Holy Week 2- challenge reveals character

T-CUP, or Thinking Clearly Under Pressure, was the acronym used by Sir Clive Woodward when he was the coach of the British Rugby team. Read more about TCUP here

We have seen that cultivating character is slow, patient work that can take a lifetime, and sometimes the results of that steady cultivation are not obvious until we face a challenge.

Surely the events of Holy Week presented the greatest challenge so far for the followers of Jesus. We saw at the weekend that Peter was not ready for this challenge, and when it came to a test of his character he buckled under the pressure. Earlier that evening, Judas had made a decision that revealed his true character. While the other disciples shared the Last Supper with their Lord, Judas slipped out to arrange to betray him to the chief priests and elders. Under the slowly mounting pressure of competing ideologies, Judas saw only weakness and disappointment in what Jesus seemed to be offering, and chose instead a way that appeared to promise success, clarity and good sense.

As the opposition to Jesus mounted, we see his disciples ill-equipped to face the challenges surrounding them. What hope does this give us, who can identify only too easily with these frightened, confused men?

Maybe the answer is in remembering that these events were before Easter- the resurrection was still to come, when the same power that raised Jesus from the dead was poured out at Pentecost on his followers.

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
Ephesians 1: 17-21

 Judas and Peter give us two alternatives for what can happen to our character when it is tried and found wanting. Judas, when he realised his mistake, could not see beyond it. He could not imagine a future for himself, and tragically killed himself. Peter, on the other hand, kept going. He too faced his own failure, but he knew enough about Jesus to hope that restoration and forgiveness was possible, and we know that at Pentecost, Peter shows that his character has not only survived his failure but grown stronger.


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