Title: Tears for the Lord
Contents
(Mat 26:69-75) “[69] Peter was sitting in the outer courtyard, and a maidservant came up to him and said, “You were also with Jesus the Galilean.” [70] Peter denied it in front of everyone and said, “I don’t know what you are saying. [71] As he went to the front door, another maid saw him and said to the people who were there, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." [72] Peter swore and denied it again, saying, "I do not know the man." [73] After a while, those who were standing by came and said to Peter, “You are truly a cult, and your voice speaks out for you.” [74] He cursed and swore, saying, “I do not know the man.” Immediately a rooster crowed. 75] Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” So he went outside and wept bitterly.”
It appears in Donizetti's opera 'The Elixir of Love', sung by Luciano Pavarotti, a world-famous tenor singer who passed away on September 6, 2007 at the age of 71 There is an aria, 'Una furtiva lagrima', a solo song. 'The Elixir of Love' is a story about the love surrounding three people: Adina, the daughter of a beautiful and wise planter, Nemorino, a rustic young man who loves her, and Sgt.
Adina is disappointed with Nemorino and wants to marry Belcore. In order to change Adina's heart, Nemorino buys wine from Dolcamara, a wandering medicine dealer, as a love potion. Adina learns that Nemorino has signed a contract with Belcore to buy a love potion and to raise money to buy it. The shrewd Dulcamara tries to sell her a drug too, but Adina refuses to try to claim his love on her own.
Nemorino, who was hiding and watching the scene, found out that Adina also loved him, and sings of that joy and emotion. That's the famous aria 'Una furtiva lagrima' (Una furtiva lagrima) sung by the male protagonist Nemorino. These are the lyrics that start with "Tears flowed secretly from her eyes. The cheerful young people seem to be jealous."
Although the dimensions are different, there are tears that we cry alone because we are tired of climbing the hill of hardship alone, and there are tears that we shed secretly because of our own sorrow. As we have seen above, there are tears that are shed for pure and sincere love. When Joseph saw his beloved brother Benjamin, he hurriedly looked for a place to weep, went into the bedroom and shed secret tears (Genesis 43:30).
However, Peter's tears in the text were 'tears of repentance that were shed secretly' after he denied the Lord three times and went outside. If we look at how Peter cried secretly, when the Lord called Peter, he left the boat, net, and father and followed the Lord. As we passed through the province of Caesarea and Philippi, the Lord was drenched in loneliness. Your own people, the Pharisees and Sadducees, set a snare and the first attempt to kill Jesus began. When the Jewish crowd was deceived by the miracle of the Five Bites and did not understand the Lord's true intentions, the Lord asked Peter 'the Christian view of the world', and the great confession of faith was, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." answered. The heart of the Lord rejoiced and said, "Simon Bar-Jonah. Blessed are you. Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
Peter even swore allegiance to the Lord by using harsh words. “Lord, I am ready to go with you even in prison.” However, as they firmly pledged their promise of loyalty, they betrayed the Lord more easily than others. Even if everyone else is overcome, everyone is succumbed, everyone turns away, and betrays everyone, only Peter boasted that he would endure to the end. Even when the people of the world were looking at him with anticipation, people said, "Peter is a living conscience," "a fighter of justice unbending," and "I would rather die standing than kneeling." It was.
But why did Peter apologise so easily? I want to ask Peter about this, but I can't hear his honest story. But think in the context of the Bible at the time. Although it was a momentary renunciation and was pressed by an irresistible force, the thought is 'How could Peter have expressed the conflicts and struggles of his heart in words?' I imagine how we, who have never experienced such internal shock and conflict, would dare to guess when we realize that this is not something that Peter himself wanted to do, but a betrayal and betrayal of the psychological and psychological pressures that were driven, pressed, and coerced. If you ask each one of you, you will find out if any of today's Christians can dare to say that they are not like Peter.
So, Peter went to see the result with a posture of running away from the Lord, but the Jewish leaders said it was 'death death'. So, although he was rather apostate to the Lord, wasn't he honest with Peter himself? He didn't stagnate, so he's not a gray molecule, is he? Earlier, the Lord said “yes” and “no”, but Peter made clear “no”.
Peter was a realist from the beginning, bought out by Caiaphas, and compromised with Pilate's power from the beginning to become a traitor, much more capable of thinking than 'Judas Iscariot'. It shows the human figure clearly. Rather, in this case, 'what would each of us be like?' is more important.
Peter's true form is more clearly revealed in the words of the text than in his apostasy. "Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said, "Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." So he went outside and wept bitterly." Peter's truth is the tears of mourning, realizing his own fault, and of an irreversible error like water that has already been poured. He kneels and wets the land, and he pours down showers of tears from the heavens of history, which he has betrayed by weakness.
It was the tears of remorse that hurt his shame from the bone marrow, the tears of repentance that he honestly affirmed that he had become a sublime realism, who he strongly denied for fear of repercussions. It is not repentance that matches the atmosphere. It was the tears I shed secretly when I was alone with the Lord. Those tears were obviously more liquid than tears. Tears of blood spilled out of the eyeballs caused by the beating of the beating heart. I did not want to show my tears even to others, and I was driven by the omniscience and love of the Lord (Luke 22:61), so I went out to choose a place of repentance where I could weep alone and cried out in the dark, It was the cry of crying and crying with hunger, the desperate determination and lonely cry of a man. It was about the 'cowardice' that did not respond to "I am also a member of Jesus of Nazareth. Take me too."
The rooster crowed to announce the dawn, but Peter himself wept again, lamenting that he was inferior to the animals, mourning the darkness that had already been built in him. This is Peter's secret lamentation, in his fury at seeing the depths of the sin that has grown in the darkness of history because of a traitor, traitor, and traitor like himself. This crying was great because it was a repentance comparable to Peter's great confession of faith. It's really beautiful.
Peter's solitary weeping was so sincere that it more than covered the error of his apostasy, so the Lord called to him in a new mission, "Feed my sheep," and he went out of his way for the Lord with no shame. Although he had a bruised heart, he thought that witnessing Jesus in front of people was the meaning of his life, and when he stood in front of the crowd of the early church and served as a witness for Jesus, he had 3,000 people repent in a day.
Now, let's finish. Now, I draw a picture of Peter, who enjoyed being imprisoned in prison after that. Even if 'Quo Vadis' could have made another mistake, I think his betrayal can be found in his lonely 'Wailing'. So, he carried the history of the early church on his shoulders, and he went back to Rome and died on the cross, saying that it would be disappointing to die on the cross just like the Lord did by hanging upside down on the cross and ending the magnificent life of martyrdom. The saying, "Where sin abounds, grace abounds" (Romans 6:20) seems to presuppose this lonely weeping.
Oh, renegade Peter! Not repentance engulfed in mood, but Peter who wept to his heart's content alone! Because it was a bitter cup of failure, you, who heard a toast of joy through remorse, and returned to your great calling, you who lived as a witness to your teacher until the day you die. Admire your life as a fisher of men. Every time the morning rooster crows, I think of you in tears, here in the country where the morning sun shines in the East Your penance and your tears, buried in the autumn rain, sprinkle moisture on our blunt hearts.
Let's pray together....