Title: Peter's Weeping/Matthew 26:69-75
Contents
We often take the story of Peter's denial of Jesus three times as a story. But it is our story and mine. We denied it, but we denied it at home, we denied it at work, we denied it in front of our friends. So, in terms of the gravity of our sins, we are guilty of a far greater sin.
It is indescribable to describe the humiliation and contempt of Jesus, who was arrested and taken away by the villains sent by the high priests while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.
In Matthew 26:67, it says, “They spit in the face of Jesus, and beat them with their fists or with their palms.”
Spitting means contempt, hitting with a fist means a violation of human rights, and hitting with the palm of your hand means ridicule. .The Lord did not protest or respond to any ridicule or contempt. But there were two events the Lord could not forget.
One was the betrayal of Judas Iscariot and the other was the betrayal of Peter.
Both of them were disciples who had followed Jesus for three years. He was able to remain silent about the betrayal or ridicule of the Jewish people who had been healed, ate bread, and witnessed miracles, but He was silent about the betrayal of Peter or Judas. It was because the betrayal of the two of them was so painful and painful. He foretold to Peter in advance, “Tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times” (verse 34), and to Judas Iscariot, “I would rather have not been born. It would have been nice if it had been more.”
For the Lord, the betrayal of the two men was more heartbreaking than the beatings or humiliation inflicted by the bad guys or the crowd. Moreover, Peter's betrayal was a betrayal that was difficult to bear. It was because he trusted Peter as a person. Peter raised his fever and drooled. While he was denying Jesus three times in the court of law, the Lord was listening to them all.
Betrayal by someone you love and expected is more heartbreaking than an attack from an enemy. There was a woman who took care of the man she loved for four years in college and while studying abroad in the United States. I used to send the money I earned from working part-time to the United States.
But the man married another woman in the United States, and she was abandoned. After being betrayed, she said these words: “Treachery is something that cannot be explained without experience.”
In the courtyard, Peter denied Jesus, shouting in the Galilean dialect. So, Peter's rant that he would die with him was a blatant lie. Here we discover the weakness of a human being. And anyone When you face danger, you also discover the unfortunate possibility that you can become Peter. There is a saying, “Jobyeon Seokgae” (朝變夕改), but we are changing from moment to moment and repeating the vicious cycle of repentance.
How could Peter, who boldly denied Jesus three times, become the greatest leader of the early church and an ambassador?
We can find the reason in verse 75 of the text. If Peter had not had verse 75, he would have been like Judas Iscariot. “So Peter said to Jesus, before the cock crows, you denied me three times. He remembered that he would do it, so he went outside and wept bitterly.” That one verse made the great Peter.
We find three actions of Peter in verse 75.
The first is the word “remember”, that is, he remembered that the Lord would deny you three times before the rooster crows tonight.
It was dawn when Peter denied the Lord three times and was born, and soon a rooster crowed. As soon as Peter heard the rooster crow, he remembered what the Lord had said. .However, some people hear the sound and some do not.
Peter heard the rooster's crowing and remembered the Lord's words, but we often hear people's words, but do not understand them.
Since the Word came to mind, people could not fall. And even if they fall, they can come back.
Second, because he “goes out.”
As soon as he remembered the words, he went out of the court yard.
When Peter went out, it meant that he had left the scene of denying Jesus and the scene of defeat that could not contain himself in fear. And it meant that he had left the place where he lived in sin. Some people leave the field, while others, like Judas Iscariot, leave the Lord and go to the crime scene.
If we go out of the scene of crime, there is forgiveness and salvation, but if we leave Jesus and go out into the field of crime and corruption, there is only chastisement and destruction. Let us take the case of Judas Iscariot as an example. Because Judas Iscariot was also one of the twelve disciples, the Last Supper On the spot, the Lord specifically said that Judas Iscariot would betray Jesus, and even warned him. However, Judas Iscariot left that night and went out. And the villains who promised to betray Jesus immediately I went to
Let's not go out of Jesus. And let's get out of the scene of sin quickly. Let's escape from the den of evil that will be destroyed if we stay any longer.
Third, because he “wept bitterly.”
In Luke 22:61, when Peter denied the third Lord, it is written, “The Lord turned and looked at Peter.”
At the supper, the Lord looked at Judas Iscariot. But Judas did not repent. In the court of Pilate, the Lord looked at Peter.
But more importantly, he “wept bitterly.”
John Calvin said of Peter's wailing: "The tears that flowed from the depths of my heart as they looked away from the eyes of God and his angels were poured out."
Some sutras said, "Peter's weeping was the mourning of the chieftain, the lament of thorough repentance."
If Peter's weeping had been mere tears, it would have been a mere sentimental complaint. Wailing here has the same meaning as contrition. The reason is that weeping occurs as a result of contrition.
The word contrite means “to crush”, “to crush”. True contrition is to crush and crush myself. So I am broken and broken and crippled. Then the Creator, Lord He made me into a new vessel and created me as a new being. If it had not been for Peter's weeping there that day, Peter's spiritual life would have ended with that.
Let's turn Peter's story into ours.
If Peter denied the Lord three times, we denied the Lord 30 million times. Peter denied the Lord in the atmosphere of fear surrounded by enemies, but we denied the Lord by eating and living well. We denied Jesus with our words and with our hearts. They denied Jesus and denied Jesus in deeds. That is why we are mortal and unforgivable sinners.
He would not have made that mistake if he had looked and feared God as Peter was afraid and terrified of the men who surrounded and threatened him that day. Our fault is there too. If you fear God, just like you fear temptation, you cannot leave God.
Today we need to listen quietly and hear the crowing of the early morning rooster that made Peter cry. And remember the word of the Lord. We can depart from the place of the fall, or we can depart from the bosom of the Lord like Judas Iscariot. But the way we live is to turn away from sin and return to the Lord.
At this time, the Lord is looking at us with a loving gaze. Calvin referred to the Lord's gaze as "the gaze that pierces the heart and is accompanied by the secret power of the Holy Spirit." Looking into the Lord's gaze, I thought of the words He gave me. Let's go out and contrite now. Let's break, crush, and shatter me. And be born again as a new being, like gold pouring out of a furnace. Let's listen to the cries of the General Peter. and become a new person.