Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons…. So the soldiers, their officers, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him….Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple…went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. The woman said to Peter “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?”
He said, “I am not.”
(from New Revised Standard Version)
Our reading for Good Friday, the day that Jesus was put to death, actually tells of the events of the previous night, after the last supper when Jesus is arrested and taken before the authorities and summarily tried. It shows Jesus left alone, all his supporters have fled.
We have all been rejected at some point in our life, and we have all been lonely. Many today feel lonely and scared ecause of needing to self-isolate, or because we are sick. But the sheer magnitude of the rejection of Jesus is almost impossible to appreciate. Judas and Peter have been his disciples for over three years, they have been with him as he preached and taught throughout Israel. They have seen how he healed the sick and rescued the lost. Indeed, Peter proclaimed him the Son of God. Yet both have turned their back on Jesus, Judas for thirty pieces of silver, and Peter out of fear. The other disciples have fled in terror. Jesus is alone at the hands of his persecutors knowing that they mean to kill him by crucifixion, one of the most terrible of deaths.
When we feel rejected, or isolated and lonely we need to remember that we worship a God who has suffered and died for us. He understands our pain and is with us at the worst points of our life.
Lord Jesus,
enable us to understand the magnitude of
what you have done for us;
to know that you took our pain upon yourself,
so that we might live in unity with you;
and enable us to believe that no matter
how bad things are today
you are there with us
and that you understand our suffering.
Amen