Drawing closer or lingering further

Last weekend, in the days leading up to Easter, I was reading in the closing chapters of Luke's gospel. In the second half of Luke 22, two men caught my attention. One is the man whose ear was slashed off during a skirmish in a grove of olive trees. Luke doesn't tell us his name, but John's gospel tells us that he was the high priest's servant and his name was Malchus.

This man was one of the group who came to arrest Jesus, so I can imagine that he approached Him with feelings of aggression and hostility. I can't believe he remained unchanged, however, by what Jesus did for him after one of the disciples attacked him and cut off his ear. What must it have felt like to come to do harm to a man, and to have that very person reach out and touch you with gentleness and healing? We're never told what happened later in that man's life, but I can't help wondering if allowing Jesus to touch him (instead of resisting that touch) was the beginning of a journey that ultimately brought him closer to Jesus. When we're willing to give up our own independence and self-reliance, when we allow Jesus to touch us and make a difference in our lives, we'll find ourselves growing closer to Him from day to day.

The second man who caught my attention in this passage was the man who wielded the sword and caused Malchus's injury. John's version of the account tells us that this man was the disciple, Peter. No doubt his action, albeit impulsive, was a sign of his courage and was done with the best motivation in the world: he wanted to defend his friend and Lord, Jesus. I wonder what he thought when Jesus reverses his heroic efforts by healing the man's ear. I wonder what he felt when Jesus publicly corrected him and told him to put his sword away. John's account reports that Jesus said, "Shouldn't I drink from the cup of suffering that the Father has given me?" But Matthew reports that Jesus said to Peter, "Those who live by the sword will die by the sword."

Was Peter shocked? Confused? Disappointed? Hurt, offended, or embarrassed at what Jesus had said to him? What happens next, when they arrest Jesus and take him away, is that Peter follows, but now he follows "at a distance." Was he simply afraid of what might happen to him, or had he allowed a little distance to creep into his heart because of what had happened in the garden? Was he a little offended, a little mistrustful, a little disappointed that Jesus seemed so weak? For whatever reason, he allowed a little distance to set up, and that set the scene for the denial and betrayal that followed shortly afterwards. The distance was the beginning of a more serious separation in relationship.

It's so easy for this to happen in our own lives. It can happen in our relationship with God - when perhaps we feel disappointed that a prayer seems unanswered or that things don't turn out the way we hoped that they would. We begin to feel angry or offended at God. It can also happen in our relationships with other people - when someone says or does something that hurts us or makes us feel belittled or offended. We begin to distance ourselves in our hearts from that person, and slowly we're setting the scene for more serious alienation, conflict or criticism. How important it is to deal with such things immediately, and not allow distance to separate us from God or from others.

One incident, two men. One was perhaps drawn closer by the incident, while the other allowed it to push him away. How do you and I respond to the crisis incidents that we encounter in our everyday lives?