How many people ever thought about what it was like for Peter on the
night Jesus was betrayed? There he was standing outside the gates
warming himself by the "imperial fire" while those in power were doing
what those in power do, burning someone. The big problem for Peter is
that this time it just happens to be Jesus.
Have you ever said you would give your life to Jesus? Everyone’s met
people who talk about "knowing Jesus", but how many have faced what
"knowing Jesus" really means? And who knew more about who Jesus really
was than Peter? When Peter was asked who he thought Jesus was, he came
right out and said it, "you are the Messiah, the Son of the living
God", seems like Peter has the correct answer, right? But, during
Jesus’ trial, Peter is standing outside where it’s warm and cozy while
Jesus is inside facing the naked truth and it’s freezing. To top it
off, this is right after Peter said he would give his life for Jesus.
Now don’t get me wrong, I know nobody likes to feel pain, even
Jesus didn’t want to. Obviously if it was up to Jesus, he was pretty
clear what he did and didn’t want to do. Between bloody sweat and
clenched teeth he said he was looking for a way out. It is also clear
Jesus believed in Loving God and his neighbour, yet near the end Jesus
asks if Love has to be done ‘that way’. Contrary to today’s ABC
salvation and quick fix, commercial culture, it is actually quite
difficult to believe in Love and freedom. This difficulty is well
expressed in the Spanish proverb; – take what you want, but pay for it
– and "three times" Jesus struggled to find a way around this! In the
end, Jesus concedes that the road to freedom is carved deep into the
order of things. Which is to say that the price of Love ain’t cheap!
Cheap grace can be bought and sold almost anywhere, exchanged by
thieves who sell freedom from sin wholesale, saying receive, receive,
it’s free and yet steal every drop of meaning until our pockets are
empty.
Again, don’t get me wrong, the invitation to embrace God’s love and to
be embraced is freely given to everyone. How much clearer can you get
than when Jesus said to invite everyone to God’s great ‘Feast for the
Least’. He said to drag them in if you have to, compel them, "Come!"
And Love does come, but Lo’, in the darkest of night, God too is like a
thief and he has a hatchet in his hand. God’s Love comes like a
consuming fire and Jesus doesn’t speak in vain when he says "God loves
you, look I’ll prove it"!
How this ‘Deep, Dark Love’ is something Peter wasn’t quite prepared to
believe in and sure enough it looks pretty strange to me too. I never
could figure out this "backside" to God. Maybe you know what I mean;
those hard times when you look and you look but you can’t see anything.
(Blessed is the Servant of the Lord who does not trust in what his eyes
see, or in this case ‘don’t see’. Isa. 11:2-4; 50:10). I mean like,
“Pluck out my eyes; they aren’t doin’ me any good!” Maybe it’s not like
that for some people, maybe God’s just "PIZZOW," there for them. Not
me, when it comes to Love, I’m burning, eyes straining, arms aching to
hold on and believe in Jesus, even when it hurts, especially when it
hurts! This is what Peter is learning, but it is a lesson he is not at
all prepared to face and his inadequacies are winning out in the
conflicts between wanting to love and the cost of Loving!
Peter, like most of us, seems to really like the idea of Jesus being
the big guy, you know, ‘the Son of You Know Who’. The funny thing is,
every time you hear someone referring to Jesus as the ‘Big Guy’, a
conflict erupts in the story as Jesus refers to someone called the "Son
of Man", which is then followed by the disciples contradicting Jesus
and doing something that shows they just don’t get it! Take for example
Peter’s great moment mentioned above (Matt. 16:13-20). Notice how after
Jesus commends Peter for his insight, Jesus warns the disciples not to
get all hung up on Jesus being everything Peter cracks him up to be
(Matt. 16:20). Jesus then shifts the focus by emphasizing the "Son of
Man" and what he is going to do, or rather what’s going to be done to
him (see my opening paragraph). The conclusion is one of discipleship’s
finest moments, Peter goes head to head with Jesus over which version
of being the Messiah is true; Son of God or Son of Man?
This is the first pattern of three in a triple cycle of confession,
conflict, and contradiction. These three triplets build the sense of
tension in the discipleship struggle and continue until the Last
Supper, which is where everyone’s words are tested against their deeds.
Along with Peter’s three ‘C’s’ the two other triplets intensify the
questions regarding Glory and Honour, directed at or about Jesus (the
transfiguration, Matt. 17:1-8 and Jesus being "Good" Matt. 20:16-30),
which is then commented on by talking about what?.. the Son of Man and
what is coming! (Betrayed and killed, Matt. 17:22-3 and condemned,
mocked, flogged and crucified, Matt. 20:18-9). The contrast between
‘oh, isn’t it wonderful’ and ‘oh my god, what is he talking about’ is
illuminated by the disciples, of whom Peter is the head, whose
behaviour is consistently Contra-Christi (egotistical arguments over
who was the greatest, Matt. 18:1-6 and self seeking, indignant
endeavours to get positions of honour and privilege, Matt. 20:20-8).
If we look at this progression in comparison with the three Synoptic
Gospels, the pattern is easily seen and should draw our attention to
this as central to interpreting the Gospel story…
Son of God; Confession:
1a) Peter’s says Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Mt. 16:13-19
Mk. 8:27-29
Lk. 9:18-20
1b) Jesus, Moses and Elijah, Voice from cloud says this is my Son.
Mt. 17:1-8
Mk. 9:2-8
Lk. 9:28
1c) Rich ruler calls Jesus "Good Teacher"
Mt. 19:16-30
Mk. 10:17-31
Lk. 18:18-30
———————————————————————————————–
Son of Man; Conflict:
2a) Jesus warns them… says the Son of Man must Suffer.
Mt. 16:21
Mk. 8:30-2
Lk. 9:21-7
2b) Again, Jesus warns them… says the Son of Man will be killed.
Mt. 17:22-3
Mk. 9:9-10, 30-2
Lk. 9: 44
2c) On the way to Jerusalem..The Son of man will be betrayed.
Mt. 20:17-9
Mk. 10:32-4
Lk. 18:31-4
———————————————————————————————————–
Where do you stand? Contradiction:
3a) Peter rebukes Jesus. Jesus rebukes Peter.
Mt. 16:22-8
Mk. 8:32-8
Lk.. —
3b) Disciples argue about who is/will be the greatest.
Mt. 18:1-6
Mk. 9:33-7
Lk. 9:46-8
3c) James and John/their mother seek the best seats in Jesus Glory.
Mt. 20:20-8
Mk. 10:35-45
Lk. —
Son of God – Son of Man – Where do you stand?
Confession – Conflict – Contradiction
1a…. 2a…. – 3a….
1b ….- 2b ….- 3b….
1c ….- 2c…. – 3c….
Three things seem evident from these patterns, first is that the
expectations of Jesus’ friends and contemporaries (or ‘us’ for that
matter): they believed that ‘The Messiah’ was something wonderful or
powerful. They thought that this was a ‘good thing’, in the sense of
something pleasant. This view, although common, is misleading!
Secondly, the ‘Son of Man’ does not necessarily alleviate or vanquish
our struggles and suffering. In fact, following or ‘believing in’, the
messiah is likely to exasperate them. Thirdly, and maybe most
importantly, is that the people who seem to be chosen to receive this
truth or the people we might tend to think of as worthy of
understanding this message, are the ones who will most likely
misunderstand and even contradict this truth. They will even do this
for reasons that will look and sound a lot like the way we
misunderstand and
contradict this truth.
The topsy-turvy movement of this pattern can become a self fulfilling
prophesy for those of us who’ve been burned by those who ‘should’ve
known better’ in the church. Even worse would be if we simply used this
as some kind of self consolation to justify the fact that we’ve had a
real hard go at walking the Christian talk. If we ever hope to
understand and live faithfully the message and the meaning of the
Gospel, we must sink deeper into the story behind "who do you say is
the Son of Man?"
Lane Walker gives leadership to the St. Chiara Community in East Vancouver.