Peter is an ordinary man who loved Jesus.

He loved him so much that he boasted, "Even if everyone else falls away because of you, I will never fall away! I'm willing to go to prison and even to death for you!"

Yet you know what happened. It's recorded in all four Gospels. Jesus warned Peter: "Before the rooster crows you will deny me three times." And so that night, as the trial of Jesus goes on, Peter is identified as a disciple of the Galilean, and he vehemently denies it. Not once, but three times – even with curses and oaths!

Then what happens?

The rooster crows. Peter remembers his boast of loyalty. And he realizes he has been "sifted like wheat." And the Bible tells us "he wept bitterly."

Will Jesus forgive him? Or will Jesus say, "How could you? Didn't you promise me? I'm so disappointed in you."

Jesus will forgive him. How do we know? The threads of this answer run all through the gospels.

First of all, do you remember when Peter asked about forgiveness – thinking he was so generous – offering to forgive seven times? What does Jesus say? "I do not say to you seven times, but seventyseven times." And if that's the instruction of the Master to the student, is there anyone reading this who thinks Jesus will be stingy in his forgiveness toward Peter?

I love how, both before and after the sin, we get a sense of the pursuing love, grace and mercy of Jesus Christ toward Peter – and toward sinners like you and me.

There is a moment recorded in Luke, after Peter's denial, and after the Lord Jesus has been beaten and humiliated, when he is brought out into the courtyard and we read, "and the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word the Lord spoke to him." What is this? This is the gift of conviction of sin. The word of the Lord presses deep in his mind, but then Peter is given a vision of his Savior bleeding and broken for him. Beaten and rejected, Jesus is tne man of sorrows on his way to the cross. This conviction of sin is a gift of love from Jesus to Peter. It is a gift of love when the Holy One makes sin odious to the sinner.

And after the look, where does Jesus go? He goes to the cross. Yes, rejected, despised, betrayed, denied and abandoned, he goes to the cross to do what only he can do. He goes to pay for Peter's sin – and yours and mine, too. "Paid in full, Peter."

And then what? Then Jesus pursues Peter after his resurrection. The angel says to the women at the empty tomb, on instruction from Jesus, "Go, tell his disciples, and Peter, that he is going before you to Galilee." Did you hear those words: "and Peter?" So when the women got to the upper room where the frightened disciples are huddled and announced "Jesus is alive!! And Peter... He wanted YOU to know in particular!" Peter is still special to Jesus.

Is Peter stronger or more upright, or more meritorious than the others? No. What made the difference? The answer is recorded in Luke's gospel "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 prayed for him, and he knew his prayers would be answered.

Does Jesus love us like he loves Peter?

Yes, he does. He looks at you, just like he looked at Peter, and when he encounters you with his real presence, you, too, will find your sin odious and wants to turn from it. Yet he still looks at you and says, "You are mine! I cannot give you up. I have loved you with an everlasting love. In spite of what you have done, I still look at you as mine. I forgive you."

The apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 1:7 "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us." Is he stingy with his forgiveness? Then why would Paul use the word "lavished?"

And of course Jesus went to the cross, not only for Peter's sin, but for yours and mine. There we see the sufficiency of his payment for sin that satisfies the righteousness of God on our behalf.

 Oh yes... He prays for you. That is his continuing work at the right hand of the Father. He prays for you. And the Father answers his prayer. He restores you and he goes on, as he did with Peter, to use you for blessing in this world. Aren't you glad?

Musing’s from Pastor John, May 2, Click to Email Pastor John

Pastor John’s will unpack this amazing passage in his sermon, today, May 2nd at 10:00 AM, viewable here on YouTube.

Sermon: How Does Jesus Love Peter? How Does Jesus Love You? Matthew 26: 69-75 by Pastor John Yenchko