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?”
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 Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people. (John 18:10-14)
This is one of those times when I am embarrassed to
say that I can relate to Peter. Oh, I doubt I would have had the courage to
draw one of two swords available to the whole of his side in front of a group
of Roman soldiers. That takes a special kind of stupidity – or courage – with
which I haven’t been blessed. It tells me that Peter was willing to die for
Jesus. I’d like to say that I would stand so tall if given that choice, but as
grand and noble a gesture as it might have been, I probably couldn’t have done
it. If I had, however, I’m sure that, like Peter, I would aim to do something
deadly and end up embarrassing myself and everyone else with my complete
failure. I’ve often told people that if I have a gun, and it’s not aimed at
your left hip, you’re probably safe.
One of the things that this passage should make
clear, especially so close to the passage shared yesterday, is that Jesus
doesn’t consider Himself bound by our ideas and expectations. He didn’t follow
the Romans’ script, or the Jewish power structure, and He didn’t follow the
script that Peter and the disciple had written. And I’m far too like all of
those – absolutely sure I know how it’s supposed to work. But like the disciples, I suspect that my script would accomplish all the right things in the worst possible way.
Comments
Post a Comment