Palm Sunday in the Passion of the Lord

The Sixth Sunday of Lent: Palm Sunday in the Passion of the Lord

Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22; Philippians 2:6-11; Luke 22:14 – 23:56

I expect Peter was cold when he sat around the fire in the courtyard of the High Priest. Did his longing for warmth overcome his fear filled need to stay at a distance? Did Peter not realize his face would be revealed in the fire light; flames rising and falling, obscuring and revealing him as a follower of Jesus?

What keeps you and me at a distance from Jesus? Following assuredly – but not too close in our secularized society, lest we be recognized [?] But Peter is recognized.

The maid looking intently at him. In the painting, The Denial of Saint Peter, Rembrandt illuminates the faces of maid and disciple by a brightly lit candle. We were each given a lit candle at Baptism marking and revealing us as a follower of Jesus. How brightly and with what intensity does the flame of faith reveal us as friends and followers of Jesus today?  

The fire whether in the courtyard, a backyard fire pit, a scout camp, fills the surrounding darkness with rising and falling shadows and foreboding shapes. The darkness encloses in on you. You are not sure what is dancing in the movement lurking behind you. As he sat there, was Peter thus not aware that Jesus was also present in the courtyard? Jesus heard every word: “I do not know Jesus”. I am not his friend”. “I do not know what you are talking about”.

Christ’s deepest wounds were not inflicted by the Jewish leaders or Roman executioners, nor were they laid open by whips, thorns, nails or spear. The most hurtful, the deepest wounds were exacted by friends. The words of Martin Luther King, Jr. are apropos. “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”.

“I do not know Jesus”.  We’ve never said those words but – what have our words, silences and actions expressed? And expressed in the midst of a world that does not want to hear Jesus.

A maid looks intently at Peter. She looks closely, eyes fixed and probing. She wants to make sure of her accusation. Jesus too looks at Peter. What do you think were in Jesus’ eyes?

Are we, like Peter, unaware that Jesus is present to us every moment, hears our every word, and sees our every action? He is there – hidden in the shadows of our life. Does he look at you and me to accuse us [?] or…how do you think Jesus looks at you and me?

Peter looked back at Jesus. Quickly averting his eyes he responded with heartfelt eloquence. For what could be a more eloquent and heartfelt a response than to weep bitterly?