The Harmony of the Gospels

²⁶ Matthew then proceeds with his narrative in these terms: “And Peter remembered the word of Jesus which He had said unto him, Before the cock crow you shall deny me thrice. And he went out and wept bitterly.” Mark, again, gives it thus: “And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said unto him, Before the cock crow twice you shall deny me thrice. And he began to weep.” Luke's version is as follows: “And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said unto him, Before the cock crow you shall deny me thrice.

And Peter went out and wept bitterly.” John says nothing about Peter's recollection and weeping. Now, the statement made here by Luke, to the effect that “the Lord turned and looked upon Peter,” is one which requires more careful consideration, with a view to its correct acceptance. For although there are also inner halls (or courts), so named, it was in the outer court (or hall) that Peter appeared on this occasion among the servants, who were warming themselves along with him at the fire.

And it is not a credible supposition that Jesus was heard by the Jews in this place, so that we might also understand the look referred to to have been a look with the bodily eye. For Matthew presents us first with this narrative: “Then did they spit in His face and buffeted Him; and others smote Him with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, you Christ, who is he that smote you?” And then he follows this up immediately with the paragraph about Peter: “Now Peter sat without in the palace.” He would not, however, have used this latter expression, had it not been the case that the things previously alluded to were done to the Lord inside the house.

And, indeed, as we gather from Mark's version, these things took place not simply in the interior, but also in the upper parts of the house. For, after recording the said circumstances, Mark goes on thus: “And as Peter was beneath in the palace.” Thus, as Matthew's words, “Now Peter sat without in the palace,” show us that the things previously mentioned took place inside the house, so Mark's words, “And as Peter was beneath in the palace,” indicate that they were done not only in the interior, but in the upper parts of the house.

But if this is the case, how could the Lord have looked on Peter with the actual glance of the bodily eye? These considerations bring me to the conclusion, that the look in question was one cast upon Peter from Heaven, the effect of which was to bring up before his mind the number of times he had now denied [his Master], and the declaration which the Lord had made to him prophetically, and in this way (the Lord thus looking mercifully upon him), to lead him to repent, and to weep salutary tears.

The expression, therefore, will be a parallel to other modes of speech which we employ daily, as when we thus pray, “Lord, look upon me;” or as when, in reference to one who has been delivered by the divine mercy from some danger or trouble, we say that the “Lord looked upon him.” In the Scriptures, also, we find such words as these: “Look upon me and hear me;” and “Return, O Lord, and deliver my soul.” And, according to my judgment, a similar view is to be taken of the expression adopted here, when it is said that “the Lord turned and looked upon Peter; and Peter remembered the word of the Lord.”

Finally, we have to notice how, while it is the more usual practice with the evangelists to employ the name “Jesus” in preference to the word “Lord” in their narratives, Luke has used the latter term exclusively in the said sentence, saying expressly, “The 'Lord' turned and looked upon Peter; and Peter remembered the word of the 'Lord:'” whereas Matthew and Mark have passed over this “look” in silence, and consequently have said that Peter remembered not the word of the “Lord,” but the word of “Jesus.” From this, therefore, we may gather that the “look” thus proceeding from Jesus was not one with the eyes of the human body, but a look cast from Heaven.