The Denial of Peter

Meanwhile Peter was still in the courtyard downstairs. One of the High Priest's serving-maids came by and saw him there warming himself. She looked into his face and said, "You were there too, with this man from Nazareth, this Jesus." But he denied it: "I know nothing," he said; "I do not understand what you mean." Then he went outside into the porch; and the maid saw him there again and began to say to the bystanders, "He is one of them" and again he denied it. 

Again, a little later, the bystanders said to Peter, "Surely you are one of them. You must be; you are a Galilean." At this he broke out into curses, and with an oath he said, "I do not know this man you speak of." Then came the second cock-crow; and Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, "Before the cock crows twice you will disown me three times." And he burst into tears. Mark14: 66-72

Caravaggio painted this picture in 1610, a year after he was assaulted outside a tavern. He knew the man who oversaw the attack. We might wonder how that betrayal impacted the emotion we feel in this painting of Peter being confronted in the courtyard and denying he knows Jesus. 

The artist has reduced the drama of the scripture verses to just three large close-up figures. It is a scene full of human emotion. Notice the soldier and the maid are linked while Peter is a little distanced. He doesn't look like a saint, does he? He looks rather like a very common man, even sickly and with a furrowed brow. His tense hands are turned in on his heart. There is a harsh light coming over the soldier's shoulder - Peter is under the spot light.

This soldier, with his ornamented helmet and gauntletted, pointing hand has the power. The woman has just made her announcement: "He is one of them." "Them!" Oh, there's that word again. We love the word them. It's such a power-word; a dismissive word. It means different; not like us.

The picture-story is one of extremes. There is a strong contrast between light and dark. The soldier is in darkness while Peter is in light. We might say Peter steps into the light when his conscience is troubled and he bursts into tears realizing he's betrayed his dearest friend.

This drama of light is called chiaroscuro. Caravaggio is a master in depicting the tension between light and darkness. The soldier and the woman have made their accusation and are waiting for Peter's reply. His eyes look as if he has already cried or is on the verge of tears.

This is a painting of human imperfection - the drama of those who have no love for Jesus and Peter who has failed the test of love. These verses and  the emotionally charged painting focus for us that every Christian at some point will be questioned and have his/her loyalty to Jesus tested. Maybe it happens often. Maybe every day.

Peter and His Keys

IN THE PARISHES AND SCHOOLS where I've served, having the keys meant having power. Indignation would arise, "Oh, she's somebody around here, she's got keys." More often than not, in reflecting upon Peter and his Keys to the Kingdom, we still translate that to mean, "He's got the power." Hence: the image of Peter at the gates of heaven determining whether or not an individual may enter.

On a larger scale this power quest  results in arguing and still more arguing: the Catholics and the Anglicans, the Eastern Orthodox and the Catholics,  the Catholics and the Evangelicals. More than a few Catholics still think they have a corner on the truth because they have  Pope Peter and his keys. 

Of course, along with Peter's name always being listed first among the apostolic names, his being given keys signifies his position of authority. But Peter is first of all a disciple, and that reveals something more, something that's true then about all of us. I'd suggest that when Peter was given the keys (the image of access to the reality of Jesus through lived experience) we were ALL given keys. God loads us up with gifts.

I was sitting in a doctor's waiting room where there was a mentally challenged older man, disheveled, talking constantly and louder than the television.  No one sat near him, though everyone noticed and even kept an eye on him.

Clipboard in hand a nurse came through on her way elsewhere. She recognized the fellow and immediately sat down next to him. In a gesture of I'm in no hurry, she put down the clipboard, angled towards him and began a conversation. Her addressing him broke the spell and he became lucid and articulate. After a few generous minutes, she left him peaceful. That nurse had the keys:

• The keys to knowing how to be human.
• The keys to understanding mercy.
• The keys to understanding how to serve.
• The keys to understanding the troubled mind.

Keys, whether Peter's or our own, aren't for power, but for service.