LENT 2016 – GOING TO JERUSALEM

Saturday, March 19

Jesus Before the High Priest:  Matthew 26: 57 – 68

            Our text tells us that Peter slinked behind Jesus and his armed guards on the way to the home of the High Priest, “in order to see how this would end,” (v.58).

            Not well, Peter; this is not going to end well!

            One might wonder who it was who spilled the beans of what went on in some of these more private trials and secret interrogations during these last hours of Jesus’ life. But as we know from modern politics, there are always some faceless sources who wish to “remain anonymous” and who like to tell all about what went on behind closed doors. I doubt if it was too difficult to ascertain what happened at Caiaphas’ palace. Somebody would be bragging how they put Jesus in his place and proved him just another phony Messiah, prone to blasphemy and visions of grandeur.

            End of story!

            Except this is just the beginning of the end. There is much yet to come.

            We become like Peter – a bystander from afar; aghast, bewildered, confused, disbelieving that it has taken such a terrible turn for the worse, but all we can do now is watch, wait and pray for some miraculous intervention.  There is a feeling of powerlessness at not knowing what to do. Shame? Guilt? Fear?  Maybe, ever so reluctantly, just a bit fascinated, curious, and mesmerized by the dramatic events taking place before our eyes.

            How is this all going to end?

            I sometimes try to imagine what it must have been like to read a Gospel for the very first time, knowing nothing about Jesus or Christianity, just as if I was reading a novel for the first time.  Things look really ominous for our hero at this point. The big, bad villains have him in their clutches.  Does Jesus make it out alive or is he done for? I can’t wait to see how this ends. The tension is unbearable. It is tempting to skip all the nasty bits of the story and jump to its conclusion, hoping for a happy ending.

            But I hide with Peter in the shadows and listen and watch and wait. To understand and appreciate the surprise ending, I must be a witness to this, first, to see how Jesus endured the insults, the torture, the pain and suffering and even death.

            It’s hard to watch.

            Hey, Peter, you’re blocking my view!