May the mumbling commence!
When the going gets tough, how well do I follow Jesus? As Jesus was being led away to be tried – railroaded really – by the Sanhedrin, Peter followed… at a distance. Read below from all four of the gospels:
They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together. Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire. (Mark 14:53-54)
Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome. (Matthew 26:57-58)
Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. (Luke 22:54-55)
Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people.
Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard, but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the girl on duty there and brought Peter in. (John 18:12-16)
Do you and I follow Jesus at a distance, like Peter? And, what does it mean to follow Jesus at a distance? Matthew gives us a brief glimpse or an idea of what it means to follow Jesus at a distance. Peter was there to see the outcome. Was he there like a deer in the headlights – watching the trial as it unfolded? Or was he there in hopes that Jesus would claim his kingdom? Maybe it was a little of both!
John tells us that there was another disciple with Peter. John does not name the other disciple. I wonder who that disciple was… Often, when a gospel writer talks about an unnamed disciple, he speaks about himself. John tells us that this disciple was known to the high priest – known and welcomed into the trial. This unnamed disciple also gets Peter into the proceedings.
I have a hard time thinking that this disciple is John. If I were to guess, this disciple would have been Judas Iscariot. What other disciple of Jesus would be known by the high priest and welcomed to the farce of trial that was given to Jesus? Perhaps, Judas saw how Peter tried to defend Jesus in the garden, so he allowed Peter to follow along to have front row seats to the assumption of Jesus to power – kingly power. That was their greatest and only hope in all of this.
Where are you and I? Do we follow Jesus at a distance hoping that he will conform to our greatest hopes and our agendas? Or do we follow Jesus from so far behind that we do not even make attempts to stand up for Jesus when the going gets rough? You know, do we follow by fleeing like the rest of the disciples?
These are hard questions for the last half of the Lenten season, as we walk with Jesus to the cross. O God, help us follow closely to Jesus. Help us to say not my will but Yours be done.
Obedience is the key. Forgive me, O Lord, when I daily fall short of obedience. Forgive us.
And I am confident of Christ’s forgiveness. So, let you and me surge forward and try to be more obedient today.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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