Mark 14:53-72
Regularly I try to put myself into the story and to visualize the words and actions that I am reading. In today’s reading we have Peter following Jesus …at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. (v.54b) I see Peter’s aggressive personality at work here, first cutting off the high priest’s servant’s ear, then following the crowd discreetly so as to see what would become of his Master, then boldly, brazenly entering the courtyard of the high priest – clearly a “foreigner” in that crowd of temple officers and guards and household servants. Then after being challenged by a servant girl he leaves this crowd and moves closer to Jesus, to the “forecourt” (or porch). I daresay the he moved closer, not to avoid a further challenge, but because he had heard the commotion inside – the verbal abuse and the people in the room slapping and taunting Jesus. I can imagine that he was troubled at Jesus being treated so rudely. His love for Jesus left him unafraid to move closer to Him. Unfortunately the rooster crowing and two more denials and another crowing overwhelmed him and he broke down and soon thereafter departed. I feel sorry for Peter, such a conflicted person…
See also: November 19 / Mark 14:53-72
Peter is just so Human, isn’t he? I love Peter. He is compulsive, he says and does things without thinking it through; he is a committed follower of Jesus, but does not seem to be a follower in any other sense (for example, he does not seem to follow the lead of any of the other apostles); he is spontaneous and reactive. He seems very self sufficient and confident relying on his own abilities.
He also believes in Jesus in a deep and profound way. Where he seems to have some trouble, and I am thinking of Peter stepping off the boat and here when he follows Jesus to the forecourt of the chief priest, is where he is completely helpless personally. In both instances, he cannot rely on his own abilities to help the situation in any way. And in both instances, the only thing left was to trust Jesus completely. When he falls in the water, and when he denies Jesus, he seems to be reacting to the difficulty he has in trusting completely. He turns back to the boat, and he tries to deny his way out of a dangerous situation. Peter has great faith, but he had some difficulty in letting go and trusting Jesus completely (and who doesn’t?).
He overcomes this and is transformed later. (The legend about Peter is, I believe, that when Nero’s agents came to arrest him, he first fled outside the city and when he realized that he had escaped, he turned around and went back into Rome to face the dangers trusting God to the fullest).
Denying Christ. Our persecuted and secret believers in other countries have such life and death choices that we may never experience. But we have so many other temptations to deny Christ, by our unChrist-like words and actions, by not allowing Him to be Lord over some areas of our lives, by being silent in the face of injustice, especially of the marginalized, by giving lip-service to prayer… As Paul says, I do what I don’t want to do and don’t do what I want to do. But praise God that Jesus loves us anyway and has sent the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us until we see Him face to face.