Today’s Scripture
Reading (November 28, 2017): John 18
Sometimes we are defined by one moment in our lives. As a kid, I became
known, much to my embarrassment, as “Junior Fireman” because of a fire I had accidentally set in my room – and my
unsuccessful attempts to put the fire out. I thought that I would never live
that moment down, but finally, people
forgot my unfortunate actions.
Some of us are not so lucky. Those somewhat innocent but embarrassing acts follow us for the rest of
our lives. It is not really that we are all that different, but often our lives
are defined less by our actions and more by what we are caught doing – and by
the labels that we attach to those efforts.
I remember a kid, some years ago, who
starred in a drama production that I was directing. One of his teachers from
school was amazed at his performance because she didn’t think that he could
read, let alone memorize vast portions of a script. He was labeled, and expectations were changed when there was no truth behind the
label.
Bible characters often suffer the
same fate. We remember Thomas as a doubter, in spite of his courageous
statement made when it became clear that Jesus intended to walk back into the
danger that existed in Jerusalem. At that
moment, Thomas said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John
11:16).
Peter suffers from a
similar fate. We remember him as the one who denied. It is the way that Peter remembered himself. And after this moment of
denial, Peter seems to stand outside of the group of Apostles in a self-imposed
exile until Jesus reinstates him on the
shores of the Sea of Galilee. But there is a reality that we often miss.
At the arrest of
Jesus, most of the disciples and Jesus supporters ran. They hid away in homes
in and outside of Jerusalem hoping that the nightmare would end. The two
disciples who did not run were Peter and another disciple (most likely John.)
They followed Jesus and the soldiers to the place of the High Priest where
Jesus would undergo his first examination. Here we find that, for a moment, the
two separate. The other disciple is apparently
known by the High Priest. If this disciple is John, then that makes
sense because his father, Zebedee, was an
influential businessman. John presumably
obtains permission to bring Peter into the courtyard of the High Priest. John
is in his element. He has been here before as the son of Zebedee. But for
Peter, this is an aspect of society that he has never experienced. One can
imagine the emotions that are running through Peter. He has just watched Jesus be arrested, he has gotten into a fight with a
member of the arresting party, followed the soldiers and Jesus to the place of
the High Priest, and now he is standing in the courtyard of the home that
represented religious power in Jerusalem – a place with which he is very
unfamiliar. This night has been overwhelming.
And then the denials begin. There is no doubt that Peter denied Jesus,
just as Jesus predicted that he would. But maybe we need to be reminded where
Peter was as those denials took place. He was in the courtyard of the High
Priest. Admittedly, it may not be much of an excuse; he still denied. But the other side of the story is that if he had
run and hid like most of the disciples, he would never have denied. It is only because Peter courageously
followed Jesus after his arrest that he was in a position to deny his friend. And maybe it is that courage
that we should remember, instead of his failure represented by his three
denials that he knew Jesus.
Tomorrow’s Scripture
Reading: John 19
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