Beyond the Labels

One of the things that I have really been reconsidering as we have gone through the Gospel of John is my view of Simon Peter. If you have been coming to my Deeper Dive on Mondays you might have picked up on that, and it became even more apparent to me after last week when Peter wants his whole body washed not just his feet. Because of that, I really came into this reading today looking at Peter with a fresh set of eyes.

A professor in seminary once told me that while the titles to the different stories of the Bible are there because they are meant to be helpful, they can actually have the opposite effect. This statement from my professor aided me in my quest to see Peter differently. If you were to take a look at your Bible at home you would find it had titles to the different parts of the stories. For the passages we are looking at today you will see that it gives the title, “Peter denies Jesus” and “Peter denies Jesus again”. And I looked at multiple versions of the Bible and they all have a similar heading.

So if we read this passage about Peter in the courtyard after Jesus arrest, and we read this heading about his denial then we are already focusing our attention, consciously, or unconsciously on Peter’s denial. When we do that we see Peter’s failings and nothing else. Guess what we miss when we pay attention to just the denial? A whole lot actually. From the other gospels we learn that the disciples scatter and run. We don’t get that here but we also don’t get word that they stuck around. But guess who does? Peter and another disciple. This other disciple isn’t one of the twelve because none of them had an in with the high priest. So Peter is the only one to follow Jesus just as he promised he would.

We are told to focus on his denial, which forces us to ignore the incredible risk and bravery Peter took upon himself to follow Jesus. Peter goes all the way into the priests courtyard which is the area just before the entrance into the Holy Place which is where the priests rooms, and the Holy of Holies were. Can you imagine the amount of fear and anxiety Peter must be experiencing as this other disciple talks to the servant who then opens the gate up for him to walk inside? But he promised Jesus he wouldn’t leave him and even though he can’t go into the Holy Place, Peter is doing everything he can to stay as close to his Rabbi, his Messiah as he can. Because of that Peter is forced to walk the line of being there for Jesus and doing what he feels is right and walking in the light of God versus, protecting his own life and hiding in the shadows and darkness of the fire they were standing around so that people couldn’t make out who he really was.

And it’s that idea of Peter’s trying to walk the line of light and dark, and of faithfulness and self-preservation that I want to transition to Jesus like our gospel does . Because I believe our author John intentionally, just like a good movie or TV show today, goes back and forth between Peter’s scene and Jesus’ scene. When we get to Jesus and Annas we see even more light and darkness leading the conversation and the whole atmosphere of their interaction. Annas has arrested Jesus at night to avoid any kind of scene. He doesn’t want people to know what they’ve done.

This goes all the way back to Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus that we looked at earlier this year. John 3:19–21 “This is the basis for judgment: The light came into the world, and people loved darkness more than the light, for their actions are evil. All who do wicked things hate the light and don’t come to the light for fear that their actions will be exposed to the light. Whoever does the truth comes to the light so that it can be seen that their actions were done in God.” Annas probably knows that what he is doing isn’t being done the right way, even if he thinks that what he is doing is right. Annas is trying to do this by the cover of night to get it taken care of so they can go back to the way life was before Jesus showed up.

On the other hand, Jesus doesn’t want anything to do with that. Jesus lives in the light and is only interested in spreading the light and love of God. That’s why when he’s questioned he tells Annas that everything he’s said, he’s said openly in the world. Jesus hasn’t hidden what he’s taught the people. He hasn’t healed anyone privately. Everything has been in the daylight and for anyone to see and make their own judgement. Which is why he then tells them that they can ask anyone…and he wants them to ask them. Jesus not only has done his ministry in the light of day, but his ministry has been to bring the light to the world. So in this way Jesus is teaching them about the light of God versus the veil of night. At the same time he is calling them out practically by telling them that they should have a public trial that is out in the open, in the light of day. Something they’ll never do because they know how much he has won over the hearts of the people.

Here’s the juxtaposition that we have today. We have Jesus as the light of the world, healing, teaching, loving out in the light. There is nothing that is hidden away, just the light of God shining through God’s son, open and available for all to see and experience. Then we have Annas who is trying to do everything in the darkness. He doesn’t want anyone to see or know what he is doing so that he can return things to what he thinks is the norm of life. Lastly, we have Peter, who yes, does deny Jesus three times. At the same time he does exactly what he says he’ll do…he’ll follow Jesus to the end. Peter has this very intriguing and very human way of himself. He is both walking in the light doing his best to follow his Messiah, while at the same time stuck in the muck of his humanness. He can’t quite fully live in the light and because of that doubt and need for self-preservation he walks into the darkness for a time.

That is why I said earlier that Peter walks that line, he lives in both the light and darkness. He struggles with his bold actions and commitments to follow his Messiah, while knowing that he can’t fully do what it is he wants or needs to do. That’s where I believe we all fall in our lives. We aren’t open books of light like Jesus who is all things to all people, and we aren’t hiding in the darkness like Annas hoping people won’t realize what we’re doing. We’re Peter. We’re people doing our best to live in the light, following in the steps of the great I AM knowing that we have been called to love and care for the world, while at the same time knowing that there are times when we will not follow all the way. That doesn’t and shouldn’t define who we are and whose we are. Just like a title on a part of the gospel shouldn’t define who Peter is. Peter is more than the guy who speaks before he thinks, he’s more than the guy who denies Jesus. Peter is a beloved child of God who Jesus chose to help him spread the good news of God’s love for this world. And since I already said we’re Peter, then that too means you too are a beloved child of God who Jesus chose to help him spread the good news of God’s love for this world. Don’t let a label or a title define who you are. You are God’s child and that is enough. Amen.