341st Meditation
“Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put away your sword; shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?'” (Jn 18:11).
Can we not understand Peter’s reaction? In the garden of Gethsemane, he had to see with his own eyes how his beloved Master was taken prisoner. Should he not defend Him? Would he not thus be demonstrating to Jesus his love, his fidelity and also his courage?
Certainly so, Peter. But Jesus is different and we must first learn to know Him… You, Peter, experienced it: human love is not strong enough. It needs the light of the Holy Spirit, so that wisdom may penetrate the soul of man, so that he may become strong in God and able to endure the sufferings that come upon him on the way of following the Lord.
Jesus does not have in view His own self-defense nor does He expect His disciples to protect Him with weapons. What He has in view is the Will of His Heavenly Father. He could have sent legions of angels to deliver His Son from the hand of His adversaries (Mt 26:53). But that was not the Father’s intention.
The Father wants to save humanity through love. He does not want to see His Son triumphing with a splendid victory like that of kings, but offering Himself as a lamb for humanity. Therefore, dear Peter, no weapons!
It is not easy to understand, is it, Peter? We men like battles. Indeed, God does not restrict us from them either, but in the following of the Lamb they have a different character. They are different just as our King and His Father are different from the kings of this world. Therefore, dear Peter, sheathe your sword and restrain your temper.
We must change our way of thinking. Our Father wants us, like His Son, to have our eyes fixed on Him. That is our task. We too must learn to drink our cup. You, Peter, learned this and remained faithful to the Lord until death. You showed us that, with God’s strength, this becomes possible. Thank you! Help us to remain faithful to the Lord and to fight only with the sword of the Spirit (Eph 6:17). This will please our Father!