{"id":216,"date":"2011-03-20T09:30:03","date_gmt":"2011-03-20T17:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=216"},"modified":"2017-03-29T10:09:03","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T17:09:03","slug":"what-did-peter-see-in-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/20\/what-did-peter-see-in-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"What Did Peter see in Jesus?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke 22: 31-34; 54-62 <\/strong><\/p>\n

What did Peter see in Jesus?\u00a0 It seems he saw more than the other disciples \u2013at least he was more vocal about it.\u00a0 \u201cYou are the Christ, the Son of the living God<\/span>,\u201d he said speaking for the others.\u00a0 \u201cLord if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water<\/span>.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cLord should we strike with the swords?\u201d<\/span> he said when they came out to arrest Jesus this same evening.\u00a0 Ready to speak out, ready to act.\u00a0 That\u2019s how Peter saw himself.<\/p>\n

But what did Peter see in Jesus?\u00a0 Some Bible scholars have tried to play amateur psychologist.\u00a0 They speculate that Peter was \u00a0picked on as a child.\u00a0 The Big fisherman was bullied, they suggest.\u00a0 Maybe he felt a need to brag and bluster his way through life.<\/p>\n

And yes, when he first met Jesus he became painfully aware of his inadequacies.\u00a0 \u201cGo away from me Lord\u2026I am a sinful man<\/span>.\u201d\u00a0 (Luke 5:8) But soon Peter was looking to step out as a leader.\u00a0 What did Peter see in Jesus?<\/strong> Maybe a chance to be somebody brave and bold in this kingdom of God.<\/p>\n

Well if there is any truth to this conjecture it makes Peter\u2019s denial all the sadder in the courtyard of the high priest.\u00a0 Yet it\u2019s all just guesswork.\u00a0 What matters most is what Peter did finally see in Jesus.<\/p>\n

On the way to Gethsemane, Jesus has something to say to the Big Fisherman.\u00a0 \u201cSimon, Simon.\u201d<\/span> Jesus calls him by his old name, not Peter which means rock.\u00a0 \u201cSimon, Simon\u201d he says as if to remind him that he is not as strong as he would like to think.\u00a0 \u201cSimon, Simon\u201d<\/span> Jesus says like a parent trying to get through to the young person who thinks he knows it all.<\/p>\n

Satan has asked to sift you as wheat<\/span>.\u00a0 The word you<\/em> is plural for all the disciples.\u00a0 Satan wants to get his hands on them.\u00a0 He wants to sift them, to shake their faith violently like you would shake the wheat to separate it from the chaff.\u00a0 You see, Satan intends to destroy our faith, but God uses it to turn the tables on Satan.\u00a0 He uses that painful sifting to have us come out stronger, to see Jesus as Peter would learn to through all this.<\/p>\n

Satan has asked to sift( all of) you as wheat. 32 <\/sup>But I have prayed for you, Simon, <\/span>Jesus singles Simon out because he is going to fall harder than the others.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 He is so sure of himself.\u00a0\u00a0 32 <\/sup>But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sadly Peter can\u2019t see this.\u00a0 More than once he claims he is ready to go to prison and die with Jesus if necessary.\u00a0 But Peter doesn\u2019t answer Jesus as we have learned to say.\u00a0 Yes, with the help of God.<\/em> Instead Peter relies on himself.\u00a0 One day he will strengthen his brothers in their faith.\u00a0 But not before he has his foolish bravado shaken out of him this night before the rooster crows.<\/p>\n

It is a far different Peter who would write years later:\u00a0 Humble yourselves therefore under God\u2019s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.\u00a0 Be self controlled and alert.\u00a0 You enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.<\/span> Peter still had to learn.\u00a0 You can never trust yourself too little.\u00a0 You can never trust Jesus too much.<\/p>\n

54 <\/sup>Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55 <\/sup>But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56 <\/sup>A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, \u201cThis man was with him.\u201d 57 <\/sup>But he denied it. \u201cWoman, I don\u2019t know him,\u201d he said<\/span>. It\u2019s not hard to paint our face over Peter\u2019s is it?\u00a0 Let\u2019s do it now.\u00a0 You are frightened and confused.\u00a0 At first, you run with the other disciples from the mob come out to arrest Jesus, ducking branches, stumbling over rocks in the darkness.\u00a0 At some point you stop, hungry for air and you listen.\u00a0 You hear nothing except your own heavy breathing.\u00a0 No one following<\/p>\n

You retrace your steps.\u00a0 You can hear the far off voices.\u00a0 You see the torches and you follow.\u00a0 You follow from a distance all the way to the outer court of the High Priest.<\/p>\n

Your fellow disciple, John, is already there.\u00a0 He gains easy access because they know him there.\u00a0 John vouches for you and the servant girl at the gate lets you in.\u00a0 He is doing you no favor.<\/p>\n

Jerusalem sits at an elevation of 2500 feet.\u00a0 Spring nights can be rather cool and besides, you are scared.\u00a0 So you slowly move towards the charcoal fire that people have gathered around.\u00a0 The warmth feels good.<\/p>\n

But it isn\u2019t long before that servant girl takes another look at you.\u00a0 This man was with him<\/span>, she says.\u00a0 How quickly the words come to your lips.\u00a0 Woman I don\u2019t know him.<\/span> I\u2019m not one of them.\u00a0 In the distance \u2013 do you hear it?\u00a0 A rooster crows.<\/p>\n

58 <\/sup>A little later someone else saw him and said, \u201cYou also are one of them.\u201d \u201cMan, I am not!\u201d Peter replied<\/span>. Another finger is pointed your way.\u00a0 Everything feels like slow motion.\u00a0 It\u2019s one thing to preach to the choir, to say loud and clear to the other disciples that Jesus means everything to you, that you would rather die than deny him.\u00a0 Courage was easy then.\u00a0 But now with those icy stares of those who despise everything you believe \u2013 it\u2019s much different.<\/p>\n

Maybe, you say to yourself, a person needs to tailor things to fit the situation.\u00a0 What harm is done if I keep this to myself?\u00a0 Why should I have to answer their awkward questions?\u00a0 For the second time you say what you claimed you never would.\u00a0 You deny him.\u00a0 Man, I am not.<\/span><\/p>\n

You avoid eye contact.\u00a0 You stare at the ground and keep moving around.\u00a0 Maybe they\u2019ll leave me alone now.\u00a0 Time drags on.\u00a0 When you look up you see the eyes now studying your face.\u00a0 59 <\/sup>About an hour later another asserted, \u201cCertainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.\u201d 60 <\/sup>Peter replied, \u201cMan, I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about!\u201d Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 <\/sup>The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: \u201cBefore the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.\u201d 62 <\/sup>And he went outside and wept bitterly.<\/span> Your tell tale accent has given you away.\u00a0 You feel cornered, desperate.\u00a0 Words come from your mouth that you will never forget.\u00a0 Shameful curses.\u00a0 You swear by all that is holy:\u00a0 \u201cMan, I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Somewhere in the distance a rooster crows a second time.\u00a0 It jars loose those words of Jesus you so vehemently denied.\u00a0 Before the rooster crows.\u00a0 Then your eyes meet his.\u00a0 You see your Friend, cuffed, beaten.\u00a0 Yet a face that looks at you with pity, with love.<\/p>\n

What do you see?\u00a0 Your friend.\u00a0 Your Lord,\u00a0 Your Savior.\u00a0 The One you pretended not to know.<\/p>\n

He looks at you.\u00a0 That\u2019s all it takes.\u00a0 What do you see in Jesus, Peter?\u00a0 Pain?\u00a0 Disappointment?\u00a0 What do you see in Jesus, Peter?\u00a0 Love!, Yes, Undeserved love.\u00a0 You crumble.\u00a0 You remember what he told you, what you didn\u2019t want to hear.\u00a0 I don\u2019t need your prayers.\u00a0 I know, so you thought.<\/p>\n

You stumble out of the courtyard.\u00a0 You are running now but you can\u2019t outrun your conscience.\u00a0 How could I?\u00a0 I am one of them.\u00a0 And when my big chance came to stand up and be counted, I swore I never knew him.\u00a0 What happened here?<\/p>\n

You know don\u2019t you.\u00a0 You remember Peter that night on the sea of Galilee.\u00a0 Jesus invited you to come to him on the water.\u00a0 You got out of the boat.\u00a0 You walked until when.\u00a0 You took your eyes off of Jesus and looked at those wind and waves.\u00a0 Remember Peter how you began to drown and Jesus reached out his hand to save you.<\/p>\n

After that, you told yourself that you would never do that again.\u00a0 You would never again take your eyes off Jesus, even if everyone else did, even if the whole world denied Jesus.<\/p>\n

But now the tears run down into your beard again because you took your eyes off Jesus.\u00a0 You were so sure, so confident.\u00a0 But not in Jesus, in yourself.\u00a0 You had faith alright but faith in your own faith instead of faith in Christ.<\/p>\n

O Peter, why does it take so long for us to learn this.\u00a0 To see that the Gospel of Christ is not about me.\u00a0 It\u2019s not about character building and better relationships.\u00a0 It\u2019s not about success and 12 steps to felling better about myself.\u00a0 The Gospel is about my Friend., that he can be counted upon even when I fall on my face.\u00a0 It\u2019s about his perfect life that covers my sinful failures.\u00a0 It\u2019s about his death that plucks the painful stinger from mine.\u00a0 It\u2019s about his resurrection that shines the light of life into the darkness of my grave.\u00a0 This Gospel does not tell me how I should feel about Jesus or how I should live for him.\u00a0 It tells me how he feels about me.\u00a0 It tells me what he did for me.<\/p>\n

Bless your tears, Big Fisherman.\u00a0 By God\u2019s grace those tears have come.\u00a0 Tears of sorrow that seek God\u2019s forgiveness.\u00a0 Tears of sorrow that yearn for the peace Jesus gives.\u00a0 That\u2019s why you ran to his grave on Easter morning.\u00a0 Not all do.\u00a0 Many still look at Jesus and harden their hearts.\u00a0 Bless your repentance, Big Fisherman.\u00a0 Now you see Jesus clearly.\u00a0 \u00a0Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luke 22: 31-34; 54-62 What did Peter see in Jesus?\u00a0 It seems he saw more than the other disciples \u2013at least he was more vocal about it.\u00a0 \u201cYou are the Christ, the Son of the living God,\u201d he said speaking for the others.\u00a0 \u201cLord if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cLord should we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lent","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":221,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216\/revisions\/221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}