke given him on another occasion! When Peter, though in real kindness, desired to divert his Lord from the thoughts of suffering, Jesus, in righteous displeasure, said, Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me [Note: Mat 16:23<\/span>.]. But, when Peter wished to shrink from sufferings himself, even though, in order to avoid them, he denied his Lord with oaths and curses, the severest reproof that Jesus gave him, was, a look, a gentle intimation, that he had fallen by his own vain confidence and self-dependence.]<\/p>\n
[Having nothing revealed respecting this, we can only speak from conjecture. But, if we may be permitted thus to interpret a look, which perhaps no words could fully<\/em> express, we may suppose it to have intimated somewhat to this effect: Ah! Peter, see the sad consequence of trusting in yourself. See how you have not only dishonoured me, but wounded your own soul. But still, though your sin is so great, do not give way to despair. You will soon hear, into what a dreadful measure Judas has been precipitated, through a sense of guilt, and a despair of mercy: but be sure you do not imitate him. I told you before, that I had prayed for you [Note: Luk 22:32<\/span>.]; now then go, and pray for yourself: only repent, and you shall even yet find mercy, yea, and be restored to the office which you have so disgraced: return, and I will heal your backslidings, and love you freely [Note: Hos 14:4<\/span>.]: go instantly, and cry unto God for pardon; and all shall yet be well with you, both in time, and in eternity.]<\/p>\n
But this look of Jesus brought to Peters mind the warnings he had slighted, the vows he had broken, and the complicated evil he had just committed, All his conduct now appeared in its true colours; and he saw himself, as in a mirror, a base, cowardly, perjured apostate.
And such is the effect, which the testimonies of Christs compassion will produce on all who duly receive them [Note: Eze 16:60-63<\/span>.] ]<\/p>\n
Thus will a view of Gods merey operate on us. Even a wicked Saul, when he saw the lenity and forbearance of David, was overcome with a sense of the kindness shewn him, and lifted up his voice and wept [Note: 1Sa 24:16<\/span>.]. How much more should the tender mercy of our God abase us in the dust, and cause the tears of penitence to flow apace! Yes, doubtless, it will instantly lead us from the scenes of folly and dissipation to the more suitable employments of meditation and prayer [Note: Eze 7:16<\/span>. may, in an accommodated sense, be applied to this.] ]<\/p>\n
1.<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nFuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"