I have been studying and thinking a lot recently about the apostle Peter. I have enjoyed my study. Peter has always been easy for me to identify with. He is impulsive -often speaking before he thinks. Sometimes that gets Peter in trouble with His Lord. Has anyone else ever done that besides me? I have spoken impulsively so many times in my life that I can't even begin to remember them all. And like Peter, my mouth has gotten me into trouble before.
Thankfully, the Lord loved Peter and gave him the chance to redeem himself. Actually, he gave Peter more than one chance, didn't he? And God - who is all gracious and merciful and loving and long suffering will forgive us too, if we are doing our best to serve Him. But we must learn from our mistakes and commit to doing better - being better. As we read through the first part of the book of Acts and then through Peter's two epistles, we realize that his love and dedication to Christ allowed Peter to overcome his weaknesses. This is true for us as well.
As we grow and mature as Christians, we learn to control our weaknesses and develop our strengths. Being dedicated to Christ means we strive to grow spiritually stronger every day.
In Matthew 16:13 Jesus asks the disciples, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"
The disciples tell him some say he is John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. Then Jesus asks them "but who do you say that I am?" And Peter - our friend and brother Peter steps up to the plate and says, "Thou are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." (v. 16) Can you imagine how this grand confession made our Lord feel? What a wonderful confession this was and what a great feeling it must have given Jesus to have heard Peter proclaim Him as the Son of God! Then Peter is given the keys to the kingdom of heaven. What a triumphal moment this was for Peter!
It is just a few verses later, however, in the very same chapter, that Christ strongly rebukes Peter. Admittedly, I don't know how much time is supposed to have passed from verses 19-20 to verse 21. But verse 21 says "From that time forth" - which means that from the time of Peter's declaration - "began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took and him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee Lord: this shall not be unto thee." (Matthew 16:21 - 22) It makes sense doesn't it - for Peter to have said that to Christ? It made perfect sense to Peter the time. I mean - Peter and the other apostles now know that Jesus really is the Son of God. How could the Son of God allow Himself to suffer as He is predicting? Surely, God would not allow that for His Son! The prophets had declared that the Messiah was coming to establish a Kingdom that would last forever. How can Jesus do that if He is killed?
That kingdom was not meant to be an earthly kingdom. We all know that because we have the scripture to tell us of this. Peter did not understand that. I don't think Peter meant to anger the Lord. In his heart, he didn't mean to say something that would cause him to be rebuked by his Master. But whatever his thoughts or intentions were, he confronted Jesus and argued with Him. If Peter truly understood that Jesus was who He was - then why didn't he trust Him and believe what He said? I mean Peter was saying -- look Jesus - I know you are the Messiah - God's only Son and all - but - uh -you are wrong about this. I can understand that Peter may have thought he was declaring his belief in God's power -- but no matter which way you look at it - Peter was arguing with the Son of God!
Think about how Jesus must have felt at this point. I can only imagine the frustration He felt. I can't put thoughts in Jesus' head -- but one of the things He may have been thinking was - "Peter, you still don't get it. After all my teaching, after me telling you about my Heavenly Father - after you, Peter called me the Christ -- you just don't get it." Or maybe Jesus was not happy with Peter questioning Him. At any rate, Jesus tells Peter in verse 23, "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." -- Peter you don't understand I was never here to build an earthly kingdom.
But Jesus loved Peter. He prayed for him. Peter was part of His inner circle. He knew Peter's heart. He knew Peter's potential. The Lord knew that Peter would rise to the occasion. Christ knew that Peter really did love Him. He gave Peter the chance to become the great soldier for Him that He knew Peter could be. Jesus will give us that same chance because He loves us too. Jesus knows our hearts and our potential. He will help us fight the good fight, just as He helped Peter. All we have to do is follow Him. Peter ultimately made that decision. If we make the same choice to follow Him, then Christ will be with us just as He was with Peter.
Thank you, Heavenly Father for your Son, Jesus and the love You have toward us. Thank you for giving us the chance to learn about You through the Bible. Help us to always be willing to follow You. Help us to guard our tongues and to think before we speak. If we fail you, please forgive us as we forgive others and as we turn from our sins. Give us the wisdom to understand the potential we have to bless others by serving You. In Your Son's precious name, Amen
Christ above all things,
Robin
No comments:
Post a Comment