“Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear.” John 18:10
Peter may perhaps be (to me, anyway) the most relatable biblical figure. He was a deeply passionate man, rash and careless at times, but desperate to be with his Lord. It was Peter who, when Christ asked the twelve, in John 6, whether they too would leave Him, answered: “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
I can imagine that it was with this spirit that Peter swung the sword at the servant. To whom else could he go if Jesus was taken from him? Peter was willing to fight, to die right there to save his Lord. But his Lord healed the ear, and willingly went with the soldiers. Peter once again becomes the subject of the next section of Scripture. He makes a rash and sudden change. Whereas earlier that night, he took up arms to defend Jesus, now he denies he ever knew Him, three times. Instead, he warms himself by the fire, with nowhere to go.
But it was Peter who, when Mary told the disciples that she found Christ’s tomb empty, knew where he had to go. Though he ran slower than the other disciple, he ran further; he ran into the tomb.
And again, it was Peter who, when the resurrected Christ stood on the shoreline while the disciples fished, jumped into the water, knowing where he had to go, and was desperate to get there.
Peter had a passion about him. I see that passion behind each of these accounts. Sometimes it was a misapplied passion (with the ear), and sometimes it was a misdirected passion (denying Christ for his own protection). But when he learned to direct that passion towards its true object, towards being close to his Lord, we can see the righteousness there. Peter was the one to say, “Lord to whom shall we go?” and it was Peter who, by the end, kept going towards the Lord.
There are great things, great gifts, that God has given us. When we long for something, when we are deeply passionate, when we sense within us a stirring in our mind or emotions, what do we do with those things? If we misapply them, we can be like Peter and become violent or combative. If we misdirect them, we can value and preserve all the wrong things, like Peter did. But if we, like Peter, remember He who has the words of eternal life, who is the Holy One of God, where else and to whom else can we apply and direct those passions? Everything else falls away.
–Eric Smith
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