Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55 And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56 A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”

57 But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.

58 A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”

“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.

59 About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”

60 Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly. (NIV)

Oh that look! What a look it must have been. But to some extent we know it. Our souls have blushed crimson in the presence of Jesus, at the recognition of some sin that stains us. We feel its shame. But may it always be a godly sorrow we feel – one that leads to repentance. Then, wonderfully, we can know that the stain is cleansed, and the blushes can be gone.

Jesus loves us constantly. It is hard for us to accept it, but He loves us no less when we are sinning than He does when we are not. Jesus had lovingly prepared Peter for this moment (see 31-34), and probably this was the beginning of this disciple’s ‘turning back.’

‘Peter loved Christ truly, but miscalculated his strength. Be very careful not to venture into the midst of temptation. If God leads you thither, that is another matter. We do well to remember Ps.1:1-3. Let us beware of warming ourselves at the world’s fires.’ F.B.Meyer