Verse 75
75. Wept bitterly Tears are, indeed, of little use that result not in return to duty. Judas wept perhaps, but turned not. Peter wept, and what was better, he returned to Christ and became a faithful apostle.
Olshausen thinks that Peter’s denial was so inconsistent with his real bravery as to constitute a true “enigma,” explicable only on the hypothesis that he was under a temptation greater than he could bear. On the contrary, we venture to think it was like the man. He had active bravery, but not steady, passive firmness. Give him a sword, his fellow eleven for comrades, and his Lord for captain, and he would have been ready to storm the fortress of Antonia. But bid him put up his sword and stand the foeman’s shafts, and you take the man out of him. He followed his Lord adventurously, and then denied him shamefully; just as he started to walk upon the waves and then sunk before the blast. Such keeping of character is sure proof of the truth of the Gospel history.
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