My daughter wanted to see the movie Love, Simon but couldn’t get any of her friends to see it with her, so my wife went with her. They had a great time and really enjoyed the movie, which had several parts that brought them to tears. In the course of talking about the movie, I asked my daughter which parts made her cry, and she immediately responded that the boy in the movie, when he came out of the closet as gay, had tremendous support from his parents, so when he came out to them and they loved him anyway, it moved her. She knows kids at school who wish they could be authentic with their parents but fear rejection from their family, so they hide parts of themselves, suffering without the support of those they love. She knows it would mean a great deal to those kids for them to know their parents have their back. As humans we long for support from those closest to us and are generally desirous to provide that support to others. We frequently fail at this, however.
Since this past Sunday was Palm Sunday (I attend a parish of the Episcopal Church), the lectionary’s Gospel reading was the Passion narrative, which essentially consists of chapters 14 and 15 of Mark. The various voices within the text (e.g., Jesus, Pilate, Judas, Peter, crowds, high priest) are read by different people. The entire congregation reads the part of the crowd.
I was struck by the deep desire of Peter and the rest of Jesus’ apostles to support and help him in his time of tribulation. They were certain they were going to be there for Jesus:
When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters; for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though all become deserters, I will not.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said vehemently, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And all of them said the same.
Mark 14:26-31
As we know from the narrative, not only were they unable to support Jesus while he suffered in Gethsemane, following his arrest Jesus’ disciples scattered like sheep, with Peter even outright denying that he knew Jesus:
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. Then the cock crowed. And the servant-girl, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.” But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about.” At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
Mark 14:66-72
In our parish’s Palm Sunday service, the narrative moves along, with the various people in the congregation reading their assigned parts. The person assigned to read Pilate’s part reads out, “Are you king of the Jews?” The congregational Jesus responds, “You say so.”
Again we move along, eventually coming to the crowd’s response to Pilate, “Crucify him!” Nearly 300 people say it loudly in unison, the words reverberating off the walls of the cathedral. I’m among them and I’m not going to lie, those words are incredibly difficult to say. I struggle to get the words out of my mouth, and I have to do so again. “Crucify him,” I shout a second time. This awful feeling – is it a glimpse into Peter’s shame?
It is easy for us to think that, were we faced with the same situation as Jesus’ disciples, we would have acted differently; that we wouldn’t have deserted our Lord. However, human nature being what it is, we almost certainly would have. In fact, we desert him in numerous ways in our daily lives, when we fail to love others like ourselves; when we participate in a rivalry for a promotion at work; or when we let judgement blind us to the pain of others. We are no different than Jesus’ disciples.
In the end, Jesus must forge ahead, on his own, doing the work for us that we are unable to do ourselves.
There is hope, however. Easter is just around the corner, and just as with Peter, Jesus will ask us to feed his sheep. Just like Peter, despite our desertion, he asks us to take an active part in his kingdom; to learn to love as he does; to be like the supportive parents in Love, Simon, functioning as the very body of Christ.
It is challenging, and we will desert our Lord again and again; however, we should take hope that, just as Jesus’ love and grace for his apostles in their weakness empowered them to move forward, his unmatched love for the deserted and deserter should empower us as well.
Wheat & Tares 
Very powerful! Thanks for sharing this!
Beautifully written and moving. Thank you
Over many years, I have observed a family, a very large family deal with one of their children who is gay. All the children in this family are now adults. The father is a religion teacher at BYU. This family loves one another, they haven’t deserted their gay family member. They show great respect to their gay family member and the partner.
The gay family member is no longer associated with the church. In spite of everything, they are a great example of accepting one another in the bonds of family love. Based on what I know, I doubt any of the siblings would enjoy seeing “Love, Simon” and probably wouldn’t want their young children to attend the movie.
They would probably agree with many of the sentiments in the movie, the family supporting one another within acceptable limits (I haven’t seen the movie, but read about it), but they, like many others don’t feel comfortable with gay romance being portrayed in movies.
I think in the eternities, families that are split by the three degrees of glory will still love one another and will never desert their mortal family ties. There will be barriers and restrictions, but those in the higher degrees will be more than willing to visit and associate with family members.
My wife and I saw the movie and found it extremely moving and powerful. I love the connection you made here to the life of Christ.
I suppose it’s helpful to have Jared’s comment. He reminds us that when we congratulate ourselves for being tolerant and welcoming, what we almost always mean is “tolerance” on our own terms. Jared’s heart is warmed by his friends’ acceptance of their gay family member–as long as they don’t have to be reminded that gay people actually love.
We all have limits on tolerance that are set by our failure to stand with others all the way through. We are all deserters. Though I’m appalled by Jared’s ugly prejudice, I have my own ugly limits too. May Jesus, who never deserts us, be our guide.
Loursat, thank you for your comment. I was in the middle of typing something quite similar, so I’ll just say I echo your thoughts.
I think the word Gay should be phased out of our lexicon; multiple definitions have been hijacked. I can’t sing children’s songs that state “we’ll all be happy and gay”. I can’t speak of the 1962 animated movie “Gay Puree”. Just use the term Homosexual; it was good enough for Webster.
I see you removed my blog entry as it disagrees with your opinions
Do you only want posts that sheee with your lane brain arguments
I’m curious Cody Hatch, do you think Jesus approves of gay marriage? Loursat, how about you, does Jesus want gay marriage in His temples?
I’m assuming both of you are active Mormons. If I’ve got it wrong, please let me know.
Jared, I do not think Jesus cares, but I have no special insight into his mind other than what I read in the Gospels, which mark discipleship based upon our love for one another rather than anti-gay policies. I understand that many active Mormons would disagree with me, and I do not begrudge them that disagreement.
I am not an active Mormon but attend the Episcopal Church.
Also, I think that the focus on the gay marriage topic is to miss the point of the OP, which is that we all, in various ways, desert Jesus, despite our best intentions not to do so. He welcomes us anyway, forgives us, and enables us to try anew.
Gary, I did not allow your comment because it violated our commenting guidelines.
remove from your list.
Just another censorship issue I won’t have to deal with.
Great post Cody. Sorry some try to derail a great post.
Beautiful post Cody 😊
It is true that those who were with Jesus at the time of the arrest did flee, but that is what Jesus wanted (see John 18:8). I hesitate to call them deserters. Jesus wanted them to flee, rather than face arrest. Besides, He had to bear it alone, utterly alone.
That said, we are all sinners. It is good when family members are able to support one another. Even when a church association has to limit or sever its official connections with persons who choose not to abide by the association’s standards, the family connections remain in place.
This is beautiful, Cody.
“We are no different than Jesus’ disciples.”
I don’t think so. I probably would have been making some clueless smart-ass remarks. I tend to botch things up at the most crucial moment. Like the first time I proposed to my wife, as a prank and then fell asleep while doing it. She did not find it amusing, maybe because she actually liked me and I didn’t get it? I am far worse than these disciples. Desertion might not be the worst thing that could happen.
Gary, I didn’t see your deleted remarks but I tend to think that homosexuals are sinners. The trouble is that I see heterosexuals are no better. The Torah prescribes death for both of them.And asexuals are guilty of sins of omission, of not loving a spouse. So there you have it. We are all a bunch of arrogant sinners. As far as sorting some sins from others, that is beyond my level of love and grace. We are all guilty and deserve the death penalty and we are all going to get it, sooner or later. Knowing why God allows some things, maybe even creates them, don’t ask me .One of the thieves on the cross was humble and trying to repent. The other, not so. Neither was making sure the other got their just punishment. Which thief do you want to be like?
In my non-LDS scout troop are always a few seemingly hopeless scouts. I call them my favorite scouts. Sometimes a combination of several experiences with other scouts and adult leaders in some miraculous way results in them improving. At the root of it is some form of unconditional love and acceptance..Some of them are in jail and I don’t know the difference, why the bad or better outcomes.
I try to feed sheep. I am trying to feed them clover, not thistles and loco weed.Maybe I eat too much of the latter.