I purposefully skipped a detail in my telling of the story of Jesus’ ministry years in the previous post. It’s an important part of the story. It’s the elephant in the room we’ve been talking about this week (see first post here). The elephant is about Peter. Back in chapter 13 we listened as Jesus and Peter have a very interesting conversation. Chapter 13 takes place at the Last Supper. Jesus has just told the disciples that he is about to leave them. Hear again this conversation:
“Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”
Yikes. Bold Peter will disown Jesus? Doesn’t seem possible. I wonder how Peter took that. He is very quiet all the way until chapter 18. In chapter 18, it’s a couple hours later. They are now in the Garden, Judas has betrayed Jesus, and the temple soldiers are there to arrest Jesus. Peter steps in.
“Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”
Imagine what might be going through Peter’s mind at this point: “What did you just say, Jesus? Put my sword away? I told you, Jesus, that I was going to give my life for you, and I meant it. Now is the time to fight!”
But as we read in the other Gospel accounts, Jesus responds to Peter, “Put your sword away. I could call legions of angels if I wanted, but no, I have to face this.”
Upon hearing that, I wonder if Peter was confused, feeling off-kilter. Put your sword away? Wasn’t the whole purpose of the past three years to establish the Kingdom of God?
But Jesus has said, “My Kingdom is not established by armed conflict.” I wonder if Peter is weakened in this moment of confusion. I wonder how much fear got the best of him. Because we know what happens next. Peter clearly hasn’t fully given up on Jesus because he follows the crowd to the illegal trial of Jesus and this happens, as written in Luke:
“And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.” But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said. A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” “Man, I am not!” Peter replied. About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.”
Whew. What a moment. Peter adamantly denies ever knowing Jesus, and just then Jesus turns and looks him, as the rooster crows. This is an abject failure on Peter’s part. This is total betrayal of his Lord. This is denial. Peter knows what he did, and he is wrecked.
It is a wonder, then, that Peter ever shows his face again. Maybe he figured that all the denials happened away from the other disciples. Of the 12 disciples, only John had come to the high priest’s house. Did John know Peter denied Jesus? Did any disciples find out? Did Peter admit it to them? Did any of the disciples ever ask Peter, “Remember when Jesus said you would disown him three times that night, and you were super bold about saying, ‘I would never,’ what ever happened with that?” We don’t know anything about the conversations between Peter and the disciples.
But Jesus knows what happened. And Peter knows. That’s the elephant in the room.
Then Jesus died, and Jesus rose again, and Peter is still there with all the disciples when they learn the news that Jesus is alive. Peter is still there when Jesus appears to them. But no one mentions Peter’s denials. Days and perhaps even a week or two have gone by. Jesus now appears to the disciples a third time. Still no mention of the elephant in the room.
Also, it was a massive elephant in the room. Peter who was supposed to the leader of the group had totally denied Jesus three times. Remember that time Jesus said to Peter, “You are Peter, the Rock, and on this rock I will build my church.” There’s some disagreement about Jesus’ meaning in that passage, but it seems to me a strong possibility that Jesus looked to Peter as a leader.
But when Peter denied Jesus, has Peter lost his position as leader? Is Peter even qualified to be one of the 12 disciples anymore? When you deny your Lord, haven’t you committed the unforgivable sin? What Peter did was extremely significant, and not in a good way.
In the next post, we’ll observe the ingenious, gracious, and empowering way Jesus addresses the elephant in the room.
Engaging Scripture 