Leadership Thought: From a Foot Washing to a Fire.

Dear Friends, 

In yesterday’s “Leadership Thought” we looked at a foot washing ‘service’ where Jesus provided a visual lesson on humility as he knelt beside his disciples with towel and basin in hand and washed their feet. 

Today we meet Peter, one of those foot washed disciples, sitting before a fire, his feet clean but his heart divided. He wants to be close to Jesus without being connected to Jesus. He is ready to go and die with him and yet we see him as he openly denies Him. We see him sitting in the courtyard warming himself beside a fire as he mingles with the enemy, and yet only a few moments earlier with sword in hand he's lopping off the ear of one of the Roman soldiers dispatched to arrest him. Will he die with Jesus as he says he is willing to do or will he deny Him as he does?

Who is this Peter? Unfortunately, the answer is that he is a lot like us.

This morning as I was reflecting on those last hours before Jesus journeyed to the Cross, I thought of those poignant words in Luke 22:54: “Peter followed Him at a distance.”

It is tempting for us to be one of those followers of Jesus, who like Peter, prefers sitting down with the crowd rather than standing up to the crowd, being a silent witness rather than a speaking witness.

Listen to what pastor John Courson writes in his commentary: “Praying in the Garden, Jesus was sweating.”
Sleeping in the garden, Peter was cold. The difference between being hot and cold is simply prayer. To warm himself, Peter sat down at the enemy’s fire. So, too, if you are following Jesus from a distance you will feel a chill inside, and you’ll go back to the old places, the old ways to get warm. The problem is, when you warm yourself at the enemy’s fire, like Peter, you’ll get burned.” John Courson’s Application Commentary P. 408-409. 

This Good Friday might be a good time for all of us to spend some time praying and pondering  the question, “How am I following Jesus?” While we may remain “socially distanced” from one another, let make sure that our heart is never spiritually distanced from Him.

Happy Easter!

Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom