WE ARE ALL DESERTERS

And Jesus said to them, ‘You will all become deserters; for it is written,

“I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.”

But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.’ Peter said to him, ‘Even though all become deserters, I will not.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.’ But he said vehemently, ‘Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.’ And all of them said the same.

From Mark 14: 27-31

There it is. Jesus said it. Were his words just for the disciples at the time? I don't think so. The passage is for all of us. At one time or another, we turn away from God, even if only briefly. Peter denied Christ, as we all do in one way or another.

In Chapter 16 of Matthew's Gospel, after Peter confesses to Jesus, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’, Jesus says:

‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’

Did Jesus take back the keys to the kingdom from Peter after his denial? The rest of the story tells us Jesus did not. And the keys of the kingdom are not just for Peter, but for us, too, and despite our desertions, Jesus does not take back the keys when we desert him.

From Psalms 16, which is also in the readings for today, one of my favorite passages in the Scriptures:

You show me the path of life.
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.

...in the kingdom of God, which is right now, but not yet.

My meandering reflections on today's readings from the Lectionary, which may have meaning only to me.