ty of the days
given to the flesh. Till his dying day the man who has been a drunkard
or a fornicator, a liar or a swearer, will have to keep watch and ward
over the graveyard in which he has buried the past.

Yet there was a kind of method in the madness of Peter's profanity.
When he wanted to prove that he was none of Christ's, he could not do
better than take to cursing. They did not credit his assertions that
he had no connection with his Master, but they could not help believing
his sins. Nobody belonging to Jesus, they knew, would speak as Peter
was doing. It is one of the strongest testimonies to Jesus still, that
even those who do not believe in Him expect cleanness of speech and of
conduct from His followers, and are astonished if those who bear His
name do things which when done by others are matters of course.

IV.

While Peter was in the midst of this outbreak of denial and profanity,
suddenly he saw the eyes of his tormentors turned away from him to
another object.[2] It was Jesus, whom His enemies had condemned in the
neighbouring judgment-hall, and whom they were now leading, amidst
blows and reproaches, across the courtyard to the guard-room, where He
was to be kept for two or three hours till a subsequent stage of His
trial came on. As Jesus stepped down out of the hall into the
courtyard, His ear had caught the accents of His disciple, and, stung
with unutterable anguish, He turned quickly round in the direction
whence the sounds proceeded. At the same moment Peter turned, and they
looked one another full in the face. Jesus did not speak; for a single
syllable, even of surprise, would have betrayed His disciple. Nor
could He linger; for the soldiers were hurrying Him on. But for a
single instant their eyes met, and soul looked into soul. Who shall
say what was in that look of Christ?[3] There may be a world in a
look. It may be more eloquent than a whole volume of words. It may
reveal far more than the lips can ever utter. One soul may give itself
away to another in a look. A look may beatify or plunge in the depths
of despair.

The look of Jesus was a talisman dissolving the spell in which Peter
was held. Sin is always a kind of temporary madness; and it was
manifestly so in this case. Peter was so bewildered with terror, anger
and excitement that he did not know what he was doing. But the look of
Jesus brought him to himself, and immediately he acted like a man. He
made at