Hi Everyone,
Recently, in the past two months, someone pointed out to me that Peter wept bitterly when he and Jesus exchanged glances after Peter had denied Jesus three times. This person's point was that Peter was bitterly remorseful because he sinned against Jesus and that we should react similarly when we sin against Him. While I don't deny that Peter's denial of Jesus was in fact a sin, I sincerely doubt this is the lesson we are to learn from this passage.
It is my belief that Peter, who had boasted of his own love for Jesus and his own determination to follow his Savior's footsteps, even to the point of death, was bitterly remorseful because he realized his boasting in himself was a complete failure. Peter boasted of his love for Jesus and failed. I believe we should also remember that Holy Spirit as Comforter had not yet come, hence all the more Peter's bitter sorrow.
What we see as the result of this story is Jesus' restoration of Peter when Jesus three times asks Peter if he had "agape" love for Jesus. Peter's response was, "Jesus, you know that I "phileo" You. Here Peter shows his no-confidence vote in his own love for Jesus, stating the his love for Jesus was at best a brotherly love, not the God-type of agape love.
The point: Peter learned to boast in Jesus' love for him, not his love for Jesus. This is to be our experience with God, not our boasting and attempting in our own strength to love Him more.
Let Him love you; let Him impress you. This is how you will grow in Grace.
Enjoy the grace article below!
Grace=Peace,
Jeremy
The reed and the Rock
By Mick Mooney
They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:3-4
When we look once more into the gospels we see that out of all of the disciples, Peter seemed to be the stand out disciple. When his relationship with Jesus began, Jesus said something very interesting. He said to him:
Your name is Simon son of John, you will be called Peter. John 1:42
One of the interpretations of the name Simon is 'reed'. A reed is very fragile; it is easily blown about in the wind. Peter means 'rock'. A rock is strong and solid, it stands firm. What Jesus could have been saying to him was "you are insecure and easily shaken, but I will make you stand firm." It is interesting how he interpreted that moment. Jesus meant that he was going to make him a rock through the finished work of the cross, but he interpreted Jesus' words through the focus of 'self' and spent the rest of his walk with Jesus trying to make that word come to pass in his own strength.
From that time on Peter was always trying to be the rock for Jesus. When Jesus asked a question, it was always Peter who tried to answer it first. When Jesus was walking on the water, it was Peter who stepped out of the boat and walked on the water with Jesus. Yet, in his zeal to change himself into a rock for Jesus, he found himself time and time again failing! The more he zealously tried to be a great Christian, the more he felt he was not good enough. More than that, Jesus himself seemed to be the one who kept pointing out that he had such little faith.
'Come' he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink cried out. 'Lord, save me!' Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. 'You of little faith' he said 'why did you doubt?' Matthew 14:29-31
Recently, in the past two months, someone pointed out to me that Peter wept bitterly when he and Jesus exchanged glances after Peter had denied Jesus three times. This person's point was that Peter was bitterly remorseful because he sinned against Jesus and that we should react similarly when we sin against Him. While I don't deny that Peter's denial of Jesus was in fact a sin, I sincerely doubt this is the lesson we are to learn from this passage.
It is my belief that Peter, who had boasted of his own love for Jesus and his own determination to follow his Savior's footsteps, even to the point of death, was bitterly remorseful because he realized his boasting in himself was a complete failure. Peter boasted of his love for Jesus and failed. I believe we should also remember that Holy Spirit as Comforter had not yet come, hence all the more Peter's bitter sorrow.
What we see as the result of this story is Jesus' restoration of Peter when Jesus three times asks Peter if he had "agape" love for Jesus. Peter's response was, "Jesus, you know that I "phileo" You. Here Peter shows his no-confidence vote in his own love for Jesus, stating the his love for Jesus was at best a brotherly love, not the God-type of agape love.
The point: Peter learned to boast in Jesus' love for him, not his love for Jesus. This is to be our experience with God, not our boasting and attempting in our own strength to love Him more.
Let Him love you; let Him impress you. This is how you will grow in Grace.
Enjoy the grace article below!
Grace=Peace,
Jeremy
The reed and the Rock
By Mick Mooney
They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:3-4
When we look once more into the gospels we see that out of all of the disciples, Peter seemed to be the stand out disciple. When his relationship with Jesus began, Jesus said something very interesting. He said to him:
Your name is Simon son of John, you will be called Peter. John 1:42
One of the interpretations of the name Simon is 'reed'. A reed is very fragile; it is easily blown about in the wind. Peter means 'rock'. A rock is strong and solid, it stands firm. What Jesus could have been saying to him was "you are insecure and easily shaken, but I will make you stand firm." It is interesting how he interpreted that moment. Jesus meant that he was going to make him a rock through the finished work of the cross, but he interpreted Jesus' words through the focus of 'self' and spent the rest of his walk with Jesus trying to make that word come to pass in his own strength.
From that time on Peter was always trying to be the rock for Jesus. When Jesus asked a question, it was always Peter who tried to answer it first. When Jesus was walking on the water, it was Peter who stepped out of the boat and walked on the water with Jesus. Yet, in his zeal to change himself into a rock for Jesus, he found himself time and time again failing! The more he zealously tried to be a great Christian, the more he felt he was not good enough. More than that, Jesus himself seemed to be the one who kept pointing out that he had such little faith.
'Come' he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink cried out. 'Lord, save me!' Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. 'You of little faith' he said 'why did you doubt?' Matthew 14:29-31
The first few steps he took when he walked on the water happened while he was looking at Jesus, but he quickly turned away from him and started looking at the wind. He became scared and began to sink. At this point Jesus reached out and saved him. In that moment Jesus made an incredible statement. He said to Peter "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
You can just imagine Peter thinking to himself, 'little faith? Are you being serious Jesus? I have huge faith, and I just walked on water by faith. What else do you want me to do to prove to you I have faith!' However, Jesus was not asking him where his faith was to walk on water; he was asking Peter why he had such little faith to keep his focus on him.
It is easy as Christians to think that we need faith to do things, but actually faith is not needed 'for' things, it is needed 'in' Christ. We need to have faith in the greatness of Christ. We need faith to believe the fullness of what he has accomplished for us, not faith to merely do great things for him.
Peter spent three years walking with Jesus trying to change himself by his efforts and his works into the 'rock' Jesus said he would be. What he eventually discovered was that he would never become the rock Jesus called him to be by his own will. He became a rock when he gave up trying to live the life of faith in his own strength, and allowed Christ to transform him by his Spirit.
Jesus died for all of us, to guarantee we would all receive the Holy Spirit, and it is this Spirit that makes all of us firm and secure in our faith. It is a gift from God based on the perfect finished work of Christ.
We are all made rocks in Christ when we are made into new creations. God doesn't expect us to change ourselves into rocks for him; he expects us to live in the one true Rock—Jesus himself. With this focus we give access to the Spirit of God to transform us into rocks for God—firm and secure in the covenant of grace that we have with him.
Keep your eyes on Jesus and rest in the understanding that God will transform your life to be one that reflects his great love and grace. From God's perspective, the way to have great faith is not by doing great works for God, but through beholding the greatness of Jesus. If you do this, you can be sure that the Spirit will do his part and finish all of the good works God has prepared in advance to complete through your life. (Ephesians 2:10)
You can just imagine Peter thinking to himself, 'little faith? Are you being serious Jesus? I have huge faith, and I just walked on water by faith. What else do you want me to do to prove to you I have faith!' However, Jesus was not asking him where his faith was to walk on water; he was asking Peter why he had such little faith to keep his focus on him.
It is easy as Christians to think that we need faith to do things, but actually faith is not needed 'for' things, it is needed 'in' Christ. We need to have faith in the greatness of Christ. We need faith to believe the fullness of what he has accomplished for us, not faith to merely do great things for him.
Peter spent three years walking with Jesus trying to change himself by his efforts and his works into the 'rock' Jesus said he would be. What he eventually discovered was that he would never become the rock Jesus called him to be by his own will. He became a rock when he gave up trying to live the life of faith in his own strength, and allowed Christ to transform him by his Spirit.
Jesus died for all of us, to guarantee we would all receive the Holy Spirit, and it is this Spirit that makes all of us firm and secure in our faith. It is a gift from God based on the perfect finished work of Christ.
We are all made rocks in Christ when we are made into new creations. God doesn't expect us to change ourselves into rocks for him; he expects us to live in the one true Rock—Jesus himself. With this focus we give access to the Spirit of God to transform us into rocks for God—firm and secure in the covenant of grace that we have with him.
Keep your eyes on Jesus and rest in the understanding that God will transform your life to be one that reflects his great love and grace. From God's perspective, the way to have great faith is not by doing great works for God, but through beholding the greatness of Jesus. If you do this, you can be sure that the Spirit will do his part and finish all of the good works God has prepared in advance to complete through your life. (Ephesians 2:10)
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