Guilt by Disassociation: John 18:12-27 - Third Sunday in Lent

Why do people root for the bully? Why do schoolchildren laugh while a fellow classmate is being humiliated? Why are reality TV show hosts so mean to the contestants? Why is social media overrun with trolls who spread insults and lies? Why do we love books and films about criminals? 

The reason why, I believe, is all about power, and we are naturally drawn to power. You don’t want to be humiliated and robbed of your lunch money. You want to feel safe and secure. You want to have someone stronger than you looking out for you. Resist the powerful, though, and you risk losing everything. 

This is why Peter denies Jesus three times, and all the other disciples desert Jesus when he’s arrested. 

Photo by Yunus on Unsplash

At the Last Supper, Peter promised that he would lay down his life for Jesus. I don’t think Peter believed he would ever need to lay down his life for Jesus. After all, he saw Jesus turn water into wine, heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead. 

This is why, when Jesus is arrested, Peter draws his sword and attempts to kill Malchus, one of the high priest’s goons. Peter was smart enough to know that he and his disciples weren’t going to fight off a detachment of professional soldiers. But with Jesus on his side, it would be a piece of cake. 

To Peter’s (and Malcus’s) surprise, Jesus heals Malchus’s wounded ear before the rest of soldiers could draw their swords against them. 

Then Jesus allows the soldiers chain him up and lead him away, without any resistance. The disciples stand by, flabbergasted, at what has just taken place. And they don’t wait around for the soldiers to arrest them, too. 

Peter and another disciple follow at a distance as Jesus is taken to the home of Annas, He is the former high priest who’d been deposed by Rome but still wielded significant authority within the religious establishment. As Peter stands beside a fire barrel in the high priest’s courtyard, a girl identifies Peter as a disciple of Jesus. But Peter denies it. This will happen two more times during the night, until finally, the rooster crows, just as Jesus had foretold. 

And there you have it. In the space of one night, Peter went from killing for Jesus to denying ever knowing him. 

This change in Peter tells us a lot about ourselves, and how quickly we can change when threatened. Lots of people loved Jesus, Peter included. But when they see the overwhelming power wielded by the religious authorities and the Roman government, they didn’t resist. They submitted. 

Rome always carried out crucifixions in full public view so that everyone understood that resistance is useless. Stand in Rome’s way, this will happen to you. The religious leaders, for their part, were just as willing to use violence to maintain their grip on power, even though Roman law prohibited them from doing so.

Everybody knew that if they stood up to be counted with Jesus, they would be crucified right next to him. So, they ran away, they kept silent, they denied knowing him, or they joined the mob shouting, “crucify him!”

I don’t want to suggest that the people in the crowds were as evil as the Roman despots and their Jewish puppets. But power is as deceptive as it is manipulating. For most people living in Jerusalem during the time of Jesus, it made very real sense to submit to the authority of the religious leaders. They knew the Scriptures, they kept the Law, their bloodline was pure, and they had power. 

Individuals and institutions can wield the kind of power that makes them appear divine. There is this unspoken, but very real sense that “might makes right” and “where there is might, there is God.”

But if you’ve ever read the bible, you know how absolute power corrupts absolutely.

It is often the case that individuals gain power by transcending moral boundaries that others won’t cross. They shatter the norms. They do the very things that others are unable or unwilling to do. And worst of all, they convince ordinary people to follow, as if they are messiahs leading them to the promised land. 

There are a lot of very powerful men (and a few women) who carry enormous spiritual authority. They pastor churches the size of stadiums. They write books that become instant bestsellers. Their social media postings get millions of views. When they ask for money, people give. When they speak about social, economic, or political issues, people go along. They get presidents elected. But do people listen to them because they speak the truth, or because they like what they have to say? Is their power a sign of God’s favor, or man’s?

Compare one of their churches to ours. Are wealth and size indicators of faithfulness to the Gospel? Does God need a big church to be big in people’s lives? 

We are always going to be drawn to power, whether we see it in individuals or movements or in institutions, because power makes us feel safe. Power gives us a feeling of control. Power gives us a sense that God is on our side. That victory is your destiny. 

But the Kingdom of God does not come to us as political, economic, social, or spiritual power to dominate others and force our will on the world.

Jesus showed us what true power is in the Kingdom of God by giving it all up. What a glorious miracle that our greatest enemies, death and the devil, are defeated in the powerlessness of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. 

God’s power is made perfect in weakness. Resurrection is born out of death. Sin destroyed by forgiveness. The repentant shall see God. The meek shall inherit the earth. 

As far as worldly power is concerned, Jesus says, “those who live by the sword shall die by the sword.” The power of the ruthless and the might of vicious are on their way to extinction. Defeated not by rifle or sword, but by love, service, and truth. 

John 18:12-27 (NRSVue)

¹² So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him. ¹³ First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. ¹⁴ Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people.

¹⁵ Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, ¹⁶ but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. ¹⁷ The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸ Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.

¹⁹ Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. ²⁰ Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. ²¹ Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.” ²² When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” ²³ Jesus answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” ²⁴ Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

²⁵ Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” ²⁶ One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” ²⁷ Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.