“In spite of it all”
BY Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Saturday, July 16, 2022
Matthew 26:26-35 (Forward, p. 79) CEV p. 1019
So often our love and generosity are reciprocal, a kind of tit for tat. I know that as a priest I am ‘supposed’ to be generous, caring and open to everyone, but I have to admit that this isn’t always the case. For instance, if an itinerant or needy person comes to the church door asking for help, my response depends a great deal on how I am approached. If the person is abusive, threatening or demanding or displays a sense of entitlement, I am far less sympathetic and far less likely to help the person. (It doesn’t matter whether the person is young or old, or what his or her ethnicity is, it is simply a matter of how the person presents him or herself and puts forward their request.) I know that this isn’t the ideal, but that, unfortunately, is the way that it is.
Jesus, by way of contrast, isn’t like that. He gives Himself fully heartily, offers Himself without reservation, in spite of how we treat Him. We see this ‘in spades’ in today’s passage. Just a few verses earlier (verses 23-25), He has told them that one of them will betray Him, and then, in this passage He has predicted that they will all, without exception, reject and desert Him. Yes, even Peter, who protests that he would never do such a dastardly thing.
And yet, in spite of it all, He still welcomes them and includes them and institutes the Last Supper for them as a remembrance and tribute to what He is about to do for them. Here He is establishing and instituting a new covenant, one not made via the blood of bulls or sheep but through His own death on the Cross. And that, in spite of how we have treated Him. In fact, as the apostle Paul so bluntly puts it, ‘while we were yet sinners’ (Romans 5:8), He died for us. Yes, even when we were, to all intents and purposes, His enemies, He did this for us (Romans 5:10). In spite of us and all our sins and failings, all our neglect and lack of respect, all our disobedience and unwillingness to let Him truly be our Lord, He still loves us that much. Truly this is abundant reason for us to love, praise and follow Him. Amen.
Forward notes: “Peter said to him, ‘Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.’ And so said all the disciples” (verse 53).
“You likely know what’s coming next: Peter warming himself by the fire, the interrogations of others in the courtyard, the cock’s crow. It’s hard not to dismiss his response as another example of foolish Peter speaking without thinking.
“But I have a soft spot for Peter. He isn’t self-assured or overconfident; he’s genuine. Peter dearly wants to support and encourage his friend. And even in this fearful moment, Jesus is still speaking a comforting truth, promising that he will be with them all again after his resurrection. How fervently Peter must have meant his promise to stay with Jesus until the end!
“And if you think about it, can you blame him? I can’t imagine answering Christ any differently. How many times have we made promises that we’ve been unable to keep? How many times have we tried to follow God but can’t help going our own way? Perhaps what’s most remarkable here isn’t that Peter insists on swearing his devotion, even though he doesn’t yet know his own shortcomings. It’s that we, who know our own flaws, often do the same.”
MOVING FORWARD: “What promises do you make to God—again and again?”