Then took they Him, and led Him and brought Him into the high priest’s house. And Peter followed afar off. Luke 22:54
Where would we place this action – following afar off – by Peter amid the ups and downs of his spiritual experience? He had plenty of ups and downs beyond those that are recorded in Scripture. He was bold and impetuous and then uncertain and confused by turns. Take for example his desire to walk to the Lord Jesus on the water followed immediately by his failure to keep his eye on Christ in the storm (Matthew 14:28-31). But in that failure, we read of the power unleashed by Christ’s response to the model compact prayer in Matthew 14:30: Lord save me!’ Shortly before the Lord was betrayed, Peter had led the other disciples in their boast that they would follow Him into prison and death (verse 33). Our text follows the arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, when Peter boldly attacked the servant of the high priest with a sword and cut off his ear (verse 50). Almost immediately, Peter joins the rest of the disciples in fleeing the scene in terror (Matthew 26:56). But Peter must have recalled his earlier boast, and realized that he must follow the Lord. And he did so, albeit afar off. Can we relate with Peter at this point?
Let’s give Peter a little bit of credit… he was trying to live up to his boast, however cautiously. Many Christians are like that these days. We take the name of Christian, as long as it doesn’t put us into too much risk of persecution or ridicule. We read our Bibles, pray, and attend Assembly meetings, most of the time. That’s all good. That’s better than some people do, just as Peter was doing better than most of the other disciples were. But there was a greater danger in following Jesus afar off than there would have been if Peter had remained close to Jesus’ side. Peter was setting himself up for the greatest tumble of his life!
The chief priests and temple officers were not interested in the disciples; there was little likelihood that Peter would have been anything more than pushed aside if he had attempted to remain close to Jesus. Yes, he could have been arrested too, and his body in peril, but his testimony would have remained intact. But following afar off, he became a prime target for Satan’s attacks. Following afar off meant that the world’s fire seemed to hold some comfort, although it brought nothing but consorting with the enemies of Christ. Following afar off made it easier to reject the pointing finger of those who accused him of being a disciple of Jesus, although it meant denying his Lord. Following afar off also made it easier to slip into the irreverent language of those around him. These are all perils for us too, if we make it a habit to follow the Lord Jesus, but not too closely.
The greatest safety to our souls is not in following Jesus afar off, but in drawing as close to Him as we can in every situation. – Jim MacIntosh