Dear Reader, This is Part 6 of our series: God is calling us to love Jesus (The Life of Peter). You will find the previous post here: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Why Peter? Was there something special about Peter?
By Charles Cameron
Was he superior to all the others? No! That’s not the reason. Peter had failed the Lord. He needed to hear the Good News. Peter had failed the Lord. He needed to be assured that the Lord hadn’t given up on him. He needed to know that Jesus still had a wonderful plan for his future. Peter may have thought that his past had disqualified him from having a significant role in the in Jesus’ plan to bring salvation to the nations. Jesus was saying to Peter, ‘We must get rid of that kind of thinking. I have a great plan for you. You will be mightily used by Me – to bring many to faith in Me.’
The words, “and Peter”, speak to us about putting our past behind us and moving forward into God’s future.
What were the women to say to Peter? – “He has risen” (Mark 16:5). Jesus is no longer dead. Jesus has risen. Jesus is alive. This was the marvelous message that turned Peter’s life around. The resurrection of Jesus – This is what made all the difference in the life of Peter. This is what brought him out of his failure and into God’s fruitfulness.
How were Jesus’ disciples to know that He had risen? – They would not see Him in the tomb (Mark 16:6). They would “see Him.” How would they see Him? – “He is going ahead of you… ” (Mark 16:7).
“Going ahead of you” – How wonderful is this! The future was no surprise for Jesus. He was preparing his servants for all that lay ahead of them. Jesus’ appearances to his disciples were more than a demonstration of His power – ‘Look at me. I have risen from the dead.’ He was preparing them for His future – a future that would be full of the blessing of God.
The old life is over. The new life has begun. This is what Jesus, the risen Lord, was saying to his chosen servants. The forty days of Jesus’ appearances were a time of learning to let the past be the past, a time of moving forward, with Jesus, into His future. This was a very important time in peter’s spiritual development. The Lord Jesus was putting Peter’s life back together again. Soon, there would be a new Peter. Soon, there would be less pride. Soon, there would be more power. the pride of Peter would be replaced by the power of God.
Together with the other disciples, Peter had so much to learn. At the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, there was, for Peter, sadness, sin and shame. Now, he was being prepared for the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). That would be a great day – great joy for Peter, great salvation for thousands, and great glory to God. Out of the resurrection of Jesus came the raising of Peter. Jesus was raised from the dead. Peter’s life was renewed. Out of Peter’s renewal came revival. What wonderful days of blessing these days were!
What about today? God is calling us to live in the power of Christ’s resurrection. He’s calling us to move out of the old life and into the new life. He’s calling us to continue in the new life. He’s calling us to grow in the new life.
The power of Christ’s resurrection in the Christian life – Peter grasped this truth deeply. He expresses it so well in 1 Peter 1:3-9.
(1) The foundation of the Christian life is found in the fact of Christ’s resurrection (1 Peter 1:3).
(2) Through the power of Christ’s resurrection, we begin the new life – the “new birth” (1 Peter 1:3).
(3) Through the power of Christ’s resurrection, we are kept in the new life (1 Peter 1:5).
(4) Through the power of Christ’s resurrection, we are brought to the completion of this new life – “the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:9).
These are the lessons Peter was learning during his ‘forty days’ of preparation. These are the lessons he kept on learning throughout his journey of faith. They are lessons we must learn well, if we are to make real progress in the life of faith.
With the resurrection of Christ, we take a huge step forward in the Gospel story – and a huge step forward in Peter’s experience of the Gospel. In this part of Peter’s story, there is, for us, a great Word from the Lord concerning the life-transforming power of Christ.
We have read about Peter’s backsliding (Luke 22 ). We have read about the look of Jesus – the look of love, which speaks the language of love (Luke 22:61). Peter knew that he had let Jesus down. Peter knew that Jesus loved him. Peter “wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62). This was the beginning of Peter’s repentance – but his restoration was, still, incomplete. Peter had sinned – and he “wept bitterly.” This was genuine repentance. This was very different from Judas – “he was seized with remorse … Then he went away and hanged himself” (Matthew 27:3,5).
This was weeping with regret. It was not hopeless despair. The look of love gave Peter a glimpse if hope. It was a glimpse of better things to come. Jesus still loved Peter. Jesus wasn’t going to give up on Peter.
The revelation of Jesus’ love was going to increase. It was to be combined with the revelation of His power – “The Lord has risen, and has appeared to Simon” (Luke 24:34). Jesus had a special love for Peter – and a special desire to reveal His power to Peter: “and Peter” (Mark 16:7).
The transformation of Peter, and the other disciples, has a great deal to teach us regarding the increase of our faith.
(1) We begin with wondering, – “What is this all about?”: ” Peter went away, wondering to himself what had happened” (Luke 24:12).
(2) We move on from there to believing without understanding – “John saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)” (John 20:8-9).
Wondering, and believing without understanding – this is just the beginning. Where do we go from here? How does the Lord lead us into a stronger faith?
* Wondering what happened was, soon, to become declaring what had happened (Acts 2). We must be patient with those who are still wondering. They may turn out to be great witnesses for Christ. Jesus was patient with Peter. He’s patient with us. We must be patient, as we look for faith, developing in those who are still wondering.
* Believing without understanding: When people don’t understand something, they are afraid to speak about it. On the Day of Pentecost, we see the new Peter. His preaching was full of faith and understanding (Acts 2). How did he grow in understanding? – “from Scripture.” Peter’s preaching was Biblical preaching. He was expounding the Word of God. He was proclaiming Christ as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
What a great contrast there is between Peter in the time of Christ’s earthly life and Peter after the resurrection of Christ.
* Wondering involves asking questions, seeking instruction from the Lord. In the time of Christ’s earthly life, Peter was too busy, giving his own opinions. Now, he was changing. He’s being trained as an evangelist.
* Understanding grows, as we listen to the voice of God, speaking to us through the Scriptures. Stop talking, and start listening – This is what Peter had to do. This is what we must do if we, like peter, are to speak with power.
Charles Cameron, better known as Charlie to his friends, lives in Scotland and is a member of the Church of Scotland. He owns several Christian blogs found at the following links:
Feature Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Thanks, Andy, for posting these notes. God bless you.