There's a Crack in Your Armor Perry Stone

the people and wept bitterly (Luke 22:62). The reality of his failure and his lies overwhelmed him, as extreme conviction pierced his heart. Before this event Christ told Peter, “I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail” (v. 32). Why was this prayer significant? In the time of Christ Jews took very seriously any form of a verbal curse that was placed upon someone or something, as blessings and curses were released by God Himself through either obedience or disobedience to the law of God. (See Deuteronomy 28.) Peter not only lied, denying he knew Christ, but also he had in reality opened the door for God to bring upon him a divine penalty. The disciples were warned of the power of words when Christ warned, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:37). In Peter’s eyes he understood that his lying confession indicated he had lost his faith and was now under possible divine retribution. This was the moment that Christ had warned Peter about, when Satan would “sift” him as wheat (Luke 22:31). There is no record of where Peter was or what he did for the three days that Christ was in the grave, other than when the Lord was raised. The angel at the garden tomb told the women, “But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you” (Mark 16:7). Afterward, when Christ arrived in Galilee and ate with His disciples, three times He asked Peter if he “loved” Him more than the other disciples, and three times Peter replied that he did ( John 21:15–17). I believe Christ desired for Peter to publicly confess his love for Christ before the other disciples to erase any doubt in their minds, any guilt in Peter’s mind,