Follow at a Distance: Was Peter Scared?

I can't get Peter out of my brain and I have all these little thoughts about why He might follow at a distance (Luke 22.54).  And then I wonder about how that might present itself in my life, in my family's life, in the life of those I love and those I pastor.

Peter, on the way to Jesus' trial, followed at a distance and then ended up denying Him three times, just as Jesus predicted he would.

I wonder if Peter was scared.

Was he scared that if he followed too closely it might cost him his own life?  He had heard Jesus talk about people taking up their crosses - for Peter, I bet that didn't seem metaphorical like it does for the comfortable West.  He had heard Jesus talk about persecution coming to the students like it does to the teacher.  Sometimes I think dying is gain...as long as I'm not the one doing the dying.

Was he scared of the rebuke of Jesus regarding Malchus' ear?  If you don't remember the story, Peter had taken a sword and tried to put Mal on one side and Chus on the other.  Maybe it was his swordsmanship or maybe it was that Malchus was quick, but he only got his ear, which Jesus quickly repaired.  How closely do you want to get to the guy who just undid what you did?  In case you forgot, He's also the one who told Peter that he was acting like a temporal-minded goofball and "get behind Me, Satan."  Just how close do I want to be to the God who confronts me like that?

Was he scared of Christ's predictive promise of his denial of Christ?  Some of the promises God gives us are tremendous and sweet and wonderful.  Some are not.  Need an example of the latter?  "In this world you will have tribulation..." (John 16.33).  That's as much a promise as, "I will be with you always, even to the end of the ages" (Matthew 28.20).  But that particular promise in John doesn't make coffee cups or crafty ideas on Pinterest.

Was he scared because he thought maybe he had bet on the wrong horse?  Jesus seemed to be losing after doing nothing but winning.  Turn tables over in the Temple - check.  Call out the Pharisees in outstanding ways and in memorable language - check.  Challenge the governing authorities - check.  Drop serious spiritual Truth - check.  Authenticate all of it with miracles - check.  Do it all without Twitter - check.  But now on trial?  Losing in a big way?  Just who did Peter throw his lot in with?  And in case Peter needs company, I just might have, once or twice, thrown some sideways glances up toward heaven accompanied by a big fat question mark of whether or not He knows what He's doing. You probably haven't, but I have.  Once or twice.  As a corollary, sometimes I'm just scared because I don't know how it's going to turn out.

Any of those ring true with you?  Any of those things keep you safely at a distance from dangerous Jesus?

Why Following at a Distance is no bueno

I continue to be struck by the phrase in Luke 22.54 about how, seeing Jesus arrested, Peter followed Him at a distance.

That's always the safest bet, isn't it?  Or it seems that way.  But consider...

1.  Jesus gets no (or little) glory from my following at a distance.  I am the light of the world in relation to Him being the Light of the World.  Like a mirror, I'm only as bright in my reflectino as I am close to the source of the light.  And if I'm not close, I cannot let my light shine before men, no one will see my good works, and no one will glorify the Father in the heavens (Matt. 5.16).

2.  What gets passed on to those around me, and in particular my children who are close enough to me to compare words and actions, is some sense of "good enough."  This much is enough, and no more is needed.  No one passes on a passion and excitement for the Kingdom of God with a "good enough" posture of faith.  Again, I'm thinking primarily of my kids.  It's through the commendation (praise!) of God's works that the passion gets passed down (Ps. 145.4-7).

3.  Stuff either (a) doesn't get done or (b) I don't get to participate in it.  The "greater works" (John 14.12) Jesus wants me to do are not done or someone else does them.  I know the blessing and satisfaction of being in on seeing God move.  If I'm safely at a distance, I do not know that blessing and at best live vicariously.

4.  I have no satisfaction.  If Jesus truly is the Bread of Life and Living Water, I have to be close enough to Him to eat and drink (in a sense) to find that "whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst" (John 6.35).  The satisfaction that Jesus promises does not happen and cannot be laid hold of at a distance.  The interactive intimacy of relationship with Christ is the place of satisfaction.

There may be more, but it's something I'm pondering these days.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...