Here's Looking at You (and Me)

Text: Luke 22:34-38

The text for today says some of the most amazing things about the disciples of Jesus; it says some very unflattering things as well.

The Passover meal had concluded in an unceremonious fashion--the announcement of a traitor in their midst. The conversation moved from who it might be to betray Jesus to who among the group was the most important of them. Quite a turnaround. From a concern not over the fate of the one who was going to be betrayed but over who the betrayer might be, to a concern over which of them might take over the mantel of leadership.

One might well suppose that in the role of Jesus, the normal response to such behavior would be to scream, "What about me?! Does anyone care what's going to happen to me?!" Instead of this, however, he used the occasion to underscore the difference between his kingdom and those kingdoms we're familiar with under human ideals. He then lauded them for standing by him while he engaged in so many contentious incidents with all manor of leadership. In fact, he continued, they would be the ones to be served when the fullness of the kingdom arrived. No sooner had he affirmed them, however, than he turned to Simon Peter and announced over his protests the denial he was about to utter just hours hence.

We inherit so much along with the original followers of Jesus. We are prone to look after our standing relative to others, even in the context of doing God's work. We are subject to conditions under which we will deny our Lord. We lose sight of him at times in the interest of these and other matters. At the same time, Jesus affirms our status and our share in the inheritance; he prays for us even as we fail so that we, like Peter, will be sifted through success and failure in such a way as to strengthen our brothers and sisters. He reminds us of where he has already taken us and of the way he provided for us there.

It is good for us to be reminded of what we are, as well as of what he is making us to become.