“Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.“
John 18:26-27
And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Luke 22:61
“And he went outside and wept bitterly.” Matthew 26:75
The Lord corrects us in different ways but if we we truly are children of His, He will correct us. “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves.” The discipline now begins for Peter because the Lord will not allow His servant to continue in his sin.
The first part of his discipline is devastating. Luke records that at the moment the rooster crowed, the Lord turns and looks at Peter.
Immediately after Peter swears an oath that he does not know Christ, the Lord turns and looks at him. Peter will not turn from his denials to the Lord so the Lord turns from the false accusations He is facing to look at his disciple. The word “look” means to gaze intently upon something or someone with focused attention. It implies more than a casual glance, suggesting a deep level of observation or contemplation. The word describes the moment where individuals recognize divine truth or experience a revelation. The Message in His the look is serious.The Lord looks at Peter and His eyes say “Is this true, Peter? Do you really deny allegiance to me?”
Then Peter hears the the roster crow three times just as the Lord said. Here the rooster crowing suddenly brings to mind the Lord’s conversation in the Upper Room to mind. Peter realizes the Lord
is right. What he thought he was not capable of doing, he did – not once but multiple times. What he was sure he would do – go to his very death on the Lord’s behalf, he learned he was afraid to do. The rooster’s crow was a stark, shrill signal to him. Like us, Peter could do nothing of value, including standing faithfully for the Lord in his own strength. He has failed.
Finally, we see Peter’s reaction to the realization of what he has done. Peter fled from the courtyard of the High Priest, from warming himself with sinners and and from the gaze of the Lord.
Alone he wept. The word wept describes the act of weeping in the sense of mourning or expressing deep sorrow. It is used when one has an emotional outpouring due to personal grief, compassion for others, or repentance of sin.
What can we learn? The Bible says the soul that sins shall die. This is both physical and spiritual (separation from God). Here Peter sinned willfully against the Lord and he is now separated (that is death) from fellowship with the God who loves him. Peter begins to realize the heinousness of the sin he has committed and the consequences of what he has done. He begins to realize (like Adam and Eve did when they were cast out of Eden) what he has lost. His grief is more than he can bear. He has committed a sin he cannot
undo and he has lost what he believes he will never recover – the opportunity to follow the Lord as his disciple.
Perhaps he remembers the words of the Lord in the Upper Room. Was the Lord referring to him as the betrayer? He realizes, his sin is as bad as Judas’. He has denied even knowing the Lord. Peter is inconsolable. While Peter’s, and Judas’ circumstances look identical, their hearts – what the Lord looks at – are very different. The Lord will have nothing more to say with Judas. With Peter He will have much more to say,
For now, however, Peter’s grief and pain are real. He sees himself for what he is – an abject failure.