In the
gospels and in the earlier part of the Acts of the Apostles, Peter never seems
to be separated from John; they make a somewhat strange pair, but all the texts
witness their friendship. It’s easy to
understand Peter's concern for his friend in the final verses of the Gospel of
John, but Jesus asks Peter to enter even more deeply into this friendship (John
21:20-25).
What unites
the two of them, Peter and John, is their love for Christ, and Christ underlines
that what’s most important is that each of them (Peter, in this case)
concentrates on following Christ more than on what are, at root, merely earthly
concerns, even including some aspects of that friendship.
This simple
teaching has a direct bearing on how we live our own lives. Consider how a parent loves a child, and
loves all his or her children, and wishes only the absolute best for each one
whether the child sees what a parent asks as an act of love or not. The child must learn to trust absolutely,
even when it seems to go against the grain.
In much the
same way, there are times when our love of Christ must take precedence over our
earthly loves, trusting that Christ can not only heal what seems to be a breach
in our friendships but can actually bring about a much greater union because of
our trust in Him.
We must
trust Jesus (and His Father and the Spirit) in every and all circumstances, and
even do so joyfully in our hope, believing that what seems to be disaster and
certainly feels like pain is only our coming to birth in a new way. If we’re
going to follow Jesus to His Father's house, the Way leads through the cross
and a death to our human life and values.
“The just will gaze on your face” (Psalm 11:4-7) reminds us that
justice will prevail. We’re reminded
that God lives within us and among us, as God is found in all of mankind. We’re reminded to love what God has given us,
knowing that God is guiding us on our journeys.
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