Speculation on Peter during Holy Saturday

 

1.     Among the 12 apostles-in-training, Peter appeared to be the natural candidate for assuming the role of leader after the ascension of Jesus.  For the record, however, it ought to be noted that Peter’s leadership qualities are not really what corporate leaders are nowadays seeking because of the modern-day expectations foisted on businesses to conduct feasibility studies and market surveys before drawing up five-year plans.  Instead, Peter stood out as a take-charge guy with spontaneous action (rather than cautious reasoning) being his mode of operation as can be seen in the following instances:

●     on seeing Jesus walk on water, Peter alone (of all the disciples on the boat) decided to follow suit (Matthew 14:25-32)

●     at the transfiguration, Peter boldly but inappropriately proposed the erection of three booths for Jesus, Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:4-6)

●     while Jesus was performing the menial feet-washing task as a solemn lesson on leadership humility for the disciples’ benefit, Peter disrespectfully quipped “not my feet only but also my hands and my head” (Luke 13:9).

 

2.     Very much in keeping with his personality profile, Peter promptly retorted (after Jesus’s revelation in Luke 22:31-32 that the adversary requested for him to be sifted like wheat) that he was resolute in following his Master all the way to prison and even death when required.  To this, Jesus foretold that Peter would actually do the very opposite before the night was through — denying Him thrice before the rooster’s crowing twice (Mark 14:30).

 

3.     During the confusion that ensued after the arresting party’s arrival with Judas in the forefront, Peter and another disciple (who knew the High Priest) were credited for not fleeing.  In fact, he even gallantly sought to foil the arrest (by wielding one of the two swords available at the time) but Jesus immediately put a stop to what was clearly not in accord with God’s master-plan for mankind’s salvation.

 

4.     On hindsight, Peter should have followed the other disciples’ flight instinct.  Regrettably for him, he was confronted by three different parties soon after the other (apparently influential) disciple had led him into the High Priest’s court-yard.  Against the three accusations (of associating with Jesus) that were hurled at him in quick succession, he blurted out the following denials:

●     “I do not know what you are saying” (Matthew 26:70 and Luke 22:60)

●     I am not one of them (Mark 14:70)

●     “I do not know this Man” (Matthew 26:74 and Mark 14:71).

In fact, Matthew 26:72 states that Peter uttered his second denial on oath while both Matthew 26:74 and Mark 14:71 report that Peter cursed and swore during his third denial.

 

5.     Interestingly, Mark 14:68 also records that a rooster crowed after Peter’s first denial.  The related verses in Mark 14 make no mention of whether Peter heard the first crowing.  Even if he had, however, he obviously did not recall at this point in time what Jesus had foretold earlier that evening for he went on to deny Him twice more when subsequently confronted by two other accusing parties.  Mark 14:72 is explicit in highlighting that Peter called to mind Jesus’s words only after the second crowing of the rooster.  Thereafter, he wept bitterly and left — forestalling any opportunity for further denials.

 

6.     What Peter — or any of the other disciples for that matter — did on Holy Saturday is a question that remains open to speculation because information on the emotions, activities or even whereabouts of the followers during the interim burial-to-resurrection period is not available throughout the New Testament.  It is certainly known that Peter left the High Priest’s neighbourhood weeping bitterly (Matthew 26:75, Mark 14:72 and Luke 22:62).  Why did he weep?  Three gospels are specific in pointing out that he wept not after having denied Jesus the first, the second or even the third time.  Instead, he wept only after the rooster crowed (for the second time as documented in Mark 14:72); in particular, Mark 14:72 unambiguously recounts that “when he thought about it [viz what Jesus had foretold], he wept”.

 

7.     If Peter had been jolted by the rooster’s crowing to remember Jesus’s prediction of his three denials, there exists the possibility (as a matter of speculation) of him also being prompted to recall His accompanying revelation of the adversary’s request to sift him as wheat.  After all, what else would Peter be doing on Holy Saturday?  He had already wept bitterly since early dawn — probably nursing in the process his bruised ego that the declaration he confidently proclaimed of following Jesus to prison and death had been soundly proven to be merely an impetuous braggart’s empty claim.  Apart from realising (during his recollection of last night’s events) that he had fallen prey to the adversary’s scheme as revealed by Jesus in Luke 22:31, could he also have drawn encouragement from the following assurances proffered by his Master in the very same breath?

“Simon, Simon … but I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” (Luke 22:31)

There are three aspects that deserve especial attention in the assurances provided by Jesus to Peter immediately after alerting the latter to the adversary’s request (which presumably must have been granted):

●     recognising that Peter would be adversely affected, Jesus personally undertook to pray that the faith of the disciple slated to lead the apostles “should not fail”

●     in urging Peter to “strengthen your brethren”, Jesus was in effect intimating that this chosen disciple was to continue grooming his leadership among the followers

●     what Jesus foresaw here was not if Peter recovered from his dejection but when this leader-disciple returned to Him.

 

8.     Why was the adversary’s request to target Peter not denied in the first place?  As in the case of Job (who had been put to the test not just once but twice by the adversary), God was in a position to know what the outcome would ultimately be.  In any event, Peter had not been tested at all during his three years of discipleship (whereas practically all biblical characters were reported to have undergone varying degrees of testing before assuming what God had called them to).  If this be so, did Peter benefit from his bitter-weeping experience?  That he had since toned down is evident when faced with post-resurrection Jesus’s three questions — to counter, some say, the three denials — after the lake-side breakfast where he humbly chose not to use the highest-level descriptor “agape” (as what his former braggart self would have unabashedly done) to affirm his love for the Messiah.

 

9.     Moving forward, Peter did initially assume leadership among the apostles after Jesus was eventually “parted from them and carried up into heaven” (Luke 24:51).  The following examples are the more well-known instances (before Paul was later called to serve as an apostle too and then inspired to craft scripturally-based expositions on how to structure Christian doctrines in a series of epistles which, according to II Peter 3:16, may be “hard to understand”):

●     Peter stood in front of 120 disciples to announce the need to elect a substitute for Judas as well as spell out the criteria of eligibility for the apostle nominees (Acts 1:15-21)

●     standing with the other 11 apostles, Peter expounded on the manifestation of speaking in tongues to the multitude of non-local Jews who happened to have heard them during Pentecost (Acts 2:14-39)

●     Peter preached to the crowd that had gathered in Solomon’s portico after they learned about his healing of the lame man outside the temple (Acts 3:12-26)

●     after having been arrested with John in Solomon’s portico, Peter’s defence before the Sanhedrin resulted in both of them being released (Acts 4:8-12)

●     Peter confronted Ananias and Sapphira on separate occasions — about three hours apart — for lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-9)

●     fresh with the vision of the great sheet that descended from heaven carrying unclean animals declared to be fit for eating, Peter performed the then-unexpected baptism of Gentiles in Cornelius’s household who had received the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:46-48).

 

10.   In general, the four gospels’ depiction of the disciples’ reactions during the arrest scene does not paint a flattering picture.  Was their flight to safety out of character?  Jesus, in fact, already foretold the following during the Last Supper:

“Indeed, the hour is coming, yes, and now has come, that you will be scattered … and will leave Me alone.” (John 16:32)

On different occasions prior to Judas’s betrayal had Jesus beforehand primed the disciples on His forthcoming arrest, death and resurrection.  All these forewarnings seemed to have been forgotten in the turmoil of emotions running through the disciples’ minds after Jesus permitted Himself to be unceremoniously arrested under trumped-up charges and summarily consigned to the cruel cross.  Given the chaos prevailing at the time, the disciples ought not be faulted for succumbing to their base instincts — as already foreseen by Jesus earlier that night.  The common perception, post-arrest, was of them sinking into the depths of despair because the Man they dutifully followed for three years had, in dying prematurely, not lived up to their expectations of Messiahship.  Did they subsequently recall, especially during Holy Saturday, His multiple assurances that on “the third day He will rise again” as chronicled faithfully by Matthew with particular attention to detail (in, for example, Matthew 16:21, Matthew 17:23 and Matthew 20:19)?  After the women returned to the disciples (from visiting the tomb early on Resurrection Sunday) excitedly claiming to have seen Jesus alive, unfortunately “their words seemed like idle tales and they did not believe” these female witnesses (Luke 24:11).  Who are included by Luke among the collective pronoun “they”?  Peter, it can be readily argued, stands out once again in stark contrast because the follow-up verse, Luke 24:12, shows him arising among his sceptical brethren and running straightway to the tomb (accompanied by John as reported in John 20:3-8).  This certainly does not portray a disillusioned man still forlornly wallowing in deep despair after his post-denials weeping.  After all, Jesus had specifically prayed that Peter’s faith should not fail after the adversary proceeded to sift him like wheat.  Having undergone the trial that God did not disallow, Peter emerged a more tempered leader whom the risen Messiah commissioned to feed His sheep.  Hence, the assertion raised in some circles that Peter had fallen from pole position after his three denials and was irrecoverably mired in diffidence on Holy Saturday may not be that valid after all.