Peter Finally Gets It

Why Peter Wept

We know that after The Last Supper Jesus shared with His disciples, yet again, that He was about to be arrested, tortured, and executed.  Here's how Peter responds to it as written about in Luke:

Luke 22
31 And the Lord said, " Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."
33 But he said to Him, " Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."
34 Then He said, " I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."

How many of you know that Peter spoke from his heart when he said he was willing to follow Jesus even to death?
But later on, when Jesus was arrested and stood before the Sanhedrin, Peter was pointed out several times by random people as being one of the disciples.  And just as Jesus had prophesied, Peter denied that he even knew Jesus.  Here's how it's recorded in Matthew:

Matthew 26 
74 Then he began to curse and swear, saying, "I do not know the Man!"
Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, " Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." So he went out and wept bitterly.

He wept.  He wept with gusto.  I'm sure at one point he was crying so hard he couldn't breathe.  Jesus had meant so much to him.  I think it's safe to say that after 3 and 1/2 years with Jesus, Peter had come to love Him like a best friend.  And Peter had betrayed Him.  Not only did he not believe Jesus when He warned that Peter would deny Him, but then he witnessed himself actually doing it.  I'm sure the sorrow and shame of it all is what caused him to begin crying, but I believe something else happened once the tears began to flow.
You see, if you look back at Luke 22:31 Jesus warns Peter that he will act unbecoming of a Christian but He doesn't leave it at that.  He encouraged Peter even before the warning:  "But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."  Jesus was sort of saying, "Look, you are about to go through something you don't believe yourself capable of.  Know that you are mine and that I have a purpose for you.  You will betray me, and I've always known it, and it never affected how I see you.  You cannot fail, Peter, because I have guaranteed you."

You see, the word translated as "bitterly" is the greek word "pikrōs" which can be translated as "bitterly" but also "violently".  I believe God has shown me that once the rooster crowed, Peter remembered not only that Jesus warned of his denial, but more importantly He prefaced that warning with a commission of trust: "...and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."
So Peter heard the rooster crow, went outside, and the enormity of what Jesus had told Him that night hit him like a ton of bricks.  Jesus knew Peter would betray Him, yet Jesus never lost faith in Peter.  Jesus knew that Peter would start behaving as he did before he became a disciple.  In Peter's mind this behavior had to be unforgivable.  Suddenly, he understood.  He understood completely.  The denial didn't matter.  The cussing didn't matter.  PETER DIDN'T MATTER.  In that moment, all that mattered was that Jesus had prayed for him.  Jesus had chosen Simon Peter, cussing sailor, one who would act as a coward during his master's time of greatest need.  In that moment, Peter understood love.  That kind of revelation will make a man weep violently.