The nonsensical ponderings of Eric Frisch...

Last night I was reading from Matthew when I came across this passage:

"Meanwhile, as Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, a servant girl came over and said to him, "You were one of those with Jesus the Galilean."  But Peter denied it in front of everyone.  "I don't know what you are talking about," he said.  Later, out by the gate, another servant girl noticed him and said to those standing around, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth."  Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath.  "I don't even know the man," he said.  A little later some of the other bystanders came over to him and said, "You must be one of them; we can tell by your Galilean accent."  Peter said, "I swear by God, I don't know the man."  and immediately the rooster crowed.  Suddenly, Jesus' words flashed through Peter's min: "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times."  And he went away, crying bitterly.
                                                                  -Matthew 26:69-75 (NLT)

Now I've seen this passage many times before, in fact, I would venture that most Christians think they have a pretty good idea what these verses are about.  It's kind of a chain reaction thing:

    1.  Jesus predicts Peter's denial.
    2.  Peter denies Jesus.
    3.  Peter realized his denial, feels awful, and Jesus' prediction is fulfilled.

Until last night, I was really truly convinced that was all there was to this verse, but as I read last night, I noticed something very different.  There are other people in this story.  Three times, Peter is approached by others.  They don't just ask him if he was with Jesus, they make definitive statements: "You were one of those with Jesus the Galilean." in verse 69, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." in verse 71, and "You must be one of them; we can tell by your Galilean accent." in verse 73.  Of course, Peter emphatically denies any association with Jesus, but somehow I doubt it did much good.  These ordinary people could tell just by looking at him and spending time with him.

What does that say about us?  What about us identifies us to the rest of the world?  What causes other, ordinary people who don't know us to look at us and say "That person must be a follower of Christ."?  I think far too often, we would realize that there is really nothing.  Nothing to distinguish us from the next person.  Nothing to show the rest of the world what's different about us, the radical change we've experienced in our lives.  We tend to give good old Pete a lot of crap for this passage, but in the end, I think he was still doing something right, because it was clear to those other people that he was a follower of Jesus, even when he denied it with his lips.

Just a little food for thought on Thursday.