Arresting Jesus, they
marched him off and took him into the house of the Chief Priest. Peter
followed, but at a safe distance. In the middle of the courtyard some people
had started a fire and were sitting around it, trying to keep warm. One of the serving
maids sitting at the fire noticed him, then took a second look and said, “This
man was with him!” He denied it, “Woman, I don’t even know him.” A short time
later, someone else noticed him and said, “You’re one of them.” But Peter
denied it: “Man, I am not.” About an hour later, someone else spoke up, really
adamant: “He’s got to have been with him! He’s got ‘Galilean’ written all over
him.”
Peter said, “Man, I don’t
know what you’re talking about.” At that very moment, the last word hardly off
his lips, a rooster crowed. Just then, the Master turned and looked at Peter.
Peter remembered what the Master had said to him: “Before the rooster crows,
you will deny me three times.” He went out and cried and cried and cried. (Luke 22:54-62)
See the man in the
shadows? That's Peter. Peter the apostle. Peter the impetuous. Peter the
passionate. Peter with the foot-shaped mouth. He once walked on water – stepped
right out of the boat and onto the lake. He'll soon preach to thousands –
fearless before friends and foes alike. But tonight the one who stepped on the
water has hurried into hiding. The one who will speak with power is weeping in
pain. Not sniffling or whimpering, but weeping. Bawling. Bearded face buried in
thick hands. His howl echoing in the Jerusalem night. What hurts more? The fact
that he did it? Or the fact that he swore he never would? "Lord, I am
ready to go with you to prison and even to die with you!" he pledged only
hours earlier. "But Jesus said, 'Peter, before the rooster crows this day,
you will say three times that you don't know me.'" (Luke 22:33-34).
Denying Christ
on the night of his betrayal was bad enough, but did he really have to boast
that he wouldn't? And one denial was bad enough, but three? Three denials were
horrific, but did he really have to curse? "Peter began to place a curse
on himself and swear, 'I don't know the man.'" (Matt. 26:74) And now,
awash in a whirlpool of sorrow, Peter’s hiding. Peter’s weeping. And soon Peter
will be fishing. Fishing? Why’d he go fishing?
We know why he
goes to Galilee – he’d been told that the risen Christ would meet the disciples
there. The arranged meeting place was not the sea, however, but a mountain.
(Matt. 28:16) If the followers were to meet Jesus on a mountain, why are they in
a boat? No one told them to fish, but that's what they did. "Simon Peter
said, 'I am going out to fish.' The others said, 'We will go with you.'"
(John 21:3)
Further, didn't
Peter quit fishing? Two years earlier, when Jesus called him to fish for men,
didn't Peter drop his net and follow? We haven't seen him fish since. We never
see him fish again. So why is he fishing now? Especially now. Jesus has risen
from the dead. Peter has seen the empty tomb. Who could fish at a time like
this?
Were Peter and
his fishing buddies hungry? Maybe that's the sum of it. Maybe the expedition
was born out of growling stomachs. Or, then again, maybe it was born out of a
broken heart. You see, Peter couldn’t deny his denial. The empty tomb didn’t erase
the crowing rooster. Christ had returned, but Peter wondered, he must have
wondered, "After what I did, would he return for someone like me?" Haven’t
we all wondered the same.
Is Peter the
only person to do the very thing he swore he'd never do? "Infidelity is
behind me!" Or, "From now on, I'm going to bridle my tongue." Maybe,
"No more shady deals. I've learned my lesson." Oh, the volume of our
boasting. And, oh, the heartbreak of our shame. Rather than resist the
flirting, we return it. Rather than ignore the gossip, we share it. Rather than
stick to the truth, we shade it. And the rooster crows, conviction pierces our
souls, and Peter has a partner in the shadows. We weep as Peter wept, and we do
what Peter did. We go fishing. We go back to our old lives. We return to our
pre-Jesus practices. We do what comes naturally, rather than what comes
spiritually. And we question whether Jesus has a place for folks like us. Fortunately,
Jesus answers that question.
He answers it
for you and me and all who tend to "Peter out" on Christ. His answer
came on the shore of the sea in a gift to Peter. Do you remember what Jesus
did? Split the waters? No. Turn the boat to gold and the nets to silver? Not
exactly. Jesus did something much more meaningful. He invited Peter to
breakfast. Jesus prepared a meal. Of course, breakfast was just one special
moment among several that morning. There was the great catch of fish and the
recognition of Jesus. The plunge of Peter and the paddling of the disciples.
And there was the moment they reached the shore and found Jesus next to a fire
of coals. The fish were sizzling, the bread was waiting, and the defeater of
hell and the ruler of heaven invited his friends to sit down and have a bite to
eat.
No one could
have been more grateful than Peter. The one Satan had sifted like wheat was
eating bread at the hand of God. Peter was welcomed to the meal of Christ.
Right there for the devil and his tempters to see, Jesus "prepared a table
in the presence of his enemies." OK, so maybe Peter didn't say it that
way. But David did. "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my
enemies." (Ps. 23:5) What the shepherd did for the sheep sounds a lot like
what Jesus did for Peter.
At this point in
the David’s psalm, his mind seems to be lingering in the high country with the
sheep. Having guided the flock through the valley to the alp lands for greener
grass, he remembers the shepherd's added responsibility. He must prepare the
pasture. This is new land, so the shepherd must be careful. Ideally, the
grazing area will be flat, like a mesa or tableland. The shepherd searches for
poisonous plants and ample water. He looks for signs of wolves, coyotes and
bears. Of special concern to the shepherd at the time was the adder, a small
brown snake that lives underground. Adders are known to pop out of their holes
and nip the sheep on the nose. The bite often infects the sheep, and can even
kill. As a defense against the snake, the shepherd would pour a circle of oil
at the top of each adder hole. He also applied the oil to the noses of the
animals. The oil on the snake's hole lubricated the exit, preventing the snake
from climbing out. The smell of the oil on the sheep's nose would drive the
serpent away. The shepherd, in a very real sense, had prepared the table.
What if your
Shepherd did for you what the shepherd did for his flock? Suppose he dealt with
your enemy, the devil, and prepared for you a safe place to receive
nourishment? What if Jesus did for you what he did for Peter? Suppose he, in
the hour of your failure, invited you to a meal? What would you say if I told
you he has done exactly that?
On the night
before his death, Jesus prepared a table for his followers. On the first day of
the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the day the lambs for the Passover meal were
killed, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and get
the Passover meal ready for you?" Then Jesus sent two of them with these
instructions: "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet
you. Follow him to the house he enters, and say to the owner of the house: 'The
Teacher says, Where is the room where my disciples and I will eat the Passover
meal?' Then he will show you a large, upstairs room, fixed up and furnished,
where you will get everything ready for us." (Mark 14:12-15) Look who did
the "preparing" here. Jesus reserved a large room and arranged for
the guide to lead the disciples. Jesus made certain the room was furnished and
the food set out. What did the disciples do? They faithfully complied and were
fed. The Shepherd prepared the table. Not only that, he dealt with the snakes.
You'll remember
that only one of the disciples didn't complete the meal that night. "The
devil had already persuaded Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to turn against
Jesus." (John 13:2) Judas started to eat, but Jesus didn't let him finish.
On the command of Jesus, Judas left the room. "'The thing that you will do
– do it quickly.' . . . Judas took the bread Jesus gave him and immediately
went out. It was night." (John 13:27, 30) There’s something dynamic in
this dismissal. Jesus prepared a table in the presence of the enemy. Judas was
allowed to see the supper, but he wasn't allowed to stay there. You are not welcome here. This table is for
my children. You may tempt them. You may trip them. But you will never sit with
them. This is how much he loves us. And if any doubt remains, lest there be
any "Peters" who wonder if there’s a place at the table for them,
Jesus issues a tender reminder as he passes the cup. "Every one of you
drink this. This is my blood which is the new agreement that God makes with his
people. This blood is poured out for many to forgive their sins." (Matt.
26:27-28)
"Every one of
you drink this." Those who feel unworthy, drink this. Those who feel
ashamed, drink this. Those who feel embarrassed, drink this. The answer to
shame is in the Supper. The Lord's Supper. The same Jesus who'd prepared a meal
for Peter has prepared one for you and me. The same Shepherd who had trumped
the devil trumps him again. The same Savior who had built a fire on the shore can
stir a few embers in our hearts. "Every
one of you drink this." And so we do. It feels good to be back at the
table.
Grace,
Randy
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