Peter in the Gospels

Intro:

• The Christian life can be very difficult
  • Salvation (the forgiveness of sins, true righteousness, and a restored relationship with God) is offered as a gift received by faith in Jesus Christ who died and rose again
  • True saving faith gives you a whole new life
    • A life that includes daily effort to put off the old sinful ways of thinking/acting and put on the thoughts/motives/actions of our new self in the power of the Holy Spirit– Ephesians 4:21-24
    • A life that includes being treated the way Jesus was treated – John 5:18-21

• In a couple weeks we are going to start going through 1 Peter – a letter written to Christians who are facing serious hardship and persecution
  • As biblical Christianity seems to be receiving more and more “pushback” in our society, it is important to see God’s instruction to those who faced far more severe opposition
  • Before we get to that book, I want to look at the life of the man God led to write it
    • A writer’s life influences their writing, and knowing a bit about them can give us a deeper appreciation and insight when we read their books
    • This is true even of the men God used to write his Word
    • Today and next week we are going to get a basic overview of Peter’s life and what God did for him and through him leading up to the writing of this letter

Peter’s Call

John 1:40-42 – At their first meeting, Jesus gives Peter a new name/nickname

• In the Bible, when God gives someone a new name it usually shows that God has a special relationship with them and often says something about that relationship and their future
  • E.g. Abram (great father) to Abraham (father of many)
  • Simon (he hears) to Cephas/Peter (a small to medium-sized stone/rock)

• Jesus already knows what part Peter is going to play
  • Referring to someone as a rock generally carries the idea of strength and/or stability 
  • This is not necessarily how those who knew Peter would have seen him at this point in his life (see below), but God knows what he will do in and through Peter
  • God knows what plans he has for his children, having chosen us before the universe even existed (Ephesians 1:3-6)
    • Many people get angry about this because it makes them uncomfortable (but we don’t get to reject a clear statement of Scripture on that basis)
    • It is meant as a comfort and joy…If you have trusted Jesus to save you it means that the God of the universe is guiding your path for your good and his glory!
    • He even has a new special name for each of us that we will receive in eternity (Revelation 2:17)

Matthew 4:18-20 – Peter is called to drop everything and follow Jesus

• Sometime after their initial meeting, Jesus tells Peter (and Andrew, James, and John) that he is going to radically alter the course of their lives
  • He calls them to leave behind their old trade as commercial fishermen and join him so that he can transform them into people who in turn reach other people
  • Peter and these other men without a second thought drop everything and go with Jesus

• That is the very essence of discipleship (Matthew 10:37-39)
  • God does not call all of us to vocational service like he did the 12 (or pastors, missionaries, etc.)
  • …but he does expect all of us to follow Jesus’ example and guidance regardless of personal cost
  • …and he knows that it could cost us friends, family, home, jobs, position, or even our lives – carrying your cross meant you were headed to your death in complete submission to the authority over you

• Peter tends to ask aloud what everyone else is thinking, and on one occasion he asks Jesus what the disciples can expect to receive because of their sacrifice (Matthew 19:27-30)
  • Some people come down on Peter for asking this question, but Jesus doesn’t… Jesus frequently talks about the rewards of faithful service
  • (28) The 12 disciples will have special places of rule with Jesus
  • (29) Anyone who must give things up (including home and family) for Jesus sake will receive one hundred times more plus eternal life
    • Not in the televangelist way that treats God like a sure-fire investment scheme (“plant a $1,000 seed and watch it grow 100 fold!”)
    • Some of that “100 times more” comes through church family
    • Ultimate fulfillment is at the time of renewal of all things
  • (30) Very often high social/economic/political position in this lifetime does not mean high position in the eternal kingdom of God: it’s worth it to “miss out on” temporary wealth, power, and pleasure in light of eternity

Peter’s Enthusiasm

• This is probably what Peter is best known for in the Gospels
  • He’s always ready to speak up or go into action. Whatever he’s doing, he gives it his all.
  • Some people portray him as kind of a loveable buffoon, but that is way off the mark
    • His enthusiasm does get him in trouble quite a few times
    • It also makes him an incredible disciple

• The good side: he has an earnest desire to follow and please Jesus
  • He is someone who is really trying to fulfill the “first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38)
  • We’ll discuss this more in a few minutes when we talk about his faith

• The bad side: He has a tendency to speak or act without thinking it through
  • A lot of the time he sincerely thinks he is saying/doing something good, but the result is foolishness or even sin
    • E.g. Mark 9:2-6 – Babbling at the mount of transfiguration
    • E.g. John 18:10-11 – Cutting off the ear of the high priest’s servant to try to defend Jesus against the will of God
  • Given our old self’s tendency toward sin, doing/saying the first thing that pops into mind often has bad results (Proverbs 10:19, James 1:19-22, Galatians 5:17)

• He has a tendency to get distracted by other things
  • If he is in the middle of something big and scary, he sometimes shifts his focus off of Jesus and to the big scary thing
  • When he does that, he gives in to his fear as wholeheartedly as he does to anything else
    • E.g. Sinking after walking on water
    • E.g. Denying Jesus 3 times (claiming that he did not know him)

Peter’s Faith

Peter trusts Jesus enough to do impossible things

• Matthew 14:27-31 – he walks on water with Jesus
  • He has one of his “distracted by fear of the situation” moments for which Jesus gently rebukes him
  • He had enough faith to step out of the boat and to call out to Jesus for help when his doubt got him in trouble

• After Pentecost he does even more…but that’s for next week

(John 6:66-69) Peter trusts Jesus as the only one who can give true life

• Context: Jesus has just said some things that sound offensive, weird, and hard to understand

• Peter, speaking on behalf of the disciples recognizes that without Jesus he has no hope
  • That is true faith and trust
  • “Jesus, I don’t understand everything yet, but I know that if you don’t give me life, I’m lost because you are the one sent by God. All my eggs are in one basket. I’m all in. You are my only hope.”

(Matthew 16:15-19) God works in Peter’s heart to have him recognize who Jesus is

• He recognizes Jesus as not only the Messiah, but God’s Son (and thus, God himself)

• Peter is a stone (petros: pebble to medium-sized rock) and on the rock (petra: boulder/bedrock) of his confession the unconquerable church will be built
  • Peter himself is going to have a crucial role in ushering all kinds of people into the kingdom (more on this next week)
  • Far too often we mope around and talk as if things are so bad that the church is failing and all we can do is keep our heads down and wait for Jesus to return
    • That’s not how Jesus describes his church! We are built on faith in Jesus our Savior who is God himself, and he has promised that hades (death & hell) cannot overcome his church
    • Don’t give in to fear or disillusionment and become passive…step up in faith and contribute as part of the victorious church

• (Matthew 16:21-23) Peter lets negative emotions get the better of him almost immediately after making his great confession
  • He contradicts the words of Jesus because it doesn’t match how he thinks things should be (“Why would the Messiah, the Son of God die? That doesn’t seem right!”)
  • Jesus strongly rebukes him for thinking like Satan: thinking he knows better than God with a focus only on power and glory
    • Suffering and events that seem like defeats can ultimately be part of God’s plan
    • Feelings do not take priority over what God has said
    • We don’t know Peter’s immediate response to this, but…

More than once Peter shows that he has a tender heart & awareness of his own sin

• Luke 5:8-11 – More details from the calling of Peter, Andrew, James, and John
  • When he sees Jesus’ power over nature, Peter recognizes his own unworthiness to be associated with Jesus
    • That is how people respond when they catch even a glimpse of God’s glory
    • Trusting in Jesus requires that we recognize that we are lost in our sins… that without something being done we cannot be near him.
  • Jesus comforts Peter, telling him what his new life will be
    • Because of the trusting relationship he is establishing with Jesus, he can be in the presence of God the Son without cringing fear
    • His new life consists in following Jesus & helping others to do the same

• Luke 22:60-62 – after denying Jesus (one of those occasions where he wholeheartedly gives in to fear), he weeps bitterly
  • He shows repentance rather than mere regret like Judas who committed suicide
  • In this instance too, Jesus reassures Peter of their relationship
    • Mark 16:7 – the angel in the empty tomb very specifically includes Peter in the message to meet Jesus in Galilee
    • John 21:7-8 – Peter is so excited to see Jesus on shore that he leaps overboard to get there faster
    • John 21:15-17 – Jesus makes it very clear that despite Peter’s three denials he still has an important part in what is coming

Applications

• Trust Jesus
  • To forgive your sins and give you new life
    • Come to him with the understanding that “you are the Son of God and if you don’t save me, I’m lost”
    • Ask him to forgive your sins on the basis of his death & resurrection
  • To guide, protect, and love you through all of life
    • …knowing that this doesn’t mean a life free of difficulty or suffering (we’ll see the end of Jesus’ lakeside conversation with Peter next week)
    • …knowing that God has prepared good things for you to do in this life, and a glorious home with him afterwards

• Follow Jesus wholeheartedly
  • (this should automatically flow out of trusting Jesus, but we let ourselves get distracted or discouraged)
  • Be willing to follow his Word no matter the cost (like Peter leaving his nets behind)
  • Step up and be a part of his unconquerable church (the worldwide body made up of all true believers and expressed in locally meeting congregations like this one)
    • Don’t be content to “put in your time” by sitting in the pews and listening
    • Don’t be content to hunker down and just wait passively for Jesus to return because “things are getting so bad and I’ve already done my part back in the ‘good old days’”
    • If you are saved, God has enabled you to serve him in some way

• We serve our Lord not because it produces or maintains our salvation (it doesn’t), but because he has given us new life, a restored relationship with him, and the indwelling Holy Spirit…All of this secured for us by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ

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