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This last paragraph of the chapter gives us an account of the fall and rising of Peter; of his sin in denying Christ, and of his recovery by repentance. Both are considered distinctly in the notes of Mat_26:69. that which is here farther to be taken notice of, is as followeth.
Observe, 1. That amongst all the apostles and disciples of Christ, we meet not with any so extraordinary, either for faith or professor, Mat_4:18 and a glorious confessor, Mat_16:16. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Which be the foundation of the gospel church in all ages: and Christ was pleased to put that honour upon Peter, as to use his ministry, in first laying the foundation of a Christian church among the Jews and Gentiles, he being the first preacher to them of that faith which he did here confess.
To the Jews, Acts 2. where we read of three thousand souls converted and baptized; and to the Gentiles, Acts 10. in the conversion of Cornelius and his friends, whom God directed to send, not to Jerusalem for James, not to Damascus for St. Paul, but to Joppa for Peter; whom Christ had appointed for that work, that he might tell him words by which he and his household should be saved.
Observe, 2. The great and mighty courage which was found in St. Peter.
1. At the command of Christ he adventures to walk on the waves of the sea, Mat_14:28. being firmly persuaded, that whatsoever Christ commanded his disciples to do, he would give them strength and ability to perform.
And, 2. It was a noble courage which enabled him to say, Thou I die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. No doubt the good man really resolved to do as he said, little suspecting that he should, with horrid oaths and bitter imprecautions, deny and abjure his dying Master.
"Lord! how prone are we to think our hearts better than they are! our grace stronger than it is! Not all the instances we have of human frailty in ourselves, or all the scars, marks, and wounds, upon some of the best and holiest of men, by reason of their sad and shameful falls, will sufficiently convince us of our wretched impotency, and how unable we are to do good or resist evil, by our own shattered and impaired strength."
3. An undaunted courage, and heroic greatness of mind, appeared in this apostle, when he told the Jews to their faces that they were guilty of murder, and must never expect salvation any other way, than by faith in that Jesus whom they had ignominioiusly crucified, and unjustly slain. Nor did St. Peter say this in a corner, or behind the curtain, but in the sanhedrin, that open court of judicature, which had so lately sentenced and condemned his Lord and Master.
Observe, 3. St. Peter's profound humility and lowliness of mind: it was a mighty honour that Christ put upon him in making use of his ministry, for laying the foundation of a Christian church, both among Jews and Gentiles.
And, accordingly, Cornelius, Acts 10 would have entertained him with expressions of more than ordinary honour and veneration, falling down at his feet, and ready to adore him; but this humble apostle was so afar from complying with it, that he plainly told him that he was no other than such a man as himself. And when our Lord, by a stupendous act of condescension, stooped so low as to wash his disciple's feet, St. Peter could by no means be persuaded to admit of it neither could be introduced personally to accept it, till Christ was in a sort forced to threaten him into obedience, and a compliance with it, Joh_13:8.
Observe, How admirable was his love unto, and how burning his zeal for, his Lord and Master, insomuch that he could and did appeal to his omnisciency for the truth and sincerity of it; Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.
It was love that caused him to draw his sword in his Master's defence against a band of soldiers, and an armed multitude.
It was love that caused him to adventure on the greatest difficulties, and to expose his life to the greatest hazards.
It was love that caused him to engage so deep, as to suffer and die, rather than deny him.
These were his exemplary virtues. His failings were these:
First, too great a confidence of his own strength, notwithstanding Christ had particularly told him that Satan had desired to winnow him as wheat. None are so likely to be overcome by a temptation, as those who are least afraid of it; none so ready to fall, as those that think it impossible to fall. It is a dangerous thing to believe, that because we have long kept our innocence, we can never lose it; and to conclude, because we have been once or twice victorious over temptations, we must be ever conquerors, Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall 1Co_10:12 : that is, let him keep a jealous eye upon the weakness and inconstancy of his nature, and with a believing eye look up to the power and promise of God, that he may be preserved from falling, and presented faultless in the day of Christ.
Secondly, His fears overcame his faith. The insolent affronts offered to his injured Master caused him to forget his former resolutions, and instead of being a valiant confessor, he turns a shameful renegado, renouncing him for whom a little before he resolved to die.
Learn hence, That slavish fear is a most tumultuous and ungovernable passion; its powerful assaults not only vanquish the strongest reason, but sometimes overcome the strongest faith. It is a weapon which the tempter uses, to the discomfort of some, and destruction of others, and therefore ought to be guarded against by those who set any value on the peace and comfort of their souls.
Thirdly, One sin drew on another; his sinful equivocation in saying, I know not the man, prepared him for a downright denial, and that for an abjuration of him, with an imprecation and an anathema, swearing that he knew not the man.
"Ah Peter! is this thy owning thy Lord? Is this thy not being offended, though all should be offended? Is this thy dying with him, rather than deny him? What! hast thou forgot all thy promises and engagements to him, and all the dear and sweet pledges of his love, so lately shown to thee? Surely I have learnt from thy example, that it is as dangerous to trust an heart of flesh, as to rely upon an arm of flesh; for had not thy denied and forsaken Master prayed for thee, and timely succoured thee, Satan would not only have winnowed thee like wheat, but ground thee to powder."
Fourthly, Observe how many complicated sins were included in this sin of Peter's. The highest ingratitude to his Master; unpardonable rashness, in venturing into such company, tarrying there so long, and without a call, making bold with a temptation; and for a time there was impenitence and hardness of heart.
It is holy and safe to resist the beginnings of sin; if we yield to Satan in one temptation, he will certainly assault us with more and stronger.
Peter proceeded here from a denial to a lie, from a lie to an oath, from an oath to a curse. Let us resist sin at first: for then have we most power, and sin has least. And the Lord looked on Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, and went out, and wept bitterly.
Observe, If Christ had not looked towards Peter, Peter would never more have looked after Christ; nor was it barely the turn of Christ's bodily eye that wrought this disciple to a sorrowful remembrance of his sin; had not this outward look been accompanied with the inward and secret influences of his Spirit, it had certainly proved ineffectual.
Christ looked on Judas after his treason; aye, and reproved him too: but neither that look nor that reproof did break his heart. As the sun with the same beams softens wax and hardens clay, so a look from the same Christ leaves Judas hard and impenitent, and melts down Peter to tears.
Though none can say, that tears are always a sign of true repentance, yet certainly when they flow from a heart duly sensible of sin, and deeply affected with sorrow, it administers matter of hope that there is sincere repentance. Peter, after he had wept bitterly for sin, never more returned to the after-commission of sin; but he that was before timorous as an hare became afterward bold as a lion. He that once so shamefully denied, nay, abjured, his Master, afterwards openly confessed with his blood.
It is usually observed, that a broken bone once well set, never more breaks again in the same place; a returning backslider, when once restored, contracts such an hatred of former sins, as never more to run into the commission of them.
Let St. Peter;s fall then be a warning to all professors against presumptuous confidence, and his restoration be an encouragement to all backsliders to renew their faith and repentance. Amen.