C Cycle – Good Friday 25

Jn. 18:1-19,42

After the Passion meal with HIs disciples, Jesus went into the garden to pray. Exactly what He predicted when He said “he must suffer at the hands of the religious leaders and be killed” was about to happen. After His arrest, Jesus told Peter that he would deny Jesus three times before the cock crowed.  Peter boldly proclaimed that he would die before he denied Jesus. Of all the things that happen to Jesus that encounter between Peter and Jesus should remind us how blind we can be about our ability to trust and stand firm in our belief in what Jesus did for us by His death and resurrection.   

There was so much I wanted to say but instinctively I knew nothing I would say could change her mind.  Peter’s belief in Jesus grew from that first encounter on the shores of Galilee.  That moment when Peter acknowledges he is a sinful man and asks Jesus to depart from him.  Over three years we see Peters faith grow strong enough to get out of a boat and walk on water because Jesus invited him to come to Him.  We see Peter boldly proclaim Jesus is the Messiah and become the foundation on which Jesus would build His church. 

The encounter between Jesus and Peter is easily overlooked as we focus on the horrific treatment of Jesus during His passion.  But it is in the scriptures and all scripture is from God and reveals something of God and gives us a glimpse of our own response.  as of that same mindset that night and at one point he pulled his sword to defend Christ.  Peter is devoted to Jesus and does believe he would die for Him. Peter does pull his sword and is willing to die to defend Jesus. Perhaps believing Jesus would call down lightening and all the forces of heaven to prevent what was about to happen. 

But Jesus meekly surrendered, and all the disciples flee, fearful for their lives.  In fact, they stayed fearful and confused for the next fifty days as they huddled in that upper room.  But I digress, Peter we know did not flee but he followed Jesus from a distance, hiding in the shadows, concealed by the crowd, cautious and curious. That is until he was noticed and called out three times as one of Jesus’s followers.     

On that third time, Jesus looked at Peter and Peter looked at Jesus and he leaves weeping bitterly.  Ashamed, defeated, guilty of the very thing he did not believe he would do – deny Christ.  Everything he believed about Christ and his response to Christ was challenged and he failed.  Guilt is an awful presence inside each of us and it not only condemns us, but it also prevents us from allowing the mercy we would receive from Christ to wash over us.

Failure to live what we believe is used by the one who wants to destroy us to keep us apart from Christ. Feeling unworthy and powerless to overcome our shortcomings is exactly how Satan sifts us like wheat, separating us from Christ.  Satan also uses our ability to keep the laws of God and of the Church to convince us we are strong in our faith and will not fail to acknowledge Christ.  It also keeps us from Christ and the sanctification offered us by acknowledging our weakness and our sin.

What transpired during the eye to eye contact between Jesus and Peter?  Peter’s actions tell us guilt overwhelmed him.  But Christ intended that look to do something greater.  It was the same look Jesus gave the woman caught in adultery.  It was the same look He gave the woman at the well.  It was the same look He gave Marth, or the leper, or the paralytic.  It was a look that conveyed exactly why what was happening to Him was necessary. 

It is a look that is shown to us by Jesus in every encounter with the righteous and unrighteous in the scriptures.  It is the same look that Jesus had as He looked down upon the centurion standing at the foot of the cross.  It was the same look He will give you and I if only we would acknowledge Him and what He has done for us.  

It is a look that seeks us every day and every night offering forgiveness and wholeness if only we would believe.  It is a look that seeks to reveal the father’s love to us and the father’s desire for us to be embraced as the prodigal son was embraced.  It is a look we should seek rather than avoid or hide from it because we have failed and are as uncertain as Peter was when he denied Christ.

Jesus constantly invites us to come to Him and allow Him to open our eyes to see, our hearts to respond and our minds to be transformed.  This day is a day when we are shown the impact of our sin.  We hear the horror of His flogging, the hostility of the crowd as they are incited by evil shouts to crucify Him.  Rejected by people filled with righteousness and learning believing their version of the Messiah is correct and Jesus certainly did not fit the kind of God they desired.

What Jesus desires is for us stand in front of Him, allow Him to penetrate our incorrect image of ourselves and show us what is possible if we embrace Him.  Come to Me, Listen to Me, Follow Me, Sit with Me. Pray with Me. Dine with Me, Dance with Me and love me as I have loved you. Allow His grace to offer us what He offered Peter before His ascension – forgiveness, and a mission to love one another.