Responding to Sin (Luke 22:61–62)
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.
– Luke 22:61–62
This is the story of Peter denying Jesus three times after saying, “Lord, I’ll never deny you.” There’s obviously a lot we could talk about here, but just put yourself in Peter’s shoes at this point, and I don’t think it’s that hard for us to do.
Luke 22:61–62 Narrates Peter’s Failure to Stand up for His Faith
Unfortunately, all followers of Jesus are familiar with the shame associated with sin. I can think of so many things I have thought, I’ve said, I’ve desired, I’ve done, that I regret and I wish I had not thought or said or desired or done. I just wish I could go back and do it again and act differently, think differently.
Peter, when he realizes what he has done and Jesus looks at him, he realizes Jesus knows what he’s done,verse 62 says he went out and wept bitterly. That is an appropriate response to sin before God. Not a cold realization and even confession that I have sinned against God, but to see sin for the shameful act that it is for the offense it is to God, to others, and to hate sin, to weep and be broken over sin. And so, I would just ask you, even as I ask myself, is that the way we respond to sin in our hearts?
I ask that because I know I am prone to sin, and then kind of move on like it’s not a big deal. Maybe to confess it or maybe just to think, “Oh, that wasn’t that big a deal,” instead of stopping to see sin for how ugly it is and to confess it and, whether through weeping over it or just acknowledging, “God, I hate that I just did that. Please forgive me.” Obviously, to know that God forgives us, he freely forgives us.
Luke 22:61–62 Shows Us the Appropriate Response to Sin
Praise God through Jesus and his death on the cross for our sins. We are forgiven when we confess our sins to him. Let’s just make sure that when we are confessing our sins, we’re not just acknowledging sin, but we’re broken over it in such a way that we are turning from it in a way that confession leads to repentance and God’s kindness toward us as we confess sin leads to repentance.
God, we pray for sensitivity to temptation today, even I think about earlier in this chapter when Jesus tells his disciples to rise and pray that they may not enter into temptation. Lord, we pray that you would help us to be alert all day long when temptation comes our way, in any way. God, help us to resist as you taught us to pray. Lord Jesus, lead us not into temptation. If we fall, pray to temptation. If we sin in any way with our thoughts, desires, words, actions, or lack of action at any point, God, help us to be quick to confess with true Godly spirit led sorrow over our sin.
God, help us to see the shame and guilt and offense of sin and, at the same time, that we confess it with spirit led sorrow over sin. Help us to believe your grace and mercy not to stay in our shame. We praise you for how you would restore Peter, and we praise you for how you restore to us the joy of our salvation when we are serious about confession of sin before you.
Praying for the Spread of the Gospel
Jesus, we praise you for making all of this possible by your death on the cross for our sins, your resurrection from the grave. Help us to share that today with people around us. We pray for the spread of this good news to every people group on the planet. We pray that, today, you would lead us not into temptation and, if we fall, that you would lead us into true sorrow over sin, confession, and repentance. It restores us quickly to intimacy with you. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
