Satan had tempted Peter and he denied knowing his Lord for fear of losing his own life. In that instant, with the cock crowing and a look from his Lord, shame entered into Peter’s heart as he recalled what the Lord had said to him. We can only imagine Peter coming to himself and saying, “why did I not remember what the Lord told me before I decided to come here”. At this point, Peter could only regret what he had done in the deepest way. He denied the Lord he loved so deeply and he went out and wept bitterly.
Luke 22:60-62 “And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. 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, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.”
When you weep as bitterly like Peter did, it’s done in the knowledge of having turned away from all that he had experienced in being the closest of confidants of the Lord. The bitterness was all the more stinging because Peter swore before the Lord and the others that he would stand firm with Him and if necessary, go to prison and to death. The shame of it would have been too much for any man to recover from but Peter was not just “any” man, he was “the rock” that Jesus was to build his church upon.
After the tears ended with Peter sitting there feeling dejected and emotionally spent, he may have recalled that the Lord told him that because of Satan, he would deny Him not once but three times but it would not end in failure of his faith and when he recovered, rejoin the others and strengthen them.
Peter realizes that The Lord, knowing all things and loving Peter despite his shortcomings and now his denials, had prepared him for his recovery by praying to his Father for him. Recalling these things likely helped Peter to get past his shame.
Now, Peters rises up, wiping away his tears in repentance, strengthened in faith, goes forth to comfort and strengthen his brothers with renewed confidence in his Lord because he knows his Lord has prepared the way before him.
Peter was able to flee the evil that Satan meant for him and it was Peters fear that God used to deliver him out of that temptation.
Peter understands this when he writes in his Epistle:
2 Peter 2:9
Peter went to where Jesus was when he was arrested to watch what was going to happen and to show that he would stand with his Lord as he swore but Jesus knew he was not yet strong enough in his faith to follow through with what he intended, perhaps like Pete’s earlier attempt to walk on the water towards Jesus.
And, if Peter had not denied knowing Jesus, he probably would have been arrested and then killed once Jesus was judged and found guilty of blasphemy. Jesus had plans for Peter and would not allow him to lose his life so he used Peter’s weakness to save him and to help him strengthen his faith for the perilous times to come.
The next we hear of Peter, he is back with the other ten disciples in mourning and in hiding for fear of the Jews. It’s now the third day since Jesus was put to death and Mary Magdalene comes back from the empty tomb to tell the disciples that she had seen Angels who told her Jesus has risen from the dead. Peter runs to the grave site and finds the stone rolled away from the sepulcher and then goes inside to find it empty and sees the napkin that was about Jesus’ head set aside by itself and folded up. With excitement and wonder about the reports of Mary Magdalene and Simon of Emmaus having seen Jesus, that same day Jesus suddenly appears in the room where his disciples are staying. Although frightened and not believing for joy, the Lord proves that he is their risen Master. At that point, Jesus opens the Scriptures to their minds and gives them understanding. Up to this point, Jesus wanted His disciples to have faith in who He was and what he said and what he was doing but now that Jesus was to ascend into heaven, they needed to understand the Holy Scriptures so that they could prove who Jesus was to the unbelieving Jews in addition to being eyewitnesses to his resurrection.