Jesus passion 3

 Passion of Jesus 3

Jesus had once said, as a test:

"Come after me

And I will make you fishers of men."

This could only be another such test, a trial of his courage, and at that moment Peter thought he had courage for anything. He would show his Lord that now, as ever, he was constant. He would ask, he would offer himself, be the consequences what they might:

" Peter saith to him

Why cannot I follow thee?

I will lay down my life for thee Lord

I am ready to go with thee

Both into prison and to death."

Poor, brave Peter ! How easy is it to be brave when no danger is near us! How easy to be faithful when there is no temptation to desert, but only sweet attraction to draw us! But not in such a way may those be trained who are destined to guide others. For that end Peter must be allowed his lesson, which only a heavy fall would teach him. In the answer which Jesus gave him there is irony, there is resignation ,there is even hope, there is no less affection;indeed love is the more expressed by the repetition of the name:

" Jesus answered and said to him

Wilt thou lay down your life for me?

Amen Amen I say to thee

Peter

Today even in this night

Before the cock crow twice

Thou shalt deny me thrice."

" Peter!" Before He had said:" Simon , Simon", now it was " Peter!"Then , his ordinary name, now, when his fall is prophesied , he is called " The Rock!" Such is the affectionate irony of Jesus Christ.

There is another thing to be noticed. That night Jesus had to deal with two offenders, Judas and Simon Peter.Judas that night would betray Him but once, Peter would deny Him thrice. Judas had made no special protest of allegiance, Peter had declared his loyalty again and again . Judas had been entrusted merely with the common purse; to Peter had been given the keys , the care of the Universal Church. And yet, after their fall, how differently they were treated ! 

The one repented out of despair, the other , with all his weakness, had never  

ceased to love; and Jesus knew the value of them both.

Jesus passion 2

 Passion of Jesus

The deed had been done, the signal had been given; Jesus could now submit to whatever was to follow. The plan of Judas had succeeded; Jesus had clearly been deceived. His success gave the rabble courage; Judas now could disappear and leave the rest to them. At once the silence of the night was broken; the mob that till then had been held in check, first by Judas, then by Jesus, now resumed its noisy clamour, that clamour that turns cowards into mock heroes. They came up and pressed upon Jesus of Nazareth; they laid their hands upon Him, and this time He showed no inclination to escape. At last His magic power was gone; the kiss of the traitor had undone Him, as the caresses of Delilah had undone the mighty Samson. Now in His presence they could be very brave indeed:

" They then came up

And laid hands on Him

And held Him."

But for the companions of Jesus this was indeed a new situation. Let it be remembered that, for most of them at least, the action of Judas need not have appeared as anything strange. He had gone out from the supper-room, as they had presumed ,upon an errand, some commission given to him by Jesus. He had come back to them here in the garden;he had gone to salute his Master, and tell Him the commission had been done,nay more, he had owned Him before this threatening crowd. It was a noble act , a good act, a brave act; as before they had always tended to follow the lead of Judas, so they would follow it now. They , too, would renew their courage and be brave. Now they remembered that at the Supper Jesus had forewarned them that they should have swords in readiness for what was to happen that night; and they had said that they would go with Him even to death. Against all these odds they would fight for their Master. On other occasions He had tested their courage , and blamed for their want of faith and trust ; it might be that He was only testng them now. Simon Peter especially; he had been tried before as none of the others , rewarded for his faith and trust as none of them. That night he had committed himself further than the rest, protesting that he would not deny his Lord, that he would die with Him; he must be their leader in courage now.

" And they that were about him 

Seeing what would follow

Said to him

Lord

Shall we strike with the sword ?

Then one of them that was with Jesus

Simon Peter

Stretching forth his hand

Drew his sword

 And striking the servant of the High Priest

Cut off his right ear

And the name of the servant was Malchus."

A few hours before, in the supper-room, the disciples had been discussing among themselves who should  be the foremost in the kingdom;during all that week, since  the Sunday 's triumphal

march, they had been telling themselves that at last the kingdom was at hand. Now was their opportunity to show their prowess; kingdom must be won by battle. It was true they had but two swords among them.

Simon Peter drew the first sword. He struck, it did not matter how or where; he struck one in the vanguard of the crowd , and official in the high priest's household. The blow was partly averted; it cut off the man's right ear.We are told that the man's name was Malchus; if we may judge from other cases, we may conclude that m

Malchus was later a disciple of Peter, a member of the Christian Church.

Jesus passion 1

 Passion of Jesus meditation:

The capture of Jesus:

Away by Caesarea Philippi, not a year before, Judas had heard Simon proclaim,in the name of them all:

" Thou art the Christ

The Son of the living God".

and he had not protested. Jesus could not say of him, as later He could make himself say of His executioners:

" Father forgive him

For he knows not what he does."

He could warn him; He had done so again and again, during the whole of that last year. He could use all manner of endearments to win him from his evil way; He could keep him closer with Him than others, He could trust him as He had not trusted them, he could give him counsel all his own, He could wash his feet, He could call him not a servant but a friend, and allow him to call Him the same, He could give him the power of miracles, send him to preach in His name, see to it that men were won by his preaching,that he shared all honour with the rest of His chosen Twelve.But He could do no more  . If the will of Judas would not bend, if he would abide by his choice, if malice could so possess him, Jesus must let things take their course; it were better for Judas had he never been born.Still even then would Jesus not condemn; condemnation belonged to the Father. He was there to save, not to destroy; He would yield not one tittle of His saving right, not even under such provocation. Judas, traitor as he now was, was still His own, one of those " whom He had chosen Himself", whom the Father had given Him out of the world, who had once stood with Him in His temptations; whom having loved He would love to the end. Whatever Judas did to Him, Jesus would not annul that friendship. He would make a last appeal, even at this eleventh hour. Secretly , as He had done before; affectionately , as He could not but always do; with that love which sought not its own,which endured all things, He answered Judas . While the hands of betrayal still clung about Him, while the sense of the indignity surged within Him, while all nature seemed to cry out against the deed of shame that was being done, Jesus whispered to Judas, the last words he was ever to hear from His lips:

" And Jesus said to him

Friend,

whereto art thou come?

Judas 

Dost thou 

Betray the Son of man 

with a kiss?"