More From Tom Smith

Sometimes when we sin, the guilt can be overwhelming and difficult to shake.  I bet Peter felt that way in Luke 22.  I remember a coworker named Andrew, who couldn’t shake his guilt.  Over coffee one day he told me that he felt he had made too many mistakes in his life, and his regrets were paralyzing him.  He couldn’t move on—it was just “too late.”  Despite my assurance that God’s love transcends our sins and that God stood ready to forgive him, Andrew couldn’t accept this and continued to struggle with his guilt.  He ended up quitting his job as even his concentration at work suffered due to his guilt.

Folks, we must remember that Jesus was God’s Son and his sacrifice covers all our sins—the big ones, little ones, even the ones we seem to repeat!

I doubt that Jesus gave Peter any sort of “withering” look after Peter denied him.  Jesus didn’t want to impart guilt because Jesus saw beyond Peter’s shortcomings.  He looked at Peter with a loving lens of eternity.  And Jesus looks lovingly at us despite our shortcomings too!