The words in Luke 22:31-34 are some of the saddest in your Bible. They show that even the one with great zeal for the service of God is able to fall. Peter confidently proclaimed to Jesus, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This is the same Peter who stated, “Lord to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.”
Jesus no doubt wished that Peter’s words would come true, but He knew they would not. Scripture stated that the Shepherd would be struck, and that all would be scattered, including this devout Galilean. Peter would deny Jesus three times before morning came. After Peter denied Jesus, Luke writes that the Lord turned and looked at him. Peter the remembered the Lord’s words and went out and wept bitterly.
But Jesus realized that Peter would fall and prayed for him. He encouraged Peter. And later on, when Peter returned to Him, He forgave Peter. As long as Peter returned, Jesus was not going to hold his unfaithfulness against him.
We have a wonderful lesson in Peter. We can relate to him easily, for the Bible reveals his errors. We may have great zeal for God, yet may fail. Possibly in our own way, we will end up cursing and swearing that we do not know the Man. And if such a thing happens, we will feel the need to weep. Regardless of the stature of a man, being unfaithful ought to bring about great distress. Peter returned to the Lord and was restored. We too can return to the Lord, and be restored by Him (1 John 1:8-9).
Kyle Campbell
