Weren't you with the Galilean? (Elsie Miranda)

   In Matthew 26:56, it is written: “Then all the disciples left him and fled.” 

   But two verses later we read: “Peter was following at a distance, as far as the high priest’s courtyard, and going inside he sat down with the servants to see the outcome.” 

   All the disciples left him and fled, but Peter followed at a distance. Peter finally woke up because he was committed to his call as disciple of Jesus, the Messiah. We often make so much of Peter’s denial— but seldom do we consider the courage that it took to go to the high priest’s courtyard, to sit with the servants “to see the outcome” -- to be able to testify to what he saw: to give an account of the outrageousness of the charge of blasphemy, and to the insidiousness of the mockery, torture, and crucifixion that followed. For Peter, the call of discipleship, demanded a presence that required risking his life for his friend. I’d like to think that when he was asked, “weren’t you with the Galilean?” -- he denied knowing Jesus, because covering for the sake of a deeper truth was more important than admitting a reality that was inconsequential to the outcome of the moment. An affirmative response to the question would only serve to make him a martyr. When his accent gave him away, his denial, and cursing were a foil to buy him time—because he needed to get back to tell the story— of how the scriptures were fulfilled. 

    Peter’s awakening led to him to deny Jesus— as a cover that allowed him to be present to in a new way—this time as a witness. 

--Elsie Miranda 

Image source: Georges de La Tour, The Denial of St. Peter (1650), https://narrativepainting.net/george-de-la-tour-the-denial-of-st-peter-1650/. Can you identify the figure of St. Peter?
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