That bitter hour revealed the true nature of love to
Peter. He knew that in spite of his sin against Jesus, he still loved
Him, and since love was unalterable in him, he expected an unalterable
love in Christ. It was the seventy times seven forgiveness that he
needed then; and how sweet to recollect in that hour that Jesus had
taught a love that knew no limit. "_Lovest thou Me_?" was the one word
his Master uttered when they met in the quiet morning light beside the
sea. "_Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee_," was the
swift reply. Storms disturb the sea but the central tides run on. Peter
found with equal astonishment and gratitude that not even perfidy was
able to separate him from the love of Christ, for that love was
unalterable as the morning star which hung above the lake, and cleansing
as the soft waves that lapped its shore.
The self-righteous man will never understand these things. Men and women
of meagre natures, with whom love is a compact, not a passion, will
vehemently disapprove them. People of smooth lives, ignorant of strong
temptations, will refuse even to discuss them. Jesus was well aware of
their implacable indifference or cold hostility, and boldly said that for
such people He had no gospel. His mission was not to the whole, but to
the sick.
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