Falling Upward
Mark 14:27-42
Have you ever reneged on a promise to a dear friend?
Photo by Felipe Souza on Unsplash
And Jesus said to them, "You will all become deserters; for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.' But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." Peter said to him, "Even though all become deserters, I will not." Jesus said to him, "Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times." But he said vehemently, "Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you." And all of them said the same. They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And he said to them, "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake." And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, "Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want." He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him. He came a third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand." - Mark 14:27-42
Peter does it again.
There is something about Peter that is both endearing and frustrating at the same time.
He means well, and Jesus puts a great deal of faith in him to lead the followers after he is gone, but Peter can't help but screw up.
In today's reading, Jesus tells Peter that he knows Peter will fail him in his hour of need, yet Jesus still supports him.
Is this something Jesus will do for all of us? If so, what about Judas?
Is Jesus as willing to forgive Judas as he is to forgive Peter?
We don't get to find out, because Judas chooses to end his life rather than go back and face the resurrected Jesus.
Maybe it isn't fair for me to single out these two apostles, given that Jesus tells them all that they will desert him, but these two represent our choices when we screw up.
One leaves in disgrace and gives up, while the other stays and works toward redemption and grace.
Jesus told many stories of forgiveness, but here he plays it out with real consequences for all of us to see. All of his apostles leave him, and yet he returns to them and encourages them to go on without him when he is resurrected.
That is true love.
It leaves us with a dilemma, though. How do we treat one another the way Jesus treats us?
When a dear friend or someone even closer to us deserts us, we struggle to bring them back into our fold, and we never want to give up on them, but is that the message here?
Some of the responsibility lies with the other person. Peter and Judas each made a choice, and Jesus didn't stop them from doing that.
So it is with us.
God gives us the will to choose and will not keep us from making mistakes with our lives. He will be there for us when we realize it, but He will let us make it.
If all of the apostles of Jesus stuck by him in his hour of need, we wouldn't have such a pure example of grace and repentance. We would have twelve heroes who are too good for us to emulate.
But, instead, we have failures who are a lot like us.
There is hope for all who fall and get up again.
More to come...