Hands open

"Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear ... But Jesus said to Peter, Put the sword in the sheath : the cup which the Father gave me. Do not I drink it ?" John 18. 10

An armed and hostile troop burst into the peaceful garden, disturbing the night with its lanterns and torches. But it does not disturb the deep calmness of Jesus.

He said to the men who came to arrest him : "It's me" (literally "Me, I am"). He thus affirms his eternal existence, radiates such a power that they recede and fall to the ground. Extending his hands to appoint his disciples, he unfolds his sovereign love by saying : "If therefore you seek me, let them go" (v. 8).

This fullness of power and love is in stark contrast to Peter's impulsive and violent attitude.

Throughout his ministry, the Lord had opened his hands to bless those who approached him ; now he will open them again, but this time to let them nail on the cross to offer men an everlasting blessing. Peter, on the contrary, with the pretension of defending the Lord, closes his hand on his sword, with which, clumsily, he almost commits a crime that is likely to provoke a violent retaliation.

This is a lesson for us : if the Lord disapproves of Peter's act toward an unconverted person, even more so he desires us to refrain from showing a spirit of superiority and harshness towards a brother or sister in Christ whose the conduct seems to us opposed to the thought of God. If, instead of approaching with open hands to welcome him and bring him the word that "communicates grace" (Eph 4: 29), we shake our fists to bring him some "truths", we inflict wounds on him who may never heal. Let us not forget that what we do to one of these little ones we do to Christ who is his brother (Matthew 25:40).

Certainly, we must not associate ourselves with evil or encourage it by an ambiguous attitude towards someone who practices it. But fraternal love, humility and the feeling of grace that we enjoy will lead us to "overcome evil with good" (Rom 12:21). In doing this, we imitate the Lord, for his joy and for the encouragement of his people.

Source (Pleasing the Lord)