Reflecting on the special[i]
celebration and remembrance of the substitutionary suffering, death, and resurrection
of Jesus Christ to be observed this Easter weekend I was reading John 18. I am
again moved by the poignancy of John’s narrative, his portrayal of the nobility
of Jesus before his enemies, and his testimony of the zeal of Peter.
Oh Peter! How often many of us wish we could be like him. It
was earlier that evening of the celebration of the Passover that Peter vowed to
give his life for Jesus (John 13:37). How zealous Peter was for Jesus, his Lord.
How we wish to be so.
I find John Calvin’s thoughts about the zeal of Peter as a
lesson to us very instructive. He writes:
“…(L)et us learn that in the person of Peter, Christ
condemns everything that men dare to attempt arbitrarily. This lesson is especially
worth noticing, for nothing is commoner than to defend everything that we do
under the cloak of zeal, as if it were unimportant whether God approved or not
what men think to be right…”
I am not trying to highlight Peter’s faults in order make me
or others feel superior. No, we are often all too much like Peter and we need
to take heed. We may, like Peter, act bravely and run great risks for Christ’s
sake, but zeal alone does not justify our actions that God does not approve of.
Such indiscreet zeal may put us into a more grievous situation that may hazard
temptations we wouldn’t have to face if we were to restrain our zeal by God’s
word and faith.
Calvin continues in his comments on John 18:10-14, “Again, it
was exceedingly thoughtless in Peter to try to prove his faith by the sword,
while he could not do so by his tongue. When he is called to make confession,
he denies; but now unbidden by his Master he raises a riot. Warned by such a
striking example, let us learn to moderate our zeal. And as the wantonness of
our flesh ever itches to dare more than God commands, let us learn that our
zeal will turn out badly whenever we dare to undertake anything beyond God’s
Word. It will sometimes happen that the beginnings please us; but we shall pay
for our rashness in the end.”
The whole of Peter’s failure lies in his focus. He is
concerned about himself though he cloaked it in a concern for Jesus. He felt
the need to live up to his oath and to act by himself before others for Jesus.
Having failed to act rightly for Jesus reproved him, his fleshly strength gave
way and his spiritual weakness was revealed. John contrasts Peter’s spiritual
failure with Jesus’ solitary fidelity by juxtaposing Peter’s first denial
before the mere question of servant girl with Jesus serene confident witness
before the high priest and the abuse of an officer. Again, Peter is questioned
by mere men and servants and he denies Jesus twice more. Jesus then stands
before a Roman Governor and calmly defends himself against false charges. Peter
was in the end, like we, concerned about himself. Jesus is always concerned
about us (John 18:8,9).
[i]
In reformed congregations from the Scottish tradition it is customary not to
observe “holy” days (i.e. holidays). Jesus Christ’s resurrection is celebrated
and remembered every Lord’s Day (Sunday). See WCF 21.7, LC 116, SC 59.
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