Today we begin a series I have entitled “The Dirty Dozen.” Jesus was always being accused of attracting the worst kind of people. In fact, He said He came to deliver these folks. I thought it might be interesting to examine twelve of these people and discover if perhaps we have some of these traits inside of ourselves. We can also discover how Jesus will still walk with us in our imperfection.
Let us begin by reading John 15:15. “I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.”
Jesus desires to confide in his friends. That’s me and you. He desires to inform us of his plans for our lives. He desires for us to join him in ministry. He actually desires to serve you by helping you through life. As the old song says “What a friend we have in Jesus.” Today we will meet his best friend while He walked the earth. We will possibly see some of our traits in his life.
THE MEETING- John 1:41-42 “Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means ‘Christ’). Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, ‘Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas’ (which means ‘Peter’).”
Jesus saw something in this man called Simon. He looked deep within him. He gazed at him. Then I think a smile begin to form on the lips of Jesus. Jesus said to him “Right now you are Simon but the day will come when you will be my rock.”
Do you feel Jesus gazing at you? He is. He is saying to you “Right now you are who you are but one day you will be what I want you to be.” Simon had no idea what Jesus was saying. He probably thought Andrew was a bit gullible. But Jesus would change his mind.
THE REALIZATION-
Luke 5:1-7 “One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.’ And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.”
Luke 5:8-11 “When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, ‘Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.’ For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!’ And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.”
Did you notice that when we took the boat out he was Simon? However when he returned he was Simon Peter. He began to realize that Jesus had impacted his life and things would never be the same. He left everything the world had to offer to follow Jesus.
THE CALL-
Mark 3:13-15 “Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones he wanted to go with him. And they came to him. Then he appointed twelve of them and called them his apostles. They were to accompany him, and he would send them out to preach, giving them authority to cast out demons.”
Mark 3:16 “These are the twelve he chose: Simon (whom he named Peter),”
Simon Peter was first on the list. Not only first among the twelve but first among all the ones Jesus had called out to go with him. As we will see there were two others that were part of an inner circle but Simon Peter was definantly the first choice of Jesus. I think that is a pretty good argument for best friend status.
THE EXTRAORDINARY-
That best friend status got him the door to see a miracle. Jesus was addressing a situation with a woman. He had been interrupted on his way to the house of a synagogue leader whose daughter was dying.
Mark 5:35-36 “While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, ‘Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.’ But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, ‘Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.’
Mark 5:37 “Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James).” Peter was about to witness a great miracle. Jesus would bring this child back to life. And this would not be the only miracle witnessed.
One time they were on a lake without Jesus. A huge storm came up. The wind had the waves in a frenzy. In the midst of the storm they saw a ghost walking toward them. Needless to say, they freaked out. But the ghost “Hey guys, it’s me, Jesus”
Matthew 14:28-29 “Then Peter called to him, ‘Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.’
‘Yes, come,’ Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.”
This reminded me of a story about three pastors who went fishing. They agreed on a lot of doctrine except one believed that miracles and gifts ceased with the apostles. As they were fishing they ran out of bait. One of the pastors said “I have more bait in my tackle box sitting on the shore. I’ll go get it.” He then proceeded to get out of the boat, walk to the shore, grab the box, and return. The doubtful pastor was speechless. Soon they became thirsty so the other pastor said “I have some drinks on the shore. I’ll go get them.” He then proceeded to get out of the boat, walk to the shore, grab the drinks, and return. Suddenly the doubtful pastor was furious. “My faith is just as great as yours. If you two an walk on water so can I.” He proceeded to get out of the boat and immediately sink. His two friends pulled him back in the boat but he brushed them away and once again got out of the boat and sank. After two more attempts one pastor looked at the other pastor and asked “Do you think we should show him where the rocks are?”
Peter had no rocks. He was walking on water. I think it hit him; “I am walking on water, in a storm.” Matthew 14:30-31 “But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. ‘Save me, Lord!’ he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. ‘You have so little faith,’ Jesus said. ‘Why did you doubt me?’”
Let’s step away Peter for a moment. Jesus is calling some of us to walk on water. We have asked Jesus to use us somehow and He’s saying “Come on down.” I have dreamed for this body to have a children’s minister and someone has agreed to get out of the boat and walk on water. I have dreamed of having a youth leader and someone has agreed to get out of the boat and walk on water. When I retired I dreamed of being involved in the community. Two weeks ago I attended the start-up meeting for the Denver Christian Chamber of Commerce. It was mentioned that the role of vice-president needed to be filled. This week I received a call from the founder wanting to meet with me. I let my imagination run a little wild and thought if I was offered the role of vice-president I would accept it. But reality settled in and I knew I would never be considered. And I wasn’t. However I was offered the role of the president of the Denver Christian Chamber of Commerce. Jesus has said to me “Come on down.” To all my leaders, do not doubt your calling. Keep your faith. Now back to Simon Peter.
THE REVELATION-
Jesus asked the question “Who do the people say that I am.” They answered him. Matt 16: 15-18 “Then he asked them, ‘But who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.’”
Remember way back when they first met? Remember how Jesus studied him, gazed at him and said “Someday you will be my rock.”? Peter had not even surrendered to him yet. But Jesus knew this day would come. It took Peter a couple of years to get to this point but he had arrived. No more blunders for Peter. Right!
THE ATTACK-
Matthew 16:21 “From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.”
Matthew 16:22-23 “But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. ‘Heaven forbid, Lord,’ he said. ‘This will never happen to you!’ Jesus turned to Peter and said, ‘Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.’”
Peter had just nailed it on the head that this was the Messiah, the Promised One. He also nailed it on the head that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus patted him on the back and declared He would use him to build the church. Now Peter is going to reprimand him. The word means to speak sternly. Can you picture Jesus slowly turning around, eyeballing him, and calling him satan? I guess Peter learned his lesson. If only that were true. In fact it seems Peter developed a bad case of foot in mouth disease.
Shortly after this Jesus took his inner-circle to a mountain top where He would meet with Moses and Elijah. But; Luke 9:32 “Peter and the others had fallen asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him.”
Luke 9:33 “As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, ‘Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”’
Notice, he did not even know what he was saying. Here was the problem. Peter, who had recently proclaimed the truth of who Jesus was, now equates Jesus with Moses and Elijah. Basically he wanted to set up worship sites for all three. Isn’t it amazing how crafty satan can be? This was the man Jesus had chosen to be the rock and satan was just beginning to rock Peter’s world. By the way, God straightened this out.
Luke 9:34-35 “But even as he was saying this, a cloud overshadowed them, and terror gripped them as the cloud covered them. Then a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.”’
It seemed with the revelation of who Jesus was the scheme of satan was to keep Peter confused. At their last meal together Jesus began to teach a lesson on being a servant to each other. He was doing so by washing his disciple’s feet. John 13:6-7 “When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus replied, ‘You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”’
John 13:8-9 ‘“No,’ Peter protested, ‘you will never ever wash my feet!’ Jesus replied, ‘Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.’ Simon Peter exclaimed, ‘Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”’
Once again Peter thoughts are faulty. He went from being prideful to being arrogant. satan loves to trip us up with those two elements, pride and arrogance. Too often we take credit for our accomplishments and leave Jesus out of the equation.
On the day of his betrayal Jesus took his best friend to the side and gave him a warning. Luke 22:31-32 ‘“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”’
Notice some things here. Jesus called him Simon, not Peter, the Rock. satan has asked for them by name. Jesus has prayed that his faith would not fail. Jesus knew that Simon would deny him. Jesus knew that Simon would return to him. Jesus knew that Simon would need to become the Rock again for the sake of the other ten.
It is fearful to know that at times satan asks to sift my faith like wheat. He wants to fill me with worry, fear, and doubt. But I have one who makes intercession for me both day and night. Jesus knows I will sin. It’s impossible not to do so. However, his desire is that I will repent, turn from my sin and turn to him, and instead of sitting in judgment of my brother when he sins I will encourage him.
Peter’s life began to unravel very quickly now. He is unable to stay awake and offer comfort to Jesus in his final hours. He would deny knowing Jesus three times. The last denial would be as he stared into the eyes of his friend. He would hide as Jesus as died.
I wonder what went through Peter’s mind those next three days. Did he think “Some friend I was. Some rock I proved to be.”? Did he weep bitterly at his loss? Was he consumed with guilt? Did he feel that he had wasted three and a half years of his life for nothing? Then Sunday morning come.
THE REINSTATEMENT -
A group of women headed for the tomb. They had no plan on how to role away the stone or to get past the Roman guards. What they discovered was they did not need to do so. The stone was already rolled away and the guards were gone.
Mark 16:5-6 “When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, but the angel said, ‘Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body.’” Don’t miss the beauty of this next statement.
Mark 16:7 ‘“Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.’”
Do you see the message to Peter? Jesus is telling him “It’s ok. You are still my best friend. I have forgiven you. You are still the Rock.” What a statement of freedom from guilt that must have been to Peter. You want some reality? Jesus sends that same message to each of us today. “You sinned. You messed up. We are still friends. You have been forgiven. I can still use you in the Kingdom work.”
Jesus would give Peter the responsibility of establishing the church. Peter would become filled with the Holy Spirit and preach a sermon that would add three thousand to the church in one day. This preaching would give them an audience before the Sanhedrin. This statement was made about Peter. I want this statement made about me.
Acts 4:13 “The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.”
God uses the ordinary to do the extraordinary. You do not need a diploma from a seminary. All you need is a heart to serve Jesus. Peter was an ordinary fisherman who witnessed some extraordinary things. Jesus revealed himself to Peter and with that came attacks from the enemy. Peter let pride and his flesh get in his way. He even reverted back to an old lifestyle of denying Jesus. But Jesus never gave up on him. Jesus never pushed him away. Jesus called him back into ministry and the world was changed. You and I sitting in this room today can do the same.
