Peter

John 13:37-38  Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.

³⁸ Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

I know I have written about Peter, a lot.  However, he is such an example to me.  He was bold, brash, big, brave, and he was ‘backslidden,’ (so to speak.)  He declared Jesus as the Christ and grew praise from Jesus; shortly thereafter he was called satan by Christ for presuming to correct Him.  Now, that correction had to hurt his pride, especially having it done in front of the others.  Yet, he continued following Jesus, and didn’t modify his big personality – he was always the one to make the bold statements of faith – putting himself out there in his love for our Lord.  His enthusiasm for our Lord had to be something to behold.

Peter was full of hope and genuine joy as he followed Christ.  He wanted to serve Him so badly that he often didn’t consider the consequences of his statements and/or actions.  He reminds me so much of myself; particularly in earlier times when I thought I could do anything.  But I see him in several other people, our exuberance gets ahead of our making sure that what we are doing is what GOD wants us to be doing.

Peter did deny Christ, but he was forgiven – and he continued in God’s service.  God understands our desires to work for Him, to please Him, and even when we are foolish, He knows where our heart lies.  Through the years I have been humbled many times, I would hope I would have less of that, now, but still find myself having to backpedal a bit at times.  Wisdom doesn’t always come with age, it comes with dedication to God, His Word and following Christ’s example – Peter learned that. 

Peter gives us hope.  As he walked with Jesus he was brash and audacious in his statements.  However, he was humbled when he denied Christ, far more than we can probably ever appreciate. But it did not stop him from becoming the leader of the new church.  He was never perfect, he made mistakes, even after the day of Pentecost where he was filled with the Holy Spirit and preached to thousands of unsaved people.  I can imagine him standing in front of that crowd with a loud booming voice proclaiming God’s Word and the promise given in the Lord Jesus Christ.  He was a big man with a heart full of the love of God.  

He matured and grew in wisdom.  When Herod had killed James the brother of John and saw how it pleased the Jews, he incarcerated Peter and planned the same fate for him.  However, God had other plans, He sent an angel who awakened Peter, his chains fell off and the angel guided him out of the prison:

Acts 12:11- 18  And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that theLord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

¹² And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.

¹³ And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda.

¹⁴ And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate.

¹⁵ And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel.

¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.

¹⁷ But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.

¹⁸ Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter.

The old Peter would have danced and shouted for joy, confident in his protection.  The mature Peter went to the house where he knew Christians would be gathered and knocked on the door.  He didn’t get upset that Rhoda wouldn’t let him in, he just continued to knock.  He patiently told them what happened and then went somewhere else, I would think to keep them from being in trouble and so that he would not be recaptured.

Peter shows us that when we give ourselves over to God, He WILL change us, for the better.  We may let God down in our service, but He forgives and will still use on in His service.  Peter was still the leader, but he had grown in wisdom and became mellower and deeper in his service to God.  We CAN grow in Christ though His precious Holy Spirit’s guidance.  As we grow in Christ we learn from both reading His Word and our own experiences that He will be there for us; that He truly cares for us.  In this instance God sent His angel to ‘spring’ Peter from jail.  That doesn’t mean that in every case He will remove us from our problems, but it does mean He takes special interest in His servants.  

One other thing comes to mind – as we recall the fact that the Bible is written by man, as inspired by God – I am always intrigued by the understatements in the Bible.  I find it quite humorous.  It happens often and in this case it was no different - Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter.

No small stir, indeed.

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous