Matthew 26:58
“And Peter was following Him from afar, even to the court of the high priest. And having entered within, he was sitting with the guards to see the outcome.”
In some sense I think Peter was being brave. He was amongst the enemy. He will be recognized and will deny Him. He was acting as a secret agent. I don’t think he meant the denial. Jesus was important to him and he wanted to know the outcome.
Whatever his motive, he did fulfill Jesus’ prediction of denying Him three times. I’m going to focus on the literal words at the start of today’s verse, “And Peter was following Him from afar”.
We don’t want to follow Jesus from afar. I suppose it’s better than not following Him at all. We will find ourselves sitting with the enemy. He didn’t have a truthful mindset.
We want to be close to Him. Like a sheep is safe when close to the shepherd, so we are safe when close to Jesus.
We are in a danger zone when at a distance. We are traveling with foolish fellows, mockers and brawlers. Psalms 1:1 warns us about associating with these, it says, “Blessed is the man that walked not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the path of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful”. I Corinthians 15:33 gives us the reason, ‘Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”’
I understand Peter’s reasons, but it had him denying Christ. He was trying to stay in the loop about what was happening to Jesus. When He was arrested Peter attacked them. Jesus put a stop to that. He didn’t like Jesus being with the enemy, so he was going to follow. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but he would follow them.
Peter didn’t need to be Jesus’ protector. God would do that. We are to put our loved ones in God’s hands. We do have some responsibility when our children are young, but as they are independent adults, we can advise from a distance, but generally we commit them to God in prayer. The same is true for our spouse and friends, we can bathe them in prayer.
I see following Christ as being on a path. The safest place is in the center. If on either the extreme right or left we could be hit by branches leaning in or bit by a predator hidden in the brush. What does it look like to be on the extremes? One could be overindulging on the freedoms we have in Christ. Paul said, ‘”All things are lawful,” but not all things are profitable; “All things are lawful,” but not all edify’, (I Corinthians 10:23). Another issue is being lukewarm in our faith. We have it, but there are competing interests. Both of these will keep us on the border where there are plenty of things that we can be hung up upon.
Stay in His Word and walk with Him. Obey the Spirit as we go through our days. He is our good Shepherd who will guide us safely. Don’t follow from afar. Stay close. Trust Him with the circumstances that we encounter. He allows trials to make us better and to keep us dependent on Him.