“Peter replied, ‘Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!’ Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 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.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.”
Luke 22:60-62
The eyes can give looks that love or looks that kill. When someone you love holds your eyes with his, you’re enraptured. But when that same person looks at you in deep disappointment, it cuts to the core.
Suppose right now, your eyes met the Lord’s. What would you see? Compassion and tenderness, yes. But suppose if, in a thoughtless moment of self-centered sin, you slapped the Lord? In that horrible instant, what would you read in His eyes?
This once actually happened. Peter angrily denied Jesus. At that instant, Scripture says the Lord looked straight at Peter. Perhaps Jesus caught Peter’s eye through a window, or as he was being led through the court. Whatever, this much is sure: their eyes met.
It’s impossible to say what was in the Lord’s eyes. I would like to think the look Jesus gave was not cutting or judgmental. I choose to believe that He gave a look of hurt and disappointment, a sad yet tender expression in His eyes. And perhaps, for Peter, it was the look that both loved and killed.
Jesus always loves. That’s why it’s safe to say that the Lord was probably more concerned for Peter’s pain and anguish than He was for His own plight. Like Peter, who wept bitterly, that fact alone should make us grieve all the more over our sins and offenses.
As you look into my eyes today, Jesus, I hope You will see my love and deep affection. May the light in my eyes be a reflection of Your light in my life.
