The Lord Turned and Looked
Thinking about what Peter saw on Jesus's face after the rooster crowed
Much of our spiritual flourishing and joy will be affected by how we think Christ views us as his people. When Christ beholds the bride for whom he gave his life, what is his heart toward us?
Dear believer, how does Christ look upon you?
Do you fear that in his heart, Jesus secretly despises you and is frustrated with you and has just agreed to put up with you? Do you fear that when Jesus looks at you, he must be full of disappointment? Do you wonder whether he rolls his eyes in heaven when you open your mouth to pray?
Do you think you’re too sinful, too broken, for Christ? Have you convinced yourself that while Jesus may be merciful, your sin has exceeded his mercy?
Thomas Goodwin was a Puritan who wrote a book called The Heart of Christ, and in it Goodwin says that your “misery can never exceed his mercy.”1
As an example of what I’m talking about, let’s look at the worst moment of Peter’s life that’s recorded in the New Testament. He denies Jesus three times in the courtyard of the high priest while Jesus is inside the residence being interrogated after the Gethsemane arrest. All four Gospels tell of Peter’s denials.
After Luke reports the three denials (Luke 22:56-60), his account adds a unique statement about Jesus: “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly” (22:61-62).
The Lord turned and looked at Peter. The verb for “turned” is used seven times in the Gospel of Luke, and Jesus is the subject of the verb in every case. Five of these occasions are before 22:61, and the final one occurs after it.
In 7:9, Jesus turned to a crowd and said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”
In 7:44, Jesus turned toward a woman and said to host of the home, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.”
In 9:55, Jesus turned and spoke a word of rebuke to his disciples (James and John) because they thought it was time for fire to consume some Samaritan villages.
In 10:23, Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!”
In 14:25, Jesus turned to the great crowds and said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”
In 23:28, Jesus turned to a multitude of people who were lamenting for him, and he said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.”
When Jesus turns in the Gospel of Luke, he always turns and says something. Over and over again, Jesus turned and spoke—except for once. In Luke 22:61, Jesus turned and looked.
Have you ever wondered what Peter saw on the face of Jesus?
Maybe a look of disbelief: “I can’t believe you would do this to me, Peter.”
Maybe a look of regret: “Peter, I can’t believe I told you to lay down your nets and follow me.”
Maybe a look of disgust: “Peter, you make me sick; I’m so repulsed by you.”
Maybe a look of condescension: “I told you so, Peter. You think you’re so committed, you think you’re so strong. But here you are—wrong again!”
Maybe a look of cold indifference: “I don’t even care what you do, Peter. I’m not bothering with you anymore.”
Maybe a look of disappointment: “Peter, I thought better of you. I’m so disappointed in you as a person.”
Maybe a look of harshness: “Peter, you’re so pathetic, what a loser of a disciple you turned out to be.”
These examples all assume that Jesus’s look was negative. What if it wasn’t?
Think about what led up to this episode with Peter. Jesus said in Luke 22:31-32, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Jesus loves Peter; he’s not surprised by Peter. He’s been praying for Peter! In 22:34 Jesus predicted exactly what transpired in the courtyard with the three denials before the rooster crowed. Jesus told Peter ahead of time, “You’re going to fail.” The high priest’s courtyard had become a place of sifting.
In Luke 22:61, the Lord turned and looked at Peter, and this wasn’t a look of reproach and anger or of surprise and disbelief. Peter beheld the face of Christ that was full of love, resolve, and compassion. This was a look that brought remembrance and deep sorrow in Peter.
We know about the remembrance because Luke tells us that Peter “remembered the saying of the Lord” (22:61). And we know about the deep sorrow because Luke says that Peter left the courtyard “and wept bitterly” (22:62). Peter is undone.
Though Peter failed, Jesus would not fail. Jesus was going to the cross to atone for his people’s sins, including the sins Peter had just committed in the high priest’s courtyard.
What will you do when you fail?
What will we do when our own sinful capacities take us by surprise, when we become freshly aware of how weak we are and how overconfident we can be?
What will be our recourse when our shame ensnares us and we realize we’ve believed the lies of the enemy and that we’ve spurned the Holy One of God?
We must look to Christ. And when we look to Christ, we will find that he has turned to us first. And here’s some good news: Christ cannot look at his people without a heart of steadfast love.
Thomas Goodwin, The Heart of Christ (1651; published by Banner of Truth, 2011), 99.