Weeping
“After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, ‘Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.’
Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, ‘I don’t know the man!’
Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: ‘Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.”
Today’s Text: Matthew 26:69-75 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
It is impossible to hide our failures before the Lord.
The lowliest servants in any household in those days would have been the servant girls. And yet, it was the servant girls who boldly called Peter out as one of Jesus’s disciples. And we find Peter cowering before them. But he couldn’t hide who he was before them.
And then the rest of those in the courtyard of the high priest called him out too because of his Galilean accent. He couldn’t hide who he was from them either.
Luke’s account of this event tells us that as soon as the rooster crowed, “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter” (Luke 22:61a).
Very much like the Asian cultures of today, the ancient world operated under the rules of honor and shame. How shameful it must have been for Peter to realize how fragile and shallow his faith and his loyalty truly were.
Despite every attempt we make to act and look like we are people of honor and integrity and loyalty, deep down, our will can easily crumble under the weight of self-preservation and pride.
In those moments when our honor and integrity crumble, one of two things can happen. First, our moral synapses might become reconfigured to justify our failure so that we reframe it as necessity, or as unavoidable because the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). Suddenly, we find our faith being compromised.
Second, we might recognize just how far we have fallen from our self-made pedestals and weep bitterly before the compassionate, loving, knowing, unwavering gaze of Christ. It is that path, which leads to repentance and a growing and healthy sense of our moral weakness. Ironically, it is the healthy sense of our moral weakness that can make us morally stronger.
Faith in Jesus Christ alone and Him crucified, resurrected, and returning—That is my only hope. He is the only hope I have of being a man of honor and integrity.
For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, …
— Hebrews 12:2b
Father, Your gaze is always unwavering. I understand why King David said, “Look away from me.” Yet it is Your steadfast gaze that I need. I know that in it, there is love, and I have hope. So my hope is You. Work out any hope I have in myself or anything else. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
