Looking Straight At You
When Jesus looks at you, He sees you turned back.
Jesus looked straight at him. “Him” would be Peter, just after he cursed and denied Jesus for the third time. Man, total fail. Jesus is being falsely accused by the religious leaders, smacked around and ridiculed and finally set up so that they can have Him killed. There Peter is, voluntarily following Jesus along with His accusers to the high priest’s house and instead of standing by Jesus, he turns his back on Him.
Right at that moment of final denial, Peter looks and sees Jesus looking straight at him.
#^@&
The Bible tells us what Peter was thinking at that moment. He remembered what Jesus told him was going to happen, ”Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times” (Luke 22:34). He immediately left and cried his brains out!
What the Bible does not say in this verse is what Jesus was thinking. Jesus could have been thinking any of the following:
Loser
Great disciple you are
Told you so
Come on, man
You suck
Jesus could have thought any one of these, but He wasn’t. I believe verse 31 of the same chapter shows us what Jesus was thinking, “But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
I believe that Jesus was praying for Peter. Far from His mind was Peter’s failure. Jesus’ thoughts were on Peter “turned back”. The rooster crowed three times and Peter failed indeed. But Jesus was onto the rest of the story - the rest of the prophecy. Peter turned back, just as Jesus said he would.
What is your failure today? What denial have you made? Jesus is looking straight at you. Whatever your thoughts are concerning His response to your failure, the truth is in the Word of God. Just as He prayed for Peter, He makes intercession for you. Jesus already sees you turned back.