And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”Matthew 26:21

Last night as Dan was ensconced in his man cave watching pre season football, I wanted something else to watch or read and so I browsed through Netflix in search of a movie. A few new movies popped up in my search including “Apostle Peter and the Last Supper.”   I clicked “play” and sat back to watch.

The story supposedly is set around 67 A.D. when Peter is an old man incarcerated in Rome three days before his execution. It consists of conversations with one of his jailers, a Roman centurion curious about the great apostle – and the Christ whom he served. A second jailer lurks outside the cell eavesdropping on the forbidden conversations as a foil to the plot. The movie uses flashbacks to fill in Peter’s narratives about Jesus and the disciples. Cinematically, it’s very low budget and not very good, including annoying roof top shots of some cartoon city and grassy plains nowhere to be found in Galilee. While the premise is admirable, it is pretty unrealistic. The story takes great liberties with the Bible for the sake of the ending which is the sudden conversion of both jailers whom Peter leads to the Lord with the Sinners’ Prayer. The last shot is of Peter being taken from the cell to his crucifixion by the newly Christian jailers, their hands gentle on his back.

I’m not writing about film quality or Biblical veracity of the movie. There are numerous criticisms on- line for that. Rather, I took away two things.

The first was Robert Logia’s understated portrayal of an elderly Peter. There was no bravado or impetuousness in this Peter which is how we often think of him as disciple. Instead , what shone through was Peter’s faith in Christ and his unshakeable peace despite suffering. More than that Logia portrayed Peter’s deep and abiding love for his Lord, a love which changed him from a younger, impetuous and pretty ignorant disciple into the Apostle Peter who was wiser, introspective and fully aware of the power of Christ which had touched him. And forgiven him. Curiosity and excitement drew Peter to Jesus initially, but it was Jesus’ unconditional love which embraced him, no matter what his failures. It was the most touching, Gospel -inspired aspect of the film.

The second point came out of a highly imaginative and somewhat weird scene of the Last Supper , including Jesus washing the feet of Peter and instituting communion with flat bread and wine (complete with a crystal goblet!) Jesus reveals that he will be betrayed by one of the disciples. They react with fear, but in Peter’s memories it was the fear lurking within themselves. In Peter’s retelling, each disciple examines his own heart and his own failures, seeing the very real possibility that he could betray Jesus. Horrified, each one asks, “Is it me, Lord?” I love you. How could I betray you?

When Judas asks, “Is it I”, Jesus tells him to go and do what he must quickly. The Bible says that then Satan entered into him. In the movie a demon like creature hovers behind Judas as he leaves the room to do the devil’s work. Theologians and writers have tried to explain, minimize and even discount Judas’s betrayal as personal disappointment, anger and even self righteous justification. The truth is much simpler and more condemning: Judas did not love his Lord. Unlike the other eleven, Judas rejected the person of Jesus more than he rejected his messianic purpose.   He was driven to evil because he refused to love the Son of Man. How else could Satan have entered him except that Judas’ heart was turned against Christ. God’s love in the Personhood of Jesus can’t coexist with the devil.

The movie, flawed as it is, is allegorical. Peter and each of the other ten disciples knew and loved Jesus individually, but they were sinners and imperfect men. They argued about their rightful places in the kingdom and exhibited pride and jealousy, bad tempers and self righteousness. They were sometimes unbelievably thick headed. They ignored or forgot His teachings; they were boastful one minute and cowardly the next. Nevertheless despite their sins and weaknesses, how they loved Jesus! And how He loved them back in their weakness and in their sins. The   betrayal of Judas  was that he did not love Christ. He was damned because His heart of stone rejected God’s Word that through Messiah,

I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Ezekial 11:19

We are abhorred by Judas. We don’t ever want to question our loyalty or love of Christ. Yet, every moment comes the nagging question, “Is it I, Lord?”  How could I to betray you? But I love you. Our inner dialogues speaks contradictory messages all the time. I love you Lord. But I am such a wretch.   You alone know the darkness I am capable of. Is it I, Lord?

The answer might come from Peter himself. Yes. It is possible. The spirit is willing but the flesh is all too weak. Peter denied.  The others fled.  But they never stopped loving Jesus.  Our salvation hope is  intimately knowing Jesus  so that when we fall and fail over and over, it is our love for Him and His unfailing love for us which helps us get up until like Peter in old age “nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. “