54  Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance.

55  But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them.

56  A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him."

57  But he denied it. "Woman, I don't know him," he said.

58  A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." "Man, I am not!" Peter replied.

59  About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean."

60  Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.

61  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."

62  And he went outside and wept bitterly.

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It was the sin Peter thought he would never commit (Matthew 26:31-35). Yet, in direct opposition to his bold and self-confident oath, in this passage Peter denied that he ever even knew who Jesus was. And in this scene, one that has gone down through the years as one of history's most unthinkable, Peter disavowed his Lord not once, not twice, but three times over.

Have you ever wondered what Peter thought after the first denial? Did he look around hoping none of his friends had heard him lie? Did he promise himself it wouldn't happen again?

Of course, he did deny that he knew the Lord two more times. But the third and final denials was different from the others. Aside from being Peter's most emphatic denial, this one was accompanied by a rooster's crow and a look from Jesus. From across the courtyard, the eyes of these two men locked. While Jesus' gaze was probably short-lived, it was long enough to send Peter's world crashing down around him. In that instant Peter not only saw the emotion in Jesus' eyes, but he also became convicted of the gravity of his sin. Overcome with grief, Peter walked away from the crowd, went outside the courtyard and "wept bitterly."

Have you ever found yourself committing a sin you thought you were incapable of committing?  Have you ever done something that you believe God could never forgive you for?  Let Peter's story be your guide for responding to such sins.  The process of forgiveness begins with realizing that you've sinned and confessing that sin to God.

Jesus not only forgave Peter, he continued to use him greatly (see John 21: 15 - 19 and Acts 2: 14 - 41). Each one of us is guilty of sinning against God, but that doesn't make us worthless in his sight.  God sent his son Jesus to come to earth, to die and to be raised again so that sin would no longer have any power over us.  There's no sin that can disable God's love for us or his desire that we turn to him in repentance.