And Peter went out and wept bitterly

“And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. ………. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.” Luke 22: 61,62

I really thank God for His disciple Peter; I think this may be the man in the bible who gives us greater comfort. When we look at Peter utterly changed from the self pleasing, the self trusting, the self seeking Peter, full of sin, continually getting into trouble, foolish and impetuous, now filled with the HOLY SPIRIT. Before that to happen, Peter had to go out and weep bitterly; he had to be humbled. To understand this we must look at Peter in different angles.

First, look at Peter as the devoted disciple of Jesus. Peter was a man of absolute surrender; he gave up all to follow Jesus. He was also a man of ready obedience. He was a man of great faith. He was a man of spiritual insight, when Christ asked the disciples; “whom say ye that I am?” Peter was able to answer; “ thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.” Out of other disciples, young Peter was the only one to go down out of the ship and walk on the water. The only reason Peter didn’t drown right there was he had his eyes on Jesus and cried out, “Lord, Save me.” So Peter was a splendid man, a devoted disciple of Jesus.

Secondly, Peter with full of Self or with self Life: The occasion was when Christ was telling his forthcoming sufferings and death, Peter dared to say, “Be it far from thee Lord, this shall not be unto thee.” And Christ responded. “Get behind me Satan”. There was Peter in his self will, trusting his own wisdom and actually forbidding Christ to go and die. Peter trusted in himself and his own thoughts about divine things. When the disciples questioned, who should be the greatest among them, Peter was also one of them. He thought he had every right to the very first place. The life of self was strong in Peter. He had left his boats and his nets, but NOT HIS OLD SELF. In Mathew 16:24, we see that, “if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Instead of denying his own self, Peter denied Christ 3 times; I know Him not. Dear friend, there is no choice for us; we must either deny self or deny Christ. There are 2 great powers fighting each other the self nature in the power of sin and Christ in the power of God. Either of these must rule within us.

Thirdly, Peter’s repentance: Peter denied his Lord 3 times, and then the Lord looked upon him. That look of Jesus broke Peter’s heart. The terrible sin that he has committed, the terrible failure that has come and the depth into which he had fallen suddenly opened up before Peter. One look from Christ melted him into tears of Godly sorrow for sin. Then, Peter went out and wept bitterly. We cannot imagine the depth of humiliation Peter sank into then. But that was the turning point and change in Peter’s life. We also may be a very earnest, godly devoted believer, in whom the power of the flesh is still very strong. Do we all realize that the great God is longing to double His blessings, to give ten fold blessings through us? But there is something hindering Him and that some thing is nothing but the self life. Before Christ could fill Peter with the Holy Spirit and make a new man of him, Peter had to go out and weep bitterly; he has to be humbled.

Finally Peter got transformed: Peter was prepared for deliverance from self. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon him and Peter was a changed man. His whole nature was changed. The work the Christ began in Peter when He looked upon him was perfected when he was filled with Holy Spirit. It is the work of our blessed Lord Jesus to disclose the power of self. Peter’s deliverance was attested
1. by the bitterness of his tears
2. by his humble submission to his Lord’s subsequent rebuke
3. by his subsequent courage in confessing Christ in the face of threatening danger. It was because Christ placed him in-charge and Christ watched over him and Christ taught him and blessed him.

Are you confused about power of self in your life? No one else but Christ Jesus can give deliverance from the Power of Self. Are you still lingering in the failures, sickness, hatred, confusions, financial crisis, lack of peace etc in your life? This is the time for you to go out and weep bitterly, this is the time, you need to be humbled and disciplined once again. This is the time for every one of us to take courage and get comfort from Peter to confess Christ in our life. This is possible only by our Lord JESUS who alone could give deliverance from the power of self. Amen and Amen,