One of the rules for reading the Gospel which I try
to employ is, ‘Gospel is always astonishing’.
The idea of the rule is that when you read a Gospel passage it should be
with fresh eyes and not make assumptions.
I don’t always succeed in this approach—often with a passage that I know
well. However, it came to mind when I
read today’s Gospel again for the first time.
Was there a part of the Gospel that you found
astonishing?... Can you guess which part I found astonishing?...Well. it was the
part was where Peter says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man”. My reaction on reading this was one of
astonishment. It also says that Peter
was astonished so I guess I was in good company. Peter was astonished as were those others
with him at the large number of fish they had caught. This was after they had fished all night and
had caught nothing. It is easy to see why they would have been astonished at
what they were able to do when they followed Jesus direction.
My astonishment was not due to the miraculous
results of following Jesus’s command.
Rather, it was Peter’s wish that Jesus should get away from him because
Peter was a sinful man. That seems
completely counter intuitive to me. Here
we have Peter receiving the benefit of Jesus’s seemingly miraculous
intervention and not wanting more. His
instinct is to not have anything to do with this miracle worker. Does that make any sense?
Now we know from the other accounts of Peter in the
Gospels that he operates to a great extent on instinct. Sometimes this works out well for him and
sometimes it doesn’t. Peter is the one
who responds to Jesus question to the disciples, “who do people say I am?” The others respond, and they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others,
Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’
Then He asked them,
‘But who do you say that I am?’” It is Peter, who answers without hesitation, ‘You are the Messiah.’
Right after that, true to form when Jesus tells them
that he must go to Jerusalem and be crucified Peter responds immediately from
his heart that he must not do that Jesus responds, “Get behind me, Satan! For
you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
It is also Peter who, a t the Last Supper, declares,
“Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death!” Jesus said, ‘‘Truly I
tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny
me three times.’ And we
know what happens while the trial was going onl. The cock does crow twice and Peter does
betray him three times.
So Peter does have rather mixed results in following
his instincts. Sometimes they work well
for him and sometimes not so well. But
that still doesn’t answer the question as to why he reacts to the miracle in
today’s Gospel in such a fashion. Why
would Peter not want to be with someone who could perform such deeds? The obvous possibility is that Peter felt he
was not worthy to be in the presence of such a miracle worker who was obviously
a holy man of God. He does declare that
he is a sinful man. Someone certainly
can feel in awe of a holy person and not worthy to be in their presence.
I think this is another example of Peter’s instinct
being just the opposite of what it should be.
Of course Peter did not know Jesus yet and so he could not be aware that
Jesus message is above all for the sinners and those who are not held in high
esteem in society. The Gospel of Matthew reports Jesus eating with tax
collectors and sinner and when he is criticized for doing this he says, “Those
who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn
what this means, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have come to call not the
righteous but sinners.”
That certainly makes sense. Peter could not have expected this message
from Jesus. It certainly was not part of
his culture and religion. The Holy was
separate from the people. God resided in the Holy of Holy in the Temple and
only those made righteous through the proper sacrifice could worship. He did not know that Jesus came to make the
forgiveness of our sins possible.
Another possibility for Peter’s reaction is that he
instinctively knew that following Jesus would mean that his life would never be
the same. His peaceful life as a
fisherman would be over. He would become
a fisher of people. It would mean trials
and tribulations and it would mean that he could never go back to his old
familiar life once this holy man entered it.
His instinct which ruled his life told him that this miracle worker who
he didn’t know would completely transform his life.
The fact is that Jesus did come to all of us. He came to embrace all people. He came for the tax collectors and the
publicans. He came for the prostitutes
and the robbers who would be crucified on either side of him. As I noted last week he did not come for
those who are perfect. He does not
expect perfection from us despite what it says elsewhere. A better way of understanding that is
all-embracing. Jesus does expect us to
be all-embracing just as he was and is. He
expects us to embrace the whole of God’s creation and to be in relationship
with those we good Anglicans find unacceptable.
Jesus came for us and calls us to be his disciples
with all our imperfections and flaws.
Indeed he calls us because we are sinner and not perfect. Jesus knows that we are sinners and knows
that we will sin. Jesus offers us the
forgiveness of sins to enable us to repent and turn around and try again. Thanks be to God.
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