Peter, an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, also known as Simon, is a Biblical example of believers. While he was a “special” disciple of the Lord, he was typical of us.
Jesus gave special care to Peter at the last supper when Peter burst out – left in the dust of his own thoughts about Jesus “going where you cannot go” (chapter 13) It is my personal belief* that John 14:1 was said to Peter after Jesus prophesied that Peter would deny him three times. “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God [the Father], believe also in Me.” Jesus then went back to the discussion.
After the cock crowed, Jesus turned and looked at Peter (Luke 22:61-62) Again, it is my personal belief* that Jesus look was one of “Remember what I said, Peter! Don’t let this get you down. Don’t despair. Believe in Me!”
We see Peter’s reaction to the news that the tomb is empty. He and John ran to the tomb. John arrived and bent over to look inside. When Peter arrived, he didn’t stop. He bent over and ran right in to see for himself. This grieving man was grasping for anything that would ease his grief – he had denied his master, his rabbi.
John 21 gives us the end of this wonderful story. The discouraged disciples threw in the towel and went back to fishing. The distinction of being disciples of a famous rabbi had been a nice three years of their lives, but things had changed.
Jesus appeared to them a third time since the resurrection and singled out Peter. Peter, do you love Me? We read one question and answer for every time Peter denied Jesus. “Do you love Me, Peter? Then feed My sheep, My lambs. Work for Me. Follow Me.” Jesus loved Peter in spite of Peter’s failure.
The next time we see Peter, he was preaching at Pentecost. Thousands became believers and were filled with the Spirit. Then he healed a lame man (silver and gold have I none…) and preached a sermon pointing to Jesus. God gave Peter boldness to proclaim to the religious rulers that the healing was by Jesus “whom you crucified!” He had the discernment of the Holy Spirit to confront Ananias and Sapphira about their deceit.
In Acts 10 we find Peter confronted with a vision to “Rise, kill and eat” a variety of unclean animals. The Spirit then told him to go with the Gentiles who received the Gospel message and were filled with the Spirit in the same way the apostles were at Pentecost. Peter reported to the apostles and brothers, “If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” The apostles glorified God. The church in Antioch began to reach out to Gentiles as a result.
This is Peter. He is a godly man, filled with the Holy Spirit. Yet, in Galatians 2`, we find that Peter’s primary work was with the Jews. Paul was proclaiming the Gospel among the Gentiles. In front of the others, Paul rebuked Peter for eating with the Gentiles until the arrival of the Jewish brothers. Paul charged him (and the rest of the Jews) as acting hypocritically. ^ “Their conduct was not in step with the Gospel.” (v 14)
We love the Lord. We are each called by Him; singled out for a job. Yet, just as Peter’s “conduct was not in step with the Gospel”, not without actions and words that he regretted, so we also have conduct that is not “in step”. We are thankful that our wonderful Lord and Savior sees fit to use us in spite of ourselves. It is our prayer that the brothers and sisters in the world today will be as faithful as Paul in rebuking us (Gal 6:1) and allowing us to repent and grow spiritually.
No missionary, pastor or artist should ever be put on a pedestal, revered any more than any other member of the Body, because we are certain to crash. None of us want to be a stumbling block to anyone. As long as we are all doing what God has called us to do, we are all on equal ground before Him.
In Chapter 15 of Acts`, Peter “got it”. He stood up and rebuked the brothers for placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that no one can bear. Salvation will be “through the grace of the Lord Jesus” for Jews and Gentiles. Instead of Law, they agreed the Gentiles should abstain from just four things: what is polluted by idols, sexual immorality, what has been strangled, and from blood.”
Do we "get it?"
* We have had many Bible Scholars stay in our home in Manila. I have had the opportunity to ask them about this. Every one of those scholars has agreed that my personal belief is plausible; we can certainly interpret the scriptures this way. In part this is because the original writings did not have paragraphs or chapters or verses.
`Also, scholars believe this probably happened before Chapter 15 of Acts. That may be incorrect, however. I am assuming it is correct. If it is not, the impact of Paul’s rebuke is even greater since Peter had stood up to state that God made no distinction between Jew and Gentile.
^ Hypocrite: Saying one thing while believing/feeling another.
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