In the gospels and in the early part of Acts Peter never seems to be separated from John; they make a rather strange pair, but all the texts witness their friendship. It is very easy to understand Peter’s concern for his friend in this passage then, but Jesus asks Peter to enter even more deeply into this friendship.
What unites the two of them, Peter and John, is their love for Christ, and Christ here underlines that what is most important is that each of them (Peter, in this case) concentrate 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 very 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 are going to follow Jesus to His Father’s house, the Way leads through the cross and a death to our human life and values…
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Since its inception in 1997, Online Ministries has been blessed to have myriad members of the Creighton University community offer their personal reflections on the daily scripture readings.
