David Bahn – Reflections

John 18:10, 17-18

¹⁰Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) …

¹⁷ The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

Peter makes himself an easy target; always charging ahead, always rushing in where angels fear to tread. Sometimes he gets it right. He did confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16). But here we see Peter in his full fallenness and the folly of his self-dependence and willful braggadocio. One second he is drawing his sword in a mis-guided attempt to protect Jesus (really?!?). A very short time later he is cowering in fear in the face of a servant girl. So goes the typical approach to this story: Poor impetuous Peter – he makes promises he shouldn’t, too reactive, too seldom thoughtful.

That’s all true, I suppose. But consider something else in this story: There may be a legitimate reason to be afraid of a servant girl who is servant to the high priest, and who has other servants and officers with her. She is not just a servant. She is a servant of a powerful man and in the company of powerful allies. She has access to the gates of power, and she is not alone.

What if we were to take hold of our identity as representatives of the King of the Universe? What if we were to surround ourselves with others in his fellowship. We would then be able to stand taller. We would be more formidable in our challenge of evil and less easily defeated in our pursuit of God’s kingdom’s goals.

We take Peter to task too easily – crumbling before a pathetic servant girl. But we are too much like him – we all are. We need to remember whom we serve. We need to surround ourselves with those in service to the King, enjoying the authority and power of our kingly representation in the fellowship of others with us in his service.