Luke 22:61

THE SAVIOUR’S LOOK

‘And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter.’

Luke 22:61

I. The Lord’s look.—Has there ever been a painter who had genius enough—it would have to be genius direct from heaven—to paint the look that Christ cast upon St. Peter? There would be, at least, three things in that look—sorrow, love, and encouragement.

(a) Sorrow that St. Peter, after his promise, ‘I am ready to go with Thee both to prison and to death,’ should prove so sorry a coward.

(b) Love—a love so great, so strong, that it cannot be quenched even by a denial such as this.

(c) Encouragement. ‘I have prayed for thee.’

Has there ever been a poet—the man who is supposed to know most about the human heart—who could write down on paper what St. Peter must have felt when the Lord turned and looked upon him?

II. The denial.—Now what is the use of a story like this? You say, if I had been in St. Peter’s place I should not have acted as he did. But you are not in St. Peter’s place; you are here. St. Peter denied Christ. Do we ever deny Christ to-day? Every time we do Christ turns and looks upon us. On the first Good Friday, Pontius Pilate asked the question: ‘Which do you choose—Jesus or Barabbas?’ Which do you choose to-day?

III. The right choice.—If we only all chose Christ, what a bringing down of that great city the Holy Jerusalem out of heaven there would be! And when we do so choose Him, the Lord turns and looks upon us; but the look is altered. It is no longer a sad one; it is a glad one. We say we love Christ. Do we not want to make Him glad? And so, when the great question is put to us—and it is always being put, every day—‘Are you this Man’s disciple?’ we will turn a deaf ear to our passions, which urge us to deny the Master, and range ourselves bravely on the side of Christ, calling upon our great Elder Brother to help us to make our lives worthy of the children of the Father Which is in heaven.

—Rev. W. C. Heaton.

Illustration

‘What were some, at least, of the downward “steps” that were to make the “fall”? Pride, neglected duties, jealousy, a deaf ear, sleep, rashness, fear, desertion, falsehood, treachery, alienation, rejection? Side by side let me place, for a moment, the steps up the opposite side of the hill. A look from Jesus, a look to Jesus, bitter tears, faith restored, love—deeper love, simpler love, humbler love—love that makes no comparison, a bravery not his own, a bravery that never failed, a dedicated life, a lifelong humiliation in lifelong service, a sin made grace, and the fall of one, in the beautiful alchemy of Omnipotence, turned into the strength and the comfort and the salvation of many.’