Following at a Distance

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

FOLLOWING AT A DISTANCE

Mark 14:53-54

53 They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together. 54 Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.

NIV

At least Peter followed him at a distance, surely far enough not to be noticed by the gang who arrested Jesus. Peter sort of melted into the crowd of people but he did follow all the way into the courtyard where the temple guards were. Farther in this whole account we do find other people there as well, those who asked Peter about his involvement with Jesus, so we can surmise he melted into the crowd, not wanting to get too close to Jesus, so that he too would be questioned, or possibly arrested. It is difficult to determine if Peter was following at a distant because of his love for Jesus for because of his fear for himself. We know from the whole of the account of Peter’s life, he did love Jesus more than his own life, but for now, before the infilling of the Spirit, he is still Peter the man who followed Jesus at a distance and who we will see does deny being involved with the Jesus movement. Perhaps the lesson we should see here is just what we see in the life of Peter. Without the infilling of the Holy Spirit in our lives we are simply people who follow Jesus at a distance, and cannot give a powerful testimony of our involvement in the Jesus movement, in fact by default we are denying our love for Jesus. If Peter experienced such a radical change in his witness for Jesus because of the infilling, or what some call the baptism, of the Spirit than we should be desire that same baptism. The question of course is if we are not a powerful witness for Jesus, if we are more like the Peter we now are seeing, following Jesus at a distant then we could assume we do not have the infilling of the Spirit in our lives. Sure, just as Peter we love Jesus, but also just like Peter we are not going to get too close perhaps out of fear for our own lives. Peter liked the life he has had for the past three years, being with Jesus, going out and sharing the message, healing people, driving out demons, being a part of the inner group when crowds gathered to hear Jesus teach. Peter must have felt pretty important, especially after being the one who proclaimed to Jesus that he was the Christ. Life was good, but it was now looking like it was all going to fall apart, so Peter stayed his distance and maybe that was because of the lack of the power of the Spirit in his life. We cannot afford to follow at a distance, we must be right there with Jesus all the way, giving a powerful testimony of our love for him, and the truth of the gospel message. The power of the Spirit, the infilling of the Spirit, the baptism of the Spirit is available to all of us, and we either are or are not filled to the brim with the Spirit, it is not a sort of, half way experience, we either are filled and full of power, or we are not filled and following at a distance.