Denial out of fear and betrayal by a kiss

Denial by Peter

Jesus had prophesied before He was denied by Peter thrice the cock would crow.  Peter was a beloved disciple of Jesus who had been with Jesus and had not forsaken Him when all others fled from the scene when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane.  Peter and John followed Jesus into the place of Caiphas, the high priest.  When Peter was warming himself near a fire kindled the middle of the courtyard, a servant girl of the palace of the high priest gazed at Peter and said, This man was with Jesus. Then Peter denied it and said, I do not know Him. Then when Peter was confronted by two other persons in a similar manner, he vehemently denied even under an oath that He was not with Jesus. And instantly, while was still speaking, the cock crowed.  And the Lord turned and looked at Peter and Peter recalled the Lord’s words; went out and wept bitterly.  Peter after repentance became a new man and died as a martyr for Christ.

Peter denied the Lord out of fear that he would also be arrested and harassed.  When Jesus predicted that he would deny Him, Peter said, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death”.

Betrayal by a kiss

The other disciple who denied and betrayed Jesus by a kiss is Judas Iscariot.  Jesus had also prophesied that Judas would betray Him.  Judas after taking a bribe of 30 silver coins went to the garden of Gethsemane accompanied by armed soldiers, chief priests and elders, hugged and betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Judas could have simply shown his fingers at Jesus and identified Jesus before the team.  But He hugged and kissed Jesus as if he expressed his love for Jesus. Judas, while repenting, threw the money in the holy place of the temple before the chief priests but hanged himself and died a miserable death.

One disciple denied Jesus out of fear and the other denied and betrayed Jesus for money.

Political betrayal

It is interesting to analyze these two incidents in the background of what has been happening in the Indian political scene where the nation is going to polls for the 2014 General Elections to the Lok Sabha.  Some prominent politicians who had been with the Congress in winning elections or in building the Congress Party developed a sudden fear that the Congress party would not come to power after the elections.  Driven out of sheer fear that they would lose their power and position, they switched their allegiance to the main opposition party, Bharatiya Janata Party whose ideology is entirely opposed to that of the Congress Party.  These politicians fall under both the categories of disciples.  They covet money and political power, for the sake of which, they are prepared to deny and betray the very political party which helped them ascend to the political ladders. 

Bureaucratic betrayal

Two retired bureaucrats wrote books criticizing and ridiculing the Prime Minister of the nation.  One of them is Sanjay Baru who was the media advisor to the Prime Minister who had enjoyed the close confidence of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet and who had reaped the benefits out of the plum post held by him in the corridors of power.  He wrote a book called, “Accidental Prime minister – The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh”.  He was privy to the very life of Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister.  Dr. Manmohan Singh would not have the slightest suspicion in his mind that his trusted official would betray him one day that too just before the elections.  After release of the book, the daughter of the Prime Minister cried hoarse terming the act of the former media adviser as “betrayal”.

The other retired bureaucrat is P.C. Parakh, who was the Coal Secretary who is investigated by the CBI for his suspected role in the allotment of coal mines (known as Coalgate scam) to a top business house in India. He has named his book “Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and other truths”. 

Kissed the truth but betrayed the government

No doubt, both these retired bureaucrats would have known some truths as they were enjoying the unstinted confidence and trust of the government.  They have kissed the truths to some extent in their books but betrayed the trust and confidence reposed in them by the government and by the Prime Minister.   The retired coal secretary might have betrayed the government out of fear that he would be implicated by the CBI in this case.  The retired media advisor might have betrayed the government and the prime minister for popularity or for favor with the main opposition party which is predicted to come to power after the elections.  No doubt, he would have earned a lot of money by publishing this book. They kissed the government while in service but after retirement they betrayed it.

The cock continues to crow

The cock has crowed as usual when the Prime Minister and the Government looked with awe and disappointment at the political and bureaucratic betrayers of their trust and confidence. When denial and betrayal take place, the cock of the history would continue to crow. Would they repent now like the two disciples?  One of them repented for a new life and the other for death and doom.

The crowing of the cock

The cock crowed twice for Peter and not for Judas even for a single time.  Only those with a pure conscience are able to hear the crowing of the cock. Those whose conscience is smeared by hypocrisy and unrighteousness would not hear the crowing of the cock and they would be doomed forever.  Let the impartial and vigilant media play the role of the cock of the history. 

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Author can be contacted on his email: jobanbalagan@gmail.com