All of us have moments in our lives that we wish we could rewind. Things done in those moments are so embarrassing, so humiliating, so character revealing, that we would do almost anything to rewind the tape and do something, anything else. This is a common experience for us human beings. We make mistakes, choose the wrong path, yield to sin. We have regrets, second guess, try again.
Sometimes those rewind moments come and go without our notice. This time we say we are sorry, or even better we don’t injure in the first place. We actually study for the makeup test. We carry out our rehearsed moves with pinpoint accuracy. We get it right. We rewind and it appears that the error has been corrected.
But sometimes those rewind moments become part of the definition of who we are. We become known as the guy who wore the lampshade. Or the gal who trailed the toilet paper behind them down the hallway. For most of these labels, nicknames, lose the power over time. They get replaced with other names, some of them even positive names. We don’t mind the replacement. We just want to forget that moment and pretend it never happened.
Peter is hoping to undo what he had already done. He had insisted that he would never deny Jesus. He felt, unlike the other disciples, that he would remain true to Jesus no matter what happened. He was better than a betrayer. But in the Garden, Peter had run away, just like all the others. What he had declared with boldness just a few short hours earlier had slipped through his fingers. He was just like all the others.
But perhaps Peter wants to redeem himself. He follows the arresting band of soldiers and guards, wanting to keep an eye on Jesus, to see what happens. He could have stayed away. He could have gone into hiding. But he stays within earshot of Jesus. He wants to make it right.
But staying incognito isn’t as easy as Peter expects. Everything about Peter screams “outsider.” His dress, mannerisms, and accent all tell the careful observer, or even a not so observant servant girl, that he doesn’t belong.
But it is more than that. This servant girl makes the connection between Peter and Jesus. Here Peter is just trying to stay under the radar, and the fact that he had been with Jesus kept setting off alarm bells. Something about Jesus had rubbed off on Peter.
Is there enough of Jesus in us to set of alarm bells?
The Arnold Journey 