March 20, 2022
John 18: 12-27
Lent 3

Some of us have seen this in the movies or we may have experienced this in our much younger days in elementary or high school.

We’ve got our crowd … those people whose interests or perspectives mesh almost perfectly with our own. We like the same music … or we like the same movies … or we have the same hobbies or fashion sense.

We hang out together … walk between classes with each other … we have lunch at the same table in the cafeteria. But then … someone from a more popular group takes notice of one of the members of your crowd … maybe even in you … and questions the relationship with the others in your circle of friends.

“Aren’t you with them?” the question goes.

Looking at the rest of the people around the cafeteria table, the answer comes back … “No, I’m not with them.”

That’s pretty much how Peter plays it in today’s passage from John.

Last week, we heard how Jesus modeled a life of humble discipleship by washing the feet of his followers as they shared a meal.

We heard how Jesus even washed the feet of the one who he knew would betray him … showing that God’s love is there for all.

When it came to Peter, however, the disciple declined the foot-washing … until Jesus explained the lesson to him. Then, Peter wanted a more-thorough cleansing … an exuberance that would set him apart from the other disciples.

Impending betrayal and denial didn’t exclude the two disciples from receiving Jesus’ lesson of love and service.

Just before today’s reading, Judas brings the authorities to arrest Jesus after he had spoken to the disciples in the Kidron Valley. Peter leaps to Jesus’ defence after Jesus secures the disciples’ freedom.

Peter grabs a sword and lops off the ear of the high priests’ servant … the person with the least authority and who was likely the most-vulnerable of the group.

Like the request to have more than his feet washed, Peter’s response comes across as a bit over the top.

Jesus instructs Peter to put the sword away and is bound and led away to the head priest’s home for questioning by the religious authorities.

Peter and the beloved disciple follow at a safe distance.

While Jesus is before the priest and police officials, the beloved disciple helps Peter gain entrance to the high priest’s courtyard after he had been left in the dark at the gate.

In the courtyard during Jesus’ questioning, Peter warms himself at a fire with the household servants and some police.

Jesus tells the authorities there is nothing secretive about his teachings and his ministry … the authorities simply have to ask those who can bear witness to his acts … namely, the disciples.

Outside, Peter has an opportunity to be that witness … to offer testimony of what he has experienced and learned.

He Is questioned about being one of Jesus’ followers by a woman servant who kept the gate to the courtyard, by the people gathered at the fire, and by a slave.

Each time, he denies any connection with Jesus or his followers.

This passage is a contrast in responses to a call.

Jesus answers each question with confidence and openness about his ministry and his identity. Peter’s response, on the other hand, is “I am not.”

Some read Peter’s denial as a denial of Jesus.

That’s not the case in John’s gospel.

Here … three times, no less, … Peter denies any relationship with Jesus. He denies that he abides in Jesus. In fact, he denies a relationship with the rest of the disciples.

In the dim light near the fire in the courtyard of the priest’s home, Peter denies his own identity. He is given opportunities to testify to what he has seen and experienced in the presence of Jesus … and he takes a pass each time.

All of Peter’s bold affirmations in the past … are forgotten in the present … when he is feeling exposed and vulnerable, he steps back … and does not confess to any relationship.

In the courtyard, Peter underscores human shortcomings … human fallibility … that we all experience.

But from this moment, Peter recovers and embraces his call to serve others … even to the point of his own death. Peter demonstrates the human condition that Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection speaks to … and, by extension, to the grace we each have received.

We are meant to see ourselves in Peter in the context of today’s passage.

During Lent, we are called into a time of reflection … to consider questions of ourselves and of our faith. So, in light of today’s gospel passage, perhaps we can ponder the following:

What keeps us from affirming our identity as children of God?

What leads us to say, “I am not?” when asked if we are a member of a faith community?

What barriers are getting in the way of living fully and deeply into our relationships with God and with one another … what causes us to say “no, I’m not with them”?

Despite the barriers and challenges, there is always hope.

There is hope that the part of us that opts to stand by the fire and retreat from our call loosens its grip on our hearts and that we begin to live boldly and lovingly to those around us … to those who are isolated and marginalized … to boldly embrace and bear witness to the abundant and relentless love that we have received … a love that we will experience at the end of our Lenten journey … at the foot of the cross.

AMEN