You will never
- Gary Fritsch
- Apr 16
- 2 min read
American heroes. We are very enamored with heroes who don't need any help, who do it on their own, who are self-reliant. Turns out this was popular with the Jewish people as well. So, Peter's refusal to have Jesus wash his feet was probably not unexpected for someone in their culture - or ours.
Jesus corrects him pretty quickly though: if you do not let me wash your feet, you will have no inheritance with me. You see, the solitary hero ideal is false. No one can do it by themselves. It's just not how we were made. We were made for community; we were made to love and be loved. We were made to rely on one another. Every inkling that we have that moves in another direction is not from God.
Peter will go on to try several other hero moves: He will wield the sword in the garden - and will be told to stop. He will follow Jesus to His trial and scourging, not just to lurk in the shadows, but perhaps to save him, rescue Him. In the midst of whatever plan he had, he would deny Jesus three times - still not getting that he needed Jesus, not getting that his own plan was futile because he was on his own. I suspect that Jesus' look at Peter that night conveyed many messages. Maybe one of them was 'you need me, Peter, let me help you'.
The story of our need for each other starts at the very beginning in Genesis. God creates for five days, and all is good. On the sixth day, He creates man and things are very good. Then He makes the great statement: it is NOT good for man to be alone. We are made for community, and none can stand alone. Peter will go through great pains to learn this, but he will learn it. Will we?
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