'Then seizing him they went and entered the high priest's house; but 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 among them... and the Lord turned around and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered what the Lord had said to him ... and he went out and wept bitterly.' (Luke 22.54-55, 61a & 62 translation mine)
If we look carefully at the string of third-person plural personal pronouns in Luke's retelling of Peter's denial of Jesus, we notice that the whole sorry event takes place at night around that fire kindled in the court-yard of the house of the high priest.
Jesus has been arrested, forcibly led to the house, and now sits under guard around the fire. The trial has yet to begin (Luke 22.66). Peter, who at first followed at a distance, joins the gathering. He may have been less than 10 feet away from Jesus when, undercover of darkness and the shifting shadows of the amber flames, he denies knowing the man who meant so much to him. That turning, that look from Jesus, is all the more poignant when we discover that he heard every word of his friends betrayal.
What more could be done? Peter finds himself swept up in the blackness of the moment when all humanity turns against the Lord of life. He has yet to be touched by the reality of Jesus true identity, by the drama of Jesus' death and resurrection. His foolish attempt to stay close to Jesus at all costs is trumped by weakness and human sin. There is nothing he can do to escape the black fiery hurricane that enfolds Christ in his darkest hour.
...And yet there is mercy. Jesus needs to speak no other words at this moment other than that which he has already been spoken. The look is all that is needed. Peter's denial is complete and he is spared going one step further in his duplicity and complicity with the events that are unfolding by leaving before the guards turn on Jesus.
If he had stayed would he have been compelled to join them in mocking and beating his dear friend to prove the point. No, in mercy, he is spared this at least...
No comments:
Post a Comment