ESOCS Devotional 26 March 2024 – Peter’s Broken Heart
MEMORY VERSE: “And Peter remembered the words of Jesus, which said unto him, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.” Matthew 26:75
TEXT: MATTHEW 26:69-75
Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.
70 But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
71 Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72 He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”
73 After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”
74 Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
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There are great lessons to draw from Peter’s fall and his sudden bounce back from the fall. Temptations abound around us and nothing says we may not fall; but to fall and stay down in depravity is the deadly thing we must not allow. So confident was Peter a while ago that he will not deny Jesus, even if he had to die (Matt. 26:33-35); and so sad his profane denial of any knowledge of the Lord for three good times.
More important though is Peter’s quick repentance, obviously prompted by one look from the Lord (Lk. 22:61) and sustained by the Lord’s intercession that his Faith should not fail (Lk. 22:32). That one look reminded Peter of the Lord’s warning and of course his empty boasting born out of over confidence. We do well to remember the word of the Lord in our temptations and trials. His word is all we need to give us that turn around and sustain our bond with Him. At the remembrance of His Word, the hall could no longer contain Peter, neither could his boldness hide the tears of repentance from flowing through his eyes: “He went out, and wept bitterly” (Matt. 26:75c).
Indeed, “The sacrifices of God are broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise” (Ps. 51:17). When we are sincerely and deeply sorry for our sin, the guilt of it prompts our hearts to weep and our eyes to shed bitter tears. This is true repentance and acceptable unto God for forgiveness, mercy and restoration to flow from Him. True repentance takes us away from the sinning multitude. So, it was that Peter left the hall where Jesus was being mocked. There comes times when we must withdraw to the place of solitude to mourn our guilt and repent genuinely from our sins.
Let us be always conscious of the eyes of the Lord. He is always there watching us, whether we be engaged in doing good or evil, whether we uphold Him in our workplace, clubs, etc., where sinners revile Him. When a child is conscious that his father’s eyes are seeing him, he refrains from whatever mischief he thought to do at that moment. We have a Father who sees us and looks at us 24/7. Let us stay away from sin and put on Broken Hearts like Peter.
- Has any temptation made you to stray from the Lord lately? Say this prayer:
- O Lord God of mercy, I confess my sins which in my temptations made me stray from your blessed Son, even denying Him. Have mercy on me, forgive and restore me in the name of Jesus Christ.
Further Reading: Psalm 34:18; Isaiah 66:2
ESOCS Devotional 26 March 2024
