– The Sifting of Peter – Awakened

The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Luke 22:61-62

Peter has just denied Jesus for the third time. As we saw in the last post, Peter is neck-deep in self-reliance at this moment. In his time of trial, Peter has turned inward.

A Spiritual Stupor

Before we address the verse above, look back and see the description Luke gives between Peter’s second and third denial:

After about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, “Certainly this man also was with Him…”

Luke 22:59

Interesting isn’t it? Luke thought it was important for us to see the amount of time this scene took to play out. Is he simply keeping a record for us to follow? Or is the Holy Spirit looking to tell us something very specific? I believe it is the latter…

In his retelling of this scene, Luke shows us that an hour passed between Peter’s second and third denial. This is very significant. Notice how there is no mention of remorse or regret during this span of time…Peter just kept sitting by the fire; his self-reliance produced a spiritual stupor. This numbing stupor made it impossible for Peter to understand his dire circumstance and the depth of what he was doing.

Even in this dark moment, Jesus never lost sight of his disciple. Upon hearing the crow of the rooster, Jesus knew that the word he had spoken had become reality…Peter had denied Him for the third time. Yet, rather than abandon Peter in his current circumstance, Jesus takes the initiative and begins Peter’s restoration.

Awakened by Jesus

Luke tells us that Jesus, “turned and looked at Peter.” His use of language is very intentional. The Greek word for “look” (emblepo) is an intensified form of the normal Greek word for “look” (blepo.) Why is this significant? Rather than tell us that Jesus turned and looked at Peter, this intensification of “look” tells us that Jesus looked into Peter.

Jesus turned and locked His gaze upon Peter. Their eyes met and immediately Peter was awakened on the inside and he remembered the word of the Lord. With one look, Jesus shattered Peter’s spiritual stupor and brought him back to the truth; the Word of God. Upon remembering the truth, Peter ran from his current situation and wept bitterly, awakened and aware, ready to be restored to Jesus.

Response

I am so encouraged by Jesus; He never lost sight of Peter. His love never wained, never grew cold. He brought Peter out of his darkness and awakened him with the truth of His word. Truly, Jesus is faithful!

Be encouraged. Wherever you are in your relationship with Jesus, you can know this with certainty; Jesus has not and will not take His eyes off of you. He is always concerning Himself with your good. He loves you and is ready to awaken you to Himself. Let Him look into you today!

In Jesus,

TJMcPherson

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