the Look

Today's Bible Reading: MARK 14:53-15:1; MATTHEW 26:57-27-10; LUKE 22:54-71; JOHN 18:25-27

Luke 22:61-62

And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

When we transgress we turn away from the Lord, but the Lord doesn’t turn from us. We look away in misery. He looks at us with mercy. We reject Him and He restored us. We fall and He forgives.

The story of Peter’s denial is one of rejection, repentance and restoration. It is the tale of all of us. We are all fallen followers. We are all sinning saints. We are godly people who commit grievous sins. Yet we have a gracious Savior for grieving saints. We have a God of mercy in our worst misgivings.

Peter fails in his faith. Jesus looks Peter’s way. He took notice. Peter was overcome by sin, yet he was observed by His Savior. He was sifted by Satan, but seen by Jesus. He looks at Peter. Rejected, Jesus doesn’t reject him. His heart was hurting for His struggling saint. His focus was on the fallen one.

He looked. Though condemned to death, His concern was for His disciple. He looked. No words were spoken in the interchange, just a look. But it was the look of His Master. It was a gaze of grace. It was a look of love. He looked with compassion rather than condemnation. He looked with care rather than criticism.

It was a look that broke the broken. Peter responded by turning to Jesus. He looked to Him. Tears flowed. He reacted with repentance. He wept bitterly in shame. Wallowing in remorse, he found forgiveness in His failure.

Sin is unavoidable. Christians compromise. We all sin. We fail the one we love. Temptation takes hold, iniquity emerges, and the faithful fall. Yet it is not our failures that define us, but how we respond to failures that does. Jesus looked at Peter. That look changed everything. Convicted, Peter called to mind the words of Jesus. He remembered. Brokenhearted, he didn’t remain in sin. He removed himself from it. Repentance followed. Jesus looked at Peter. Peter looked to Jesus. Grace was given, mercy was manifest and the sinner was restored.

Like Peter, Christ’s deliverance emerges from the courtyard of our denials. His redemption arises from the campfires of our rejection. He looks at us, will you look to Him.

Today thank the Lord that He looks at us through the lens of the cross. Praise Him that He sees our struggle and has secured our salvation. Thank Him that “He knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (Ps. 103:14) Thank Him that He is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Ps. 103:8). Thank Him that He looks at us with mercy in the midst of our most miserable misgivings. Praise Him that He looks at us even when we look away from Him. He looks at you. Will you today look to Him?