Fourth Station: Jesus is Denied by Peter
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. One of the maids came over to him and said, "You too were with Jesus the Galilean." But he denied it in front of everyone, saying, "I do not know what you are talking about!" As he went out to the gate, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This man was with Jesus the Nazorean." Again he denied it with an oath, "I do not know the man!" A little later the bystanders came over and said to Peter, "Surely you too are one of them; even your speech gives you away." At that he began to curse and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately a cock crowed. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: "Before the cock crows you will deny me three times." He went out and began to weep bitterly.
Sixth Station: Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said,"Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck him repeatedly.
Station 4&6 March 26, 2014
There
is an enormous difference between practice and performance. Between getting it done without
pressure vs. making it happen
at crunch time. I’ve watched a lot of basketball this past week. I played in high school, and as I watch these guys and girls shooting free throws toward the end of a game, it’s amazing to me. There will be an 80% free throw shooter who gets to the line at the end of a game, needing to make at least one out of two. And he misses both. He probably makes 20 or 30 in a row in practice. But when he’s tired, fearful of missing… of letting his teammates down, when he hears the cat calls of the fans of the other team, and them waving behind the basket… he misses and I think, yeah, I think I would too. Or he makes it and I’m amazed at his focus. Or… I was in drama in high school, too. And we’d practice our lines thousands of times. Thousands. To the point where all throughout a day, those lines would pop up in my consciousness. I can still recite some of my lines from when I was Mark Twain 20 years ago. But it’s funny how when you put 500 people in a room to watch you say those memorized lines, how different they come out. Or don’t come out. Or, you study for a test and you’ve got it cold. But then comes that quiet room, you, your pencil, and that test. Sometimes, the numbers or words or facts just flit away. Whether you’ve prepared a proposal at work, practiced a song for hours, or made yourself emotionally ready for a difficult situation, there is always an enormous difference between practice and performance. And that’s what the story of Peter is about.
at crunch time. I’ve watched a lot of basketball this past week. I played in high school, and as I watch these guys and girls shooting free throws toward the end of a game, it’s amazing to me. There will be an 80% free throw shooter who gets to the line at the end of a game, needing to make at least one out of two. And he misses both. He probably makes 20 or 30 in a row in practice. But when he’s tired, fearful of missing… of letting his teammates down, when he hears the cat calls of the fans of the other team, and them waving behind the basket… he misses and I think, yeah, I think I would too. Or he makes it and I’m amazed at his focus. Or… I was in drama in high school, too. And we’d practice our lines thousands of times. Thousands. To the point where all throughout a day, those lines would pop up in my consciousness. I can still recite some of my lines from when I was Mark Twain 20 years ago. But it’s funny how when you put 500 people in a room to watch you say those memorized lines, how different they come out. Or don’t come out. Or, you study for a test and you’ve got it cold. But then comes that quiet room, you, your pencil, and that test. Sometimes, the numbers or words or facts just flit away. Whether you’ve prepared a proposal at work, practiced a song for hours, or made yourself emotionally ready for a difficult situation, there is always an enormous difference between practice and performance. And that’s what the story of Peter is about.
In
chapter 16 of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus and his disciples come into the district
of Caesarea Philippi and Jesus sits them down and asks them a question. “Who do people say that the Son of Man
is?”
I imagine a kind of classroom
feel here or maybe a staff meeting.
Anyone, anyone? And they
said things like, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still
others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
But then Jesus got to the tougher question. “Who do you say that I am?” And Peter speaks up like the head of the class man that he
is. “Oooh, oooh, “You are the
Messiah, the Son of the Living God!”
And Jesus said, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my Father in heaven.
And I tell you Simon, you are Peter – that is Petros – which means rock
– and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail
against it. I will give you the
keys of the Kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind or loose on earth will be
bound or loosed in heaven.”
I imagine a kind of classroom
feel here or maybe a staff meeting.
Anyone, anyone? And they
said things like, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still
others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
But then Jesus got to the tougher question. “Who do you say that I am?” And Peter speaks up like the head of the class man that he
is. “Oooh, oooh, “You are the
Messiah, the Son of the Living God!”
And Jesus said, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my Father in heaven.
And I tell you Simon, you are Peter – that is Petros – which means rock
– and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail
against it. I will give you the
keys of the Kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind or loose on earth will be
bound or loosed in heaven.” 
Jesus
gives Simon a nickname. You’re the
Rock. And that’s what the gospel
writers typically call him. That’s
what history knows him by… his nickname: Rock. St. Rock, Minnesota – pretty town. St. Rock’s Basilica in Rome. For proclaiming this revelation that Jesus is the Messiah,
Son of the Living God, Simon son of Jonah gets as amazing a job offer as anyone
has ever gotten. On you I’ll build
my church. I’ll give you the keys
to the kingdom and whatever you judge to be done or not done, well, that’s what
the rules will be in heaven.
Whoa. You know sometimes,
I’ve talked about Mary the Mother of God as though she is the most faithful
person in Scripture, so willingly open to bearing the Son of God. Or Martha as she grieves the death of
her brother Lazarus, she is still able to faithfully say to Jesus, “You are the
Messiah; the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” But neither of them are rewarded with
the keys to the Kingdom. With the
ability to set the boundaries of what shall be done or not done on earth and
then also in heaven. So, Peter
must be so very exceptionally faithful.
Well,
he was when being faithful was safe and easy. In class with his fellow disciples, Peter shines. He knows the answers. But when the rubber hits the road, or
as a teacher of mine liked to say, “you’re tied to the train tracks and the
train is coming. What do you
really believe?” And when we get
to that moment for Peter, as Jesus has been handed over to the authorities and
is obviously in great danger of being executed… which usually also brings about
the execution of such a person’s followers… When the context of Peter’s faith
changes from practice to showtime, Peter shrinks. He doesn’t clank a free throw, here. He shoots three airballs. He forgets his lines. The Rock crumbles. Peter denies even knowing Jesus, much
less following him.
As we continue our journey through the stations of cross, we come to the 6th
station where Jesus, having been found guilty of nothing in particular, but
guilty nonetheless, Jesus is then processed – you could say. And being processed in this case means
a flogging, humiliation and a beating.
Marla Meyer makes these words and images come alive by offering this
station that has a feel to it. You
can feel the cloth and the crown, which is appropriate because this part of
John’s gospel is written in such a way as to connect with our physical
bodies. John wants us to know this
hurt for Jesus. It hurt his bones,
his skin, his human body. But
these verses from John also show us how Jesus was tortured emotionally. At
their worst soldiers have been known throughout time for mistaking their duty
for privileged power, especially soldiers who occupy a rival nation. Whether it’s been Americans in Iraq
desecrating dead enemies, or the British raping the innocents of Scotland, or
the Romans burning the villages of the Gauls after defeating them… soldiers can
give in to hatred instead of dwelling on their opportunity to serve. These Roman soldiers hated the
Jews. Jesus bears the brunt of
their hatred as they don’t just flog and beat him. They belittle him.
They mock him. A crown that
will make its wearer bleed. A
cloak that would like putting a prom dress on a homeless person. It’s mean.
What
hurts worse? Physical brutality or
emotional warfare? I’m not sure
there is a right answer. Actually,
I think what John is trying to get across is that Jesus endured the full range
of abuse: all kinds. He is immune
to nothing. He chooses to
experience all of it. Without
saying one word. Without crying
out ‘uncle’ or in his case, ‘Father”.
Jesus
endures the power of words… from these soldiers, from the lack of words Peter
offers, from false testimony about him in front of the Sanhedrin. Because as much as I like to dwell on
me and how I am just like the soldiers… this station (like all the others)
isn’t about me or us. First and
foremost it’s about Jesus. It’s
about what he went through so that we can believe that God truly lived as one
of us… enduring the worst we do to each other… it’s about Jesus going through
all of it SO THAT we would believe, feel his love recognize he didn’t just do
it to prove how tough he is. He
did it so that we would feel loved by him. Which changes the way we live. It changes the way we die; and don’t stay dead. When we recognize how loved we are, we
are changed… Thanks be to God.
