Good Friday, April 10, 2009

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Good Friday, April 10, 2009
John 13: 36-38

Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward." Peter said to him, "Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.

Jesus was very astute when it came to understanding human nature. Fear is a powerful force that causes many of us to falter on the pathway to righteousness. We deny, both to others and within our own selves, that which we know to be true. Peter was only being human; thinking that he would be able to stand up to fear when, in reality, he would fall short of his ideal behavior and lie to save his own life. We fail to face those people in our lives that want us to take a stand; we hide behind our own lies and half truths, believing in their momentary protection rather than having faith that dares to speak its name in the midst of enemies.

I often ponder how it is that Jesus did not run when the soldiers came for him in the Garden of Gethsemane. He stood and told the truth and went with them, offering no violence or attempts to flee their calculatingly painful plan. He saw the full measure of what was to come, his systematic humiliation, brutal torture and excruciating murder and, yet, he saw beyond them.

When we are affected by the fear that lures someone else into a trap of deceit, irresponsibility or procrastination, let us remember that each of us has the capacity to react like Peter and also to forgive like Jesus. When we ourselves, stand in place and time that has the power to define us, let us remember that we stand with a God that will see us through the most difficult circumstances of our lives and that there is no finer human experience but to conquer through faith one's deepest fears. rsy