No, Peter! Why, he speaks plain enough: he is confident of thy person, knows thy voice, and the very brogue of thy tongue: he boldly affirms, "Of a truth thou wast with Jesus." It is downright falsehood to reply, "I know not what thou sayest." Peter is ashamed of his Lord. Is he not ashamed of himself? Not yet. No; he "began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man." Might we not expect to hear next that he was damned eternally? He deserved it. Was he here now he would confess it from the very depths of his heart; but he is above, confessing his desert of damnation, and ascribing "salvation to God and the Lamb." For, "the Lord turned and looked upon Peter." O, who can say what there was in that turn and that look? Lord, give us to feel its grace and power, that we may improve it.
Consider: Sin is sin, in God's saints as well as others: yea, their sins exceed all others: yes, and God sees sin in them as well as in others; and he will visit them, too, for their sin. To his people of old he says, "You only have I known (with the love of a tender father) of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for your iniquities." Amos 3:2. Who can say what a hell of agonies Peter felt when he "wept bitterly?" He experienced that truth which he afterward preached to others, "Judgment must begin at the house of God." 1 Peter 4:17. A sense of condemnation for sin is awakened in the heart and conscience; the clear sight of it; feeling, mourning, groaning under a sense of it; looking up to God with a broken heart, a contrite spirit, a sorrowful soul, sighing out, "Against thee, O Lord, have I sinned, and done evil in thy sight. Nothing but thy blood, O Jesus, can cleanse me! O my God, let thy grace pardon me, and thy Spirit comfort me.
What affects any sinner thus? The Saviour's turning and looking upon the soul. Sin naturally hardens the heart and sears the conscience. Peter, after his awful fall, would have run away from Christ; given himself up to the service of sin and Satan, till he fell into hell, if the Lord had left him to himself. So would you and I. But Jesus turns from his anger against our sins; turns to us in love. He looks: instead of frowning us into eternal despair, he looks with love; he speaks love into our hearts; he melts our hearts into sorrow and remorse for our sins, and with hope of mercy and pardon; "for where sin abounded, grace much more abounds." Romans 5:20.
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