The opening bracket and closing bracket
| They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together. Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire. ------------- While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. "You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus," she said. But he denied it. "I don't know or understand what you're talking about," he said, and went out into the entryway. When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, "This fellow is one of them." Again he denied it. After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean." He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, "I don't know this man you're talking about." Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times." And he broke down and wept. (Mark14:53-72) |
Mark tells Peter's denial story in two parts...
I call them the opening and closing brackets.
These two parts give some balance to the story.
The opening bracket shows Peter following Jesus who is being taken to the high priest.
What is striking is that Mark says that Peter was following "Him", not "them."
It's a subtle nuance, but striking.
Although he had deserted and fled (after chopping off an ear) Peter is back to following Jesus.
Ironically Mark uses the same basic verb for "follow" here as he does when Jesus called Peter to "follow", but here he qualifies "followed" with "at a distance."
So there's a positive and a negative. Peter is following, but it's at a distance.
When we get to the closing bracket, Peter's "distant following" turns into a triple denial. And, as they say, "There, but for the grace of God, go you and I...."
We do need to note what comes between the brackets.
Jesus is placed before a "kangaroo court" and they can't get the evidence to stick.
So Jesus states His true identity as the Son of God, allowing them to make a charge of blasphemy.
So while Peter tries to follow but stays at a distance and then denies, Jesus springs the trap on Himself.
Two take-homes:
1. I'm comforted by Peter's humanity. I also try to follow, though sometimes at a distance, and sometimes I deny. We think that Mark wrote his gospel based on sermons by Peter. Peter found forgiveness and restoration and so there is hope for me too.
2. In spite of human failures (Peter) and evil's bungling machinations, Jesus was determined to save you and me, even to the point of springing the trap on Himself.
