22. Mark 14:65-68
Some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” The guards also took him over and beat him. While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.” But he denied it, saying, “I do not know or understand what you are talking about.” And he went out into the forecourt, and the cock crowed.
There is more to this story, of course. We have only heard one of Peter’s denials, and we know all too well that two more are coming. We will get there soon enough, I promise. Before we do, however, I want to tarry a moment and wonder together about the request of Jesus’ captors.
Actually, it’s more than a request, it’s a command. And, truth be told, it’s more of a taunt than a command. “Prophesy!” That is, tell us the future.
It’s funny, isn’t it, how much stock we put in being able to predict the future? It’s as if seeing the future is the same as controlling it. And maybe it is. I mean, if we could only know who will emerge from collegiate basketball’s March Madness, we’d win the office pool. Or, for that matter, if we could see what stocks would be up or down in a year, we’d get rich.
But the future is unknowable and wild, as unpredictable as it is untamed. And so to predict it accurately is to have power over it, to be able to control not just the future but destiny itself. Which is why those around Jesus taunt him with this command – for if he is what he says he is, than surely he can predict the future.
The irony, of course, is that in the very next verse one of Jesus’ predictions comes true. Peter has followed him as far as he can, only to be found out by one of the high priests servant and, faced with a choice between loyalty and safety, he chooses to save his skin. Just like Jesus’ predicted (14:30).
Which is what Mark wants us to see, I think – that Jesus is, after all, just who he says he is. Even as Jesus is silent before his accusers, like a lamb led to the slaughter (Is. 53:7), yet he is also Son of Man and Son of God, the one who, indeed, can see the future.
But what a dark future Jesus sees. Three times he has predicted his death to disciples who could not comprehend what he was saying. And twice just earlier that night he predicted that his disciples, and even Peter, would deny and desert him. Jesus sees the future clearly, but rather than try to manipulate it, or prosper by it, or control it, or even escape it, Jesus sees this dark and difficult future and embraces it in order to redeem it…and us.
“Prophesy!” they said, and he did. “Die!” they said, and he did. But on the third day, he was raised, just as he said. And because of his death and his resurrection, we need not fear the future. For while it is still wild and unpredictable, yet we know the ultimate outcome: resurrection life in and through Jesus Christ our Lord. Thanks be to God.
Dear God: Past, present, and future are yours. Anchor us in the promise of your love made manifest in Jesus’ cross and resurrection that we might anticipate all that the future brings in hope. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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