John 13:36-38 (NIV)
Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”
John 19:38-42 (NIV)
Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Devotion
These passages recount how three of Jesus’ followers reacted in the terrifying, chaotic days surrounding his arrest and execution.
Peter, with characteristic self-assurance, is certain that he will follow his teacher anywhere. Of course, that is not what happened: Peter, fearful and perhaps confused as to the best course of action, instead denied three times that he even knew Jesus. He froze, and his denials became as much a part of the Holy Week story as Judas’ betrayal. Nevertheless, he went on to be, in Jesus’ words, the “rock” on which “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18).
Up to this time, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus have been cautious followers, visiting Jesus “secretly” or “at night.” In the immediate aftermath of Jesus’ death, they step up to give him a dignified burial: gain permission to remove his body from deliberately-shameful display on the cross; prepare a grave, shroud, and spices. In doing so, they risk exactly the sort of repercussions they had earlier sought to avoid.
What can we learn from their actions? Perhaps, from all three, that our ability to follow Christ consistently and faithfully will ebb and flow over time. Sometimes we may freeze in a crisis; at others, even though we’ve been timid in the past, we may step forward when others falter.
That pattern suggests a second lesson: we are part of a community, which means that we don’t have to be consistently perfect in our own responses. Sometimes we need to rely on others to discern and carry out God’s will. As Paul (himself once an opponent of Christ) writes, we’re all members of the body of Christ, with our own strengths and roles to play (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). Trusting others shows humility, and simplifies our own efforts to follow Christ.
Prayer
Lord, as we seek to follow you even unto the cross, help us to remember that we are parts of your body, responsible for discerning and carrying out your will, but never alone in that endeavor. Give us understanding, humility, and respect for each other’s perspectives and contributions. Help us to understand, individually and as a community, what you would have us do, and give us the courage to follow your will. In the name of the only one who was able to follow your will consistently during his earthly life, Amen.
Cathy Saunders
A Related Hymn:
When We Are Tempted to Deny Your Son (words by David Romig, 1965; #86 in the 1990 Presbyterian Hymnal)
Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCC23YEC20w
Words (from https://gmcworship.org/hymnal/?hymnal=the_presbyterian_hymnal-1990&number=86 )
1. When we are tempted to deny Your Son,
Because we fear the anger of the world,
And we are few who bear the insults hurled,
Your will, O God, be done.
2. When we are tempted to betray Your Son,
Because He leads us in a harder way,
And makes demands we do not want to pay,
Your will, O God, be done.
3. When we forget the cross that held Your Son,
And would avoid the burden of this life,
The cry for justice and an end to strife,
Your will, O God, be done.
4. When doubt obscures the victory of Your Son,
And faith is weak and all resolve has fled,
Help us to know Him risen from the dead;
Your will, O God, be done.