A Visual Sermon: Jesus’ Look of Mercy, Part 1

Jesus has been brought before the High Priest and the Sanhedrin. These Jewish leaders have secured false witnesses and charged Jesus with blasphemy. They proceed to beat him and spit on His face. During this time, Jesus is fully aware that His beloved disciple Peter has “followed at a distance” (Luke 22:54). He knows that Peter is among a group of spectators sitting in the courtyard (Luke 22:55). And when Jesus hears the rooster crow, He knows exactly what Peter has just done (Luke 22:59). Jesus turns completely around and, the text tells us, “The Lord looked at Peter” (Luke 22:61). The verb translated “looked” does not refer to a scanning glance in which one tries to take in all the scenery. It refers instead to a piercing stare in which the subject fixes his gaze upon one particular object. It’s as if Jesus knew precisely Peter’s physical location. And without speaking a word, Jesus communicates a message to Peter with the look of His eyes.

Communicating with the Eyes

According to Scripture, it’s possible to communicate with the eye. In Proverbs 16:30, we read of an evil man who “winks his eye to plan dishonest things.” Later in Proverbs 30:17, we’re told of “the eye that mocks his father and scorns obedience to his mother.” Perhaps most instructive is Psalm 32:8 where God promises David, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye.” The look of the eye can communicate. I believe this was especially true of the look which Jesus gave Peter. As J. C. Ryle remarks, “There was deep meaning in that look. It was a sermon which Peter never forgot.”¹

What did Jesus seek to communicate to His beloved Peter? That’s a question I believe we’d all like to know. We’re conscious of our failures. We remember the unkind words we said to our spouse. We recall being impatient with our children. We’re reminded of our lack of devotion to the prayer closet. We call to mind missed opportunities to share the gospel. And being conscious of our many sins and failures, we may wonder, “How is the Lord looking at me?” If Jesus were bodily present among us and if He gazed intently at each one of us, what would His eyes communicate?”

Discerning Jesus’ Penetrating Gaze

To begin with, let us rule out what kind of look this was not:

Not Complete Surprise

Jesus had already predicted that Peter would do this very thing. In the upper room, Jesus had warned Peter, “I tell you Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me” (Luke 22:34). Therefore, Jesus was not taken unawares when He heard His beloved disciple disown Him. It was not a look of surprise.

Not Threatening Anger

Not once did Jesus do anything wrong to Peter. He never spoke evil of Peter. He never stole anything from Peter. He never committed an act of unkindness towards Peter. In fact, earlier that night Jesus had implored the soldiers not to arrest Peter (John 18:8). But in spite of all the good Jesus had shown towards Peter, Peter rewards Jesus by denying him three times. Such inequity and injustice would provoke deep feelings of bitterness in most of us. Yet there’s no indication that Christ’s look betrayed a fit of bitter anger. In fact, Peter later assures us in his First Epistle that Jesus never showed any bitter anger throughout his entire trial and crucifixion: “when He was reviled, [Jesus] did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten” (1 Peter 2:23).

Not Utter Disgust

If we were in Christ’s shoes, we may have viewed Peter’s denial as no better than Judas’ betrayal. We probably would have concluded that Peter was a fake and hypocrite. And if we did not respond with bitter anger, we probably would have responded with utter disgust. “Peter, you low-down, good-for-nothing traitor.” This was not at all the response of Jesus towards Peter. According to the apostle John, Jesus never lost one ounce of affection for any of his true disciples (John 13:1): “when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”

Jesus’ look was neither a look of surprise, nor a look of anger, nor a look of utter disgust. And that leads us to ask what did Jesus say to Peter with His eyes?

A Look of Reminder

It was in response to Jesus’ look that Peter “remembered” Christ’s warning. Earlier, Jesus had warned Peter that Peter would deny him three times (Luke 22:33-34). Apparently, Jesus looked at Peter in such a way so as to remind him: “Peter, remember that I told you this would happen.”

A Look of Disappointment

“Disappointment” is not the same as “disgust.” “Disgust” refers to a feeling of aversion and repugnance. It’s what we feel when we read about a softball coach who systematically molests several little girls on his team. In contrast, “disappointment” is a feeling of dissatisfaction with someone who fails to meet our expectations. It’s what we feel when our child brings home an “F” on his report card. We don’t hate the child. On the contrary, we still love him. But we feel disappointed with him because we know he could have done better.

That’s how Jesus felt towards Peter. Peter had pledged supreme loyalty to Christ. He earlier claimed that he would “go with [Jesus], both to prison and to death” (Luke 22:33). In one sense, Jesus did not expect Peter to live up to this pledge (22:34). But in a more general sense, Jesus did expect Peter to live up to his pledge. Indeed, Jesus expects all of his disciples to live up to such a pledge: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24–25).

This is what Jesus expects from us! However, because of remaining sin, there are times when we fail to manifest this commitment. There are times when we put our own safety and self-interests before the gospel. At such times, we may truly disappoint our Savior. I believe Jesus feels that disappointment. Sometimes He communicates that disappointment with words (see Revelation 2 & 3). But in the case of Peter, Jesus communicates that disappointment with the look of the eye.

That brings us to the third, and I believe most important message Jesus’ gaze communicated.