Disciple 1 Peter The Rock and Roller
Back in 1980, Denny Brauer was earning his living as a mason and pursuing his true passion on the side -- bass fishing. One day he revealed a desire that no doubt shocked his spouse to the core. He announced that he wanted to move from their home in Nebraska to a place where there’s "more water," so he could wet his line on a full-time basis.
No more bricklaying for Denny. From now on: professional fishing.
You can just imagine his wife’s delight: Yeah, right… As if… Comments Jack McCallum in Sports Illustrated, "Deciding that you wanted to make a livable wage as a bass angler in ’80 wasn’t quite as risky as deciding that you wanted to make a livable wage as, say, a marble shooter, but it was close."
But guess what? Denny’s wife said, "Let’s go," and moving to where the fish were was the right move for this fisherman and his family.
Two decades later, Brauer has a Saturday-morning fishing show on ESPN, The Bass Class with Denny Brauer, not to mention two instructional videos and a couple of books. He has endorsement deals with so many companies -- 12, according to his count -- that when he goes out to fish, he looks like a stock-car racer festooned with brand-name logos. In one recent year, Brauer fished in 15 tournaments and made between $600,000 and $800,000 in prize money and endorsements What if Denny had decided to stay where he was? What if Denny’s wife had said “your crazy, I’m staying right here!” Let’s look at the first disciple always mentioned in the lists of disciples; Peter. Peter was the only disciple that is known to be married and one day he had a radical experience to go fishing as well, and obviously his wife agreed to follow (1 Corinthians 9:5). Peter is always portrayed as the eager disciple.
Background
Who was Peter and what was it about him that he became on of the three closest disciples along with James and John? Peter’s original name was Simon which means “the hearer” and Jesus changed his name (Luke 6:14) to Peter which means “a mass of rock.”. Jesus saw in Peter a great strength of his character, even when He predicted Peter’s great fall (Luke 22:32). Jesus sees more in us than we do ourselves, He sends us to do great tasks many times we view as impossible. Peter the fisherman probably never dreamed he would be instrumental in changing the course of history. Many have been given a new purpose in life which their life counts for something forever. Peter would not be the one that the religious people of that day would have chosen to be a church leader much less a pastor.
Peter was a fisherman who was married (Matt 8:14) and lived in Bethsaida, on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee. Peter was in business with Andrew (his brother) and two other partners James and John (Luke 5:10). The father of James and John was a man named Zebedee who owned two boats (Luke 5:2) and had hired servants (Mark 1:20). It could have been possible that Zebedee raised Peter and Andrew because it would be highly unusual for the sons of the boats owners to have been partners in the family business. Perhaps Peter loosing his father at a young age is what gave him the zeal to live life to the fullest. Peter apparently was a good man just by the indication that his mother in law lived with them. This shows Peter having the character that he took care of the older folks.
Peter being a Galilean would be similar to a cowboy. The Galileans had a very distinct accent much like the way a cowboy speaks today. This accent gave him away when he stood within eye sight of the judgment hall where Jesus was being tried and a little slave girl pointed him out as a follower of Jesus. The third time Peter was accused the people said (Luke 14:70) “Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean and your speech shows it.” On the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit arrived Peter was preaching and the people said “Look are not all these who speak Galileans?” Peter had a very distinct accent and people knew it wherever he went.
Peter came to Christ through the concern of his brother Andrew (John 1:41). The point that Peter gave his life to Christ is found in Luke 5:1-11. Jesus is surrounded by a crowd so He gets in Peter’s boat and preaches to the people from the boat toward the land. After the preaching Jesus told Peter to go out to the deep water and drop their nets. Peter told Jesus “Master, we have worked all night and caught nothing, however, at your word we will do it.” After they dropped their nets they caught so many fish their nets started to break so they called for James and John to come and help them.
When I used to fish in bass tournaments I noticed how fisherman react to other fishermen fishing the same waters. When a fisherman was in sight of another fisherman they usually kept their eyes on each other to see who would catch more fish. I am sure Peter didn’t have to yell very long for James and John to see what was going on. Luke 5:8 says when Peter saw all the fish he fell down at Jesus’ knees and said “Depart from me for I am a sinful man”. Peter knew at that moment his life would never be the same again and Jesus acknowledged that and told Peter that he would become a fisher of men. Once Peter, James and John got back to land the Bible says in verse eleven that they “forsook all and followed Him.” The three amigos literally gave everything up to follow Jesus. We can learn a lesson from this also, that we come to Jesus through the narrow gate which means we cant carry anything with us and must abandon all to become followers of Christ. Peter could have kept everything and ended up with nothing, instead he kept nothing and ended up with more than his mind could ever conceive. I believe one of the things that probably attracted Jesus to Peter was Peter’s eagerness. The Bible shows Peter running into the empty tomb, jumping out of boats, trying to defend Jesus and then it shows a man who still makes some mistakes but is a bold and courageous leader of the Christian faith. The best word that comes to my mind to describe Peter is he is eager.
Eager to Commit
We live in a world today that people wont believe something unless they see it. We live in an age where everyone has a camera on their phone or a camcorder in their car. We have cameras that watch traffic and cameras that watch people. Reality shows are at an all time high, people want to see something real rather than be told about it. Peter would have loved to live in this age, he was definitely a person who wanted to see something rather than be told about it…and Jesus knew this.
In Luke 5:8 Peter abandoned everything and followed Jesus after he saw the great catch of fish. Jesus knows exactly what it will take for each one of us to be sold out to Him; however the burden is still on us to bow a knee. Peter doubted Jesus’ original request to go out to the deep water but he said in verse 5 “nevertheless at your word I will let the net down.” Notice the unbelief in Peter’s voice; he was not enthusiastic about going back out into the deep water. Peter had already seen there wasn’t any fish out there. Fishermen are like that, if they have already fished a spot with no fish to show for it and someone tells them to try again they don’t get enthusiastic about returning to the same spot.
The summer of 1985 I was a summer missionary in East Texas at Sam Rayburn Lake and Toledo Bend Lake. I met a man by the name of Paul Hinton, a retired insurance agent from Houston. Paul lived on Toledo Bend and was an avid fisherman. Paul was such a great fisherman he had contracts with different lure manufactures to test their lures and write newspaper articles about the effectiveness of the lure. Paul and I became good friends and he wanted to take me out fishing one night to his “honey hole.” I agreed and we started that night at around 10:00pm in complete darkness. Paul handed me a pair of clear goggles and said “Here, put these on it will save your eyes.” I immediately realized the need for those goggles when bugs were splattering on my face. Paul knew that lake so well he could drive his boat 60 mph through the trees during in complete darkness and only occasionally rub against one. We finally arrived at the destination which seemed to be in the middle of the lake on open water. We tied on a black plastic “floating lizard” and let it sink to the bottom. We sat there for over an hour and the only fish caught was by Paul and that was a catfish, we were fishing for black bass. Paul said, “Are you ready to go to the honey hole?” I thought we were at “the honey hole” because that is what Paul called it when we got there, but like Peter I said “if you say so.”
The engine came alive and Paul had two speeds: stop and fast! We buzzed across the lake for about thirty minutes and suddenly Paul killed the engine and shouted out with glee, “Are you ready to catch some fish?” We used the same bait but this time we didn’t drop it to the bottom. Paul told me to cast out about 40 feet to the left of the boat and I will feel with my rod the bait hitting some weeds, then Paul said once I don’t feel the weeds to stop reeling the bait in and let it drop to the bottom. Again, I was not that enthusiastic because of the prior experience but I did as I was told. I cast the lure out and I did feel the weeds about 3 feet below the surface of the water then I couldn’t feel them anymore. I stopped reeling the bait in and let the bait drop to the bottom. My bait wasn’t in the water thirty seconds until suddenly my rod about came out of my hands. I set the hook and started reeling the fish in to the boat. I repeated this five more times and each time I landed a seven plus pound fish, what a night! I was thrilled about the “honey hole” and I never doubted Paul the rest of the summer when he took me to different “honey holes.” I became a believer in Paul’s fishing skills. Like Peter, I had to see it to believe it!
Eager to Believe…Can a Rock Float?
Mathew 14:22-32 gives the account of Peter walking on the water out to Jesus. After the feeding of five thousand Jesus commands his disciples to get in a boat and go to the other side of the lake without Him. Jesus goes up on the mountain by Himself to pray and the disciples were in the middle of the lake (Sea of Galilee) when the winds started to blow and the waves began crashing into the boat. The disciples saw a man walking on the wavy water and cried out in fear afraid it was a ghost. This is before television put images of ghosts in their head, how would they know what a ghost looked like? Jesus said “Be of good cheer, it is I; do not be afraid.” Notice the first disciple to speak up because he had to see it to believe it; Peter. Peter said “Lord if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” Jesus said “Come.”
Peter was a man of action, he didn’t want just words he wanted action. Peter didn’t say “Jesus just tell me it is you and I will be ok.” No; Peter said he wants actions and not just words. God wants the same thing from us, service to Him. Imagine what was going through Peter’s mind when he took that first step out of the boat. I don’t have to wonder how long Peter hesitated before he got out of the boat because Peter did everything on impulse. Peter steps out of the boat and almost makes it to Jesus. Peter is a lot like me; his motto is “Fire, ready, aim.” Peter started thinking about the circumstances he found himself in and noticed the wind and started to sink like a rock. Peter yelled out “Lord save me.” Jesus immediately stretched out his hand and saved him and Jesus rebuked Peter there on the spot “O you of little faith, why did you doubt.” I wonder what Peter doubted about? Did Peter doubt Jesus was not as strong as the wind or did he doubt Jesus desire to save him. Peter was a business man and went through many disappointments just by the fact of being in business. Peter could have started thinking about all the times he got himself in a bind and his “friends” abandoned him and was wondering if Jesus was going to be like all the people before. Perhaps Peter had lost his father at an early age and was raised by Zebedee and Peter remembered the pain of losing his father and lost confidence in God and man. Whatever the reason, Peter lost confidence in Jesus and in himself and began a rapid decent to the bottom.
We have all gone through hurts and disappointments in this life and perhaps you find yourself sinking into the abyss. Perhaps you have a hard time trusting other people and you think God is going to be like all the rest. Jesus said he will never leave us nor abandon us (Hebrews 13:5)and nothing can separate us from Him (Romans 8:38-39). The only reason to doubt in a storm is for the storm to cloud our thinking and forget about the sunshine promises found in the Bible.
Eager to Lead
The morning that Jesus rose from the dead Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joanna (the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward) and some other women (Luke 24:10) went to the tomb of Jesus to anoint Him. An angel was sitting on the right side of the tomb and told the women (Luke 28:7) “He has risen; go tell his disciples and Peter!” The only disciple mentioned by name is Peter! Why was Peter singled out? When Peter got the vision about something he became passionate and perhaps the angel was told to specifically mention Peter because once Peter understood what happened he would encourage the other disciples.
Luke 24:9 says the women reported this to all the other disciples and guess who was the first person to run out the door and apparently John followed. It was the same person who was first to yell out to Jesus on the stormy sea, the same person who dropped everything when Jesus said “Come follow me.” John 20:2-10 gives us more detail about Peter and John going to the tomb.
4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. 5 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed.
Peter didn’t stop at the opening ,like John , he ran directly into the tomb because Peter he was a hands on person. How many of us are like John on Sunday mornings? We don’t get directly involved in church and just sit in the chair and just look and not get our hands dirty. Peter did not even stop and think about it he plunged directly into the tomb. Apparently he wasn’t afraid of bumping into an angel or seeing a dead body he was going to find out for himself because to Peter…seeing is believing. This is a picture of Peter’s leadership he ran into the tomb, not stopping to ask John but to discover for himself. After John saw Peter going in then he himself went in. Are you leading your family to discover Jesus or are you just looking at the door inside? Perhaps you have given leadership of the spiritual life of your family over to your wife. Well cowboy, it is time to get off your pockets and enter the tomb to discover the risen Savior! You cant lead your family where you yourself have not gone.
The first disciple that Jesus showed himself to was the only disciple the angel mentioned by name and that was old Peter himself. Luke 24:34 states that two followers (not one of the twelve) of Jesus were on the road to Emmaus and Jesus appeared to them and they didn’t recognize Jesus until after Jesus spoke with them and then their eyes were “opened” to recognize Jesus (Luke 24:31). These followers came back to Jerusalem and found the eleven disciples gathered together. There were only eleven because Judas hung himself the day of Jesus’ death. The followers reported (Luke 24:34) “The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” There is no other account of this meeting between Jesus and Peter. Notice the emphasis the Bible placed on Peter being first. The angel mentioned Peter by name, Peter ran to the tomb first and Jesus appeared to Peter first. We can all learn from Peter and the resurrection event, run to the resurrection, see the empty tomb of the risen Lord and you too will believe.
Eager to Be With Jesus…Don’t Swim With Your Clothes On: John 21:1-14
The third time Jesus showed himself to the disciples after the resurrection was after a fishing trip on the Sea of Galilee. This event is found after the incident with Thomas, for he not only had to see to believe but feel the holes in Jesus’ hands and side. The disciples are all gathered together and Peter says “I’m going fishing.” Peter loved fishing and this illustrates that when a person comes to Christ, the passions he gave us for sports or hobbies does not have to buried. God did not want to destroy Peter’s passion but simply wanted to redirect it for His glory. The disciples fished all night and did not catch a single fish, not even a catfish. When the morning came the disciples saw a man on the shore but they did not know who it was. Jesus being the man on the shore said to them “Children, have you any food?” The disciples told Him “No.” Jesus then told them to cast their net on the right side and they will find some fish. The Bible says in John 21:6-11:
So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.
7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish. 9 Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.”
11 Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken.
Seeing is believing for Peter. John told Peter that it was Jesus but Peter wanted to see for himself. Peter is starting think a little bit before he acts, notice Peter put on his outer garment before he plunged into the sea! Peter could not wait for the other guys, he wanted to see Jesus immediately. This is the same Peter that ran head first inside the tomb, the same Peter that immediately dropped everything to follow Jesus. Jesus asked the disciples to bring some fish to put on the fire. Who was the only disciple who got up to get the fish…Peter! Peter was ready to obey, he was still feeling the guilt of denying Jesus three times during the night of the resurrection and he was going to see Jesus every chance he got.
We cant see Jesus today in the flesh nor can we see with our own eyes all the miracles that Jesus performed, but we can see the testimony of the disciples and believe. Peter says it best himself in 1 Peter 1:8:
Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
Jesus said blessed are those who have not seen yet have believed. (John 20:29), these accounts are written down for us so we can believe and learn from them. We don’t have the luxury of seeing Jesus in the flesh but we can certainly read about all the wonderful things He did while He was on this earth. The bottom line: believing is an action word and Peter had great faith because his actions spoke louder than his words. Peter was a very hands on practical person, and with practicality comes perception. Practical people must perceive with their eyes and see the proof. All that a practical person has to do is to examine and see for themselves the accounts of Jesus and they too will arrive at the same conclusion as Peter “Jesus, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16). One word of caution, don’t just read about it, do something about it like Peter did, get off your pockets and seek after Jesus. Here is a story about all talk and no action:
There is a parable about a wild goose shot down by a local hunter. Only wounded in one wing, he landed safely in a barnyard. Naturally the local turkeys and chickens were quite startled by this sudden visitor from the sky. As they became more comfortable with this stranger, however, it was only natural to ask about what they had seen but never experienced: “Tell us what it’s like to fly.”
“It’s wonderful!” said the goose, who told story after story of his flights. “It’s beautiful to soar out in the wild blue yonder! Why this barn looks only an inch high and all of you look like tiny specks from such a distance. First you fly high and then you can glide and enjoy the astonishing scenery.”
All the birds were quite impressed by the goose’s stories. Later they asked him to tell more stories about flying. Soon, it became a weekly event for the goose to entertain all the barnyard birds with his stories. They even provided a little box for him to stand on so everyone could see him better.
But the strangest thing happened, or maybe I should say … never happened. While the domestic birds very much enjoyed hearing about the glories of flight, they never tried to fly themselves. And the wild goose, even though his wing healed, continued to talk about flying but never actually flew again .… .
How easy it is to talk about being a Christian without acting like one. How easy it is to stand in church and say, “Jesus is Lord,” without actually turning our lives over to his direction. How easy it is to sit in our comfortable seats and ignore a world in desperate need of our witness. How easy it is as a minister to talk about ministry without actually doing it. It’s easy to talk, but you must really flap those wings to fly. Peter flapped his wings and he followed through with action and soared higher and was able to lead the other disciples to accomplish great things for the saving message of Jesus Christ to those who did not have the opportunity to see Jesus.
Eager to defend Jesus
Have you ever been in a new job or relationship with a new friend and someone says something bad about them and you jumped to their defense? The old saying that “pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” actually comes from the Bible in Proverbs 16:18. A haughty spirit means “a lifting up of spirit” that means we exalt ourselves and tell people it is “our way or the highway.” The Chinese have four proverbs that say:
1. “Who flies not high falls not low.”
2. “Pride sought flight in heaven, fell to hell”
3. “A great tree attracts the wind”
4. “What is extended will tear, what is long will break”
The Christian life is not a super fast highway, nor is it to go from mountain top to mountain top experience. The Christian life is a sober life, understand who we are and who God is. Many preachers today speak of the Christian life about our destiny to have a prosperous life. So many sermons are preached during the morning worship time, that should be lifting up Christ and His word, instead are lifting up the listener. Peter had to go through a period of testing to be a trustworthy leader of Christ’s church. In Matthew 16 Jesus gives Peter the keys to Heaven, he tells Peter “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” In a nutshell Jesus put Peter on a mountain top experience. Then Jesus brought Peter down to the valley by telling Peter that Jesus must suffer many things at the hands of the religious leaders and He will be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter was listening on the mountain top while Jesus was speaking from the valley. Peter’s response was “Never Lord, this shall never happen to you!” Jesus had to bring Peter down to the valley so he could hear better and said to Peter “Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Wow, talk about a supernatural wake up call! Jesus was telling Peter to get his agenda and thoughts in line with God’s. Then Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 16:24 “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” Peter was eager to defend Jesus, but didn’t know what eager to deny self was. The Christian life has two guard rails on each side of the road, one is eagerness the other is denial. We cant get stuck in the ditch on either side. We need to have a combination of eagerness but self denial to remove selfish ambitions. We need to have a combination of total dependence on God and no dependence on self to make sure God receives all the glory.
The Christian life is like a new rope. When we first accept Christ we experience the thrill of total forgiveness and eagerness to live a life filled with purpose and renewed passion directed the right way. When I get a new rope I am eager to put it to work because that new rope is filled with the promise of fast and smooth catches. However, the fullness of the Christian life happens after many battles with the flesh, holes in the knees of our jeans from praying and our Bible is worn out from spending so much time in it. A rope feels the best after the rope has turned black from spinning around the rubber covered saddle horn and has been stretched into a shape that remains consistent. The Christian life is anything but a plateau, like a good worn rope, the rope eventually starts to loose its zip and needs to be replaced. The Christian life is never replaced but it does experience times that we need a new touch from God to continue our journey.
Off With His Ear
Peter was eager to defend Jesus another time and that was in the Garden of Gethsemane. When the disciples and Jesus were in the garden praying the night of Jesus arrest a group of soldiers, priests and their servants came to arrest Jesus. In John 18:10 Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of guy named Malchus who was a servant of the high priest. Jesus told Peter “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” Imagine telling Peter from God almighty himself, “Can you please get out of the way of My will!” How many times in our eagerness have we caused someone to turn from the church or from drawing close to Christ. There have been many Christian institutions brought into shame because of the eagerness of some His servants. We must be eager to please Him and not eager to please ourselves. A person will find the more they try to fill themselves the more empty they become.
Jesus restored the man’s ear Peter chopped off. God is in the business of restoring our mistakes so His will is accomplished and not ours. Peter’s will at that moment was to open a can of “whoop” on all those people that came to arrest his Jesus. God’s will was to fulfill what the scriptures said must be fulfilled (Matthew 26:56). The comfort in this is God can do anything He wants whenever He wants. Matthew 26:53 Jesus told Peter that He could call twelve legions of angels to destroy these people, but that was not His will. Peter was relying on his own strength and what he believed was right. Jesus is beginning a paradigm shift with Peter, preparing Peter for his failure of denying Christ three times following a period of grief then a personal restoration for ministry by Jesus Himself.
The Chinese proverb that says “What is extended will tear, what is long will break” applies to Peter during his time with Jesus before, during and after Jesus’ crucifixion. Peter will be extended in his thinking, believing that he can save Jesus physical life. Peter thinks he is taller (longer) than what he actually is, willing to fight off the people who came to arrest Jesus. The wonderful part of this story is after Peter is torn and broken Jesus puts him back together again and equips for a lifetime of faithful service to Him.
Allow this story to illustrate the point of fixing broken people:
Some years ago a South American company purchased a fine printing press from a firm in the United States.
After it had been shipped and completely assembled, the workmen could not get it to operate properly. The most knowledgeable personnel tried to remedy the difficulty and bring it into proper adjustment, but to no avail. Finally the company wired a message to the manufacture, asking that they send a representative immediately to fix it.
...When [the technician] arrived on the scene, the South American officials were skeptical because he was a young man. After some discussion, they sent this cable to the manufacturer: "Your man is too young: send more experience person." The reply came back, "He made the machine. Let him fix it!
Peter was trying to be the fix it guy, and God was simply trying to show Peter “Let Jesus fix it, He is the one who built it!” The old saying of “Let Go and Let God” is a truth that if we will quit trying to fix everything wrong in the church, and just leave it in God’s hands and focus on the mission He has for us, life becomes so much simpler.
Eager to deny Jesus then himself
After the guards arrested Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane He was taken to Caiaphas the high priest where the teachers of the law and the Jewish elders had assembled. Peter followed at a distance and sat in the court yard to watch the outcome (Matthew 26:57-58). Peter watched the scene unfold right before his eyes, he probably couldn’t believe what he was seeing:
59 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 60 But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.
Finally two came forward 61 and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’ ”
62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 63 But Jesus remained silent.
The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
64 “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. 66 What do you think?”
“He is worthy of death,” they answered.
67 Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him 68 and said, “Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?”
Imagine the thoughts racing through Peter’s mind, up to this point Peter thought he had everything figured out and how he would “save” Jesus. After the incident with sword and the ear and seeing Jesus’ response he entered into a state of confusion. Now Peter is watching his “Jesus” being questioned and beaten. Things happened so fast and the apparent tables turned so quickly it left Peter in a state of confusion and the darkness started to surround his mind (Matthew 26:69-75). Right in the middle of the confusion a little slave girl came up to him and said “You were with Jesus also.” Peter said before all of them “I do not know what you are talking about.” The light is rapidly leaving Peter’s mind, however at this point his answer could still be honest. He didn’t know exactly where she was talking about when she said Peter was with Jesus. Was she talking about Peter being with Jesus at the grocery store, or at the gas station or walking in the streets?
Whenever we are living our lives under our own power we will all encounter dark times. During the darkest of times you will not know which way is up or down. Darkness creates a state of total confusion. The good news is Peter had been listening to Jesus, however right now Jesus words were not on his mind. As Peter got up to leave the court yard he went through the doorway and another girl saw him and said “This fellow was with Jesus of Galilee.” This is how the devil operates, he stand ready accuse us day and night (Revelations 12:10). . If at first the accusation is not pointed enough he will become more specific trying to make us crumble. Peter is in total darkness and confusion right now and he becomes a different man, he starts to lie; “I don’t know the man!” I can imagine there was probably a moment of silence because these people were probably shocked to see one of Jesus disciple deny him so openly because in verse 73 the Bible says “After a little while” indicating a pause in time; “those standing there went up to Peter and said “Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away.” Peter realizes that they now have solid proof so he reverts back to the same flesh that cut off the servant’s ear and this time he added a few choice words before he finally said “I don’t know the man!”
Heaven and earth was probably silent at this outburst and the only thing that pierced the silence was a “rooster crowing.” Suddenly the mental darkness lifted and Peter remembered an important statement Jesus made to him in Luke 22:34 at the last supper about 8 hours earlier “I tell you Peter, before the rooster crows you will deny three times that you know me.” The Bible says in Matthew 26:75 Peter went outside and wept bitterly. The word of God is convicting, this is what brings about true repentance, not the words of man but the word of God. At that moment Peter must have thought “what was I thinking, Jesus told me this was going to happen but I was too busy trying to save my own hide I didn’t think about the prediction Jesus told me!” (authors words).
At the last supper in Luke 26:33 Peter told Jesus he was ready to go with Him to prison and to death. Suddenly a little slave girl accused him at a moment of distress and confusion and he answered in the flesh. Jesus knew in Luke Peter was talking in the flesh and Jesus wanted Peter to walk in the spirit. Jesus said in the garden when he asked Peter and the other disciples to pray and not fall asleep “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).
Peter was eager to be a hero for Jesus but he wasn’t totally tuned into the overall game plan. This would be like a quarterback decides he is going to single handedly win the coming football game. The quarterback and the team prepares all week learning the new plays but the quarterback is not paying close attention to the plays, the quarterback thinks to himself “these plays are nice for the team members who aren’t as talented as I am, but I am such a wonderful player I can win this game single handedly.” Game day comes the team runs the prescribed play, the defense comes crashing over the front line ready to attack the quarterback. The quarterback sees this pending devastation coming and immediately his mind reverts back to what he was thinking during the week, “I can rely on myself to win this game.” The quarterback’s mind goes dark and before you know it the team is where they are suppose to be but the quarterback is flat on his back with a football rolling loose on the ground…fumble. Peter fumbled the ball because even during the time Jesus was fortelling the coming events (the play book) Peter was obviously thinking in his mind, “I hear what Jesus is saying but I can handle this my way.” Fumble! The man that was eager to defend became eager to deny.
Eager to build Build a tabernacle at mount of transfiguration Matthew 17:1-9
Why Jesus said on this rock I will build, peter was a builder.
Are we eager to build a church for the glory of Christ?
Build on a rock of understanding. It is only when we genuinely sympathize or identify with other people who are suffering that our credibility will be received as authentic. Charles Stanley tells the story of a farmer who had some puppies he needed to sell:
He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy.
"Mister," he said. "I want to buy one of your puppies."
"Well," said the farmer, as he wiped the sweat off the back of his neck, "these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."
The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?"
"Sure," said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. "Here, Dolly!" he called. Out from the doghouse ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.
As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring in the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this one noticeably smaller. In a somewhat awkward manner the little puppy began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up. This was clearly the runt of the litter.
"I want that one," said the boy pointing to the runt.
The farmer knelt down at the boy’s side and said, Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would.
With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up the leg of his trousers. In doing so, he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg and attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see, sir, I don’t run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands." Jesus built the church starting with Himself and he needed a disciple who would know how to relate to new believers who would be eager unto themselves until they gained more experience in the Christian life and that man was Peter.
Faith 4 levels
Before we call our faith our own
experienced faith – come follow me John 6:66-69
affiliated Faith – leader of disciples – Matt 17:24 penny fish, Mark 14:32-42 Peter, james and John gethsemane , Peters faith strengthen other disciples.Luke 22.32
searching Faith
Owned Faith – John 21:1-19 love me 3x ,
Life with a purpose
If we would have stayed a fisherman the Bible would not have his name in it.
Do we have a purpose or a passion
Acts 10 – open door to Gentiles Cornelius, preached Pentecost acts 2:14
Acts 12:1-19 in prison, angel opened prison gates he left,
Gal 2:14 paul calls him a hypocrite, live as gentile, make gentiles live as jews
Probably went to Babylon on the Euphrates 1 pet 5:13 where he wrote 1 Peter, Babylon was the chief seats of jewish learning (difference than being unlearned Acts 4:13, died 64-67, upside down
Background:
