Among the apostles, the one absolutely stunning success was Judas, and the one thoroughly groveling failure was Peter.
Judas was a success in the ways that most impress us: he was successful both financially and politically. He cleverly arranged to control the money of the apostolic band; he skillfully manipulated the political forces of the day to accomplish his goal.
Peter was a failure in ways that we most dread: he was impotent in a crisis and socially inept. At the arrest of Jesus he collapsed, a hapless, blustering coward; in the most critical situations of his life with Jesus, the confession on the road to Caesarea Philippi and the vision on the Mount of Transfiguration, he said the most embarrassingly inappropriate things.
Peter was not the companion we would want with us in time of danger, and he was not the kind of person we would feel comfortable with at a social occasion.
Time, of course, has reversed our judgments on the two men. Judas is now a byword for betrayal, and Peter is one of the most honored names in the Church and in the world.
Judas is a villain; Peter is a saint. Yet the world continues to chase after the successes of Judas, financial wealth and political power, and to defend itself against the failures of Peter, impotence and ineptness.
Thanks to Eugene Petersen and Tim Kimmel for these thoughts. Thanks to Masoud Nikookalam and Unsplash for the photo.
Who do YOU see in our world today as a Judas or a Peter who may well be seen quite differently in the years ahead?
A CHURCH IS A HOSPITAL FOR SINNERS, NOT A CLUB FOR SAINTS!!
