From the Mouth of Peter

As I'm reading through my Bible I was amazed at a rapid succession of quotes that I found from Peter in the book of Matthew. Even though I understand that they weren't spoken in one fluid motion, they were put together by the author of Matthew for a reason. It looks at this disciple, Peter, and gives us an incredible insight to his faith, his temperament and his personality.

The first quote is probably one of the most famous 'Peter Quotes' around. It happens when Jesus and his disciples are in Caesarea Philippi and Jesus throws out a question to those around Him. (Matthew 16:13-20)

"Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

Now, this term - Son of Man - was used 43 times in the New Testament as a distinctive title of the Savior. And now Jesus wants to know who people are saying the Savior is. The disciples start giving their 'textbook' answers - all those things that they had been taught or have heard. 'Jeremiah' or 'Elijah' or some even said 'John the Baptist'. Jesus stops it and basically says - 'OK. That's what people are saying. Now, I want to know what YOU are saying. What about YOU?'

And you can just picture Peter jumping to his feet and saying 'You are the Christ the Son of the Living God!' This statement, in itself, took great courage. Even though he was in a safe atmosphere, others were threatened with their very life for making such a 'blasphemous' statement. But here you see Peter, unafraid of the consequences, speaking his heart. 'You are the Christ!'

Now this reckless abandon was as good as it was bad. In Philippi, Jesus ends up blessing Peter and calling him the rock that the church was going to be built on, but a short time later Peter is chastised by Jesus and called 'Satan' or the great deceiver.

This happens when Jesus begins teaching his disciples about what's going to come. He's telling them that He's going to suffer and that He's going to die and that He's going to be raised from the dead. Peter seems to space out on the last point because he grabs Jesus by the arm and takes him aside and rebukes him. Now, the word 'rebuke' can actually mean to discipline or train and you hear Peter's heart by his words:

"Never Lord! This will never happen to You!"

In Peter's mind, Jesus must've thought that he wasn't strong enough to protect him. Or maybe he thought that Jesus was just looking for some reassurance of his allegiance. And Peter communicates that 'come hell or high water' or 'over his own dead body' that he wasn't going to let anything happen to Jesus. His intentions were pure. His motivations out of love for Jesus. However, Jesus calls Him Satan, carnally minded and a personal stumbling block for him. Not quite the response that was expected for a vow of allegiance.

The Bible tells us that only six days later Jesus separates a few of his disciples and heads up the mountain. And it is at that moment that Jesus is transfigured and seen standing with Elijah and Moses. You can imagine the sight and the glory and power of the moment as these disciples, flesh and blood, fell to their knees before this heavenly vision. In this moment, one voice speaks up and it's Peter's.

"Lord, it's good for us to be here. If you want me to, I can go ahead and build three shelters. One for you. One for Moses. And one for Elijah."

Jesus doesn't say anything but I like to imagine that he had a grin and gave Moses and Elijah a wink. The moment ends and Jesus is left standing before his disciples as the man they knew so well.

When I look at Peter in these three distinct moments I see a man of passion and fire and one who was unafraid to let his voice be heard. He wasn't scared to answer the tough questions and give his ideas when they were asked (and even sometimes when they weren't). The scary part, as I read, is to understand that this freedom did bring a rebuke from Jesus.

It's important to understand that as we continue to ride the cutting edge of Christianity, we mustn't be afraid to step out and do some things which may seem unorthodox.

That we aren't scared to speak up and let our voice be heard.

However, we do have to be willing to listen to the voice of God and know that just because we're speaking... just because we're acting... just because we're doing, doesn't mean that we're always right.

I want to have the strength of Peter in my life, but I also understand that I need to have his humility to understand when I've misspoke or acted out of turn, I need to be willing to accept when I'm wrong.

It is this courage and action that will drive the church aggressively forward in these days. People are hungry for something that is real and someone who is real. We don't want perfection, but we do want action and we want hearts that are willing to move and act and shake the ground beneath our feet, even though we may sometimes fall and scrape our knees.

Thank you Peter for speaking. Thank you Peter for being so aggressive. I pray that more of us take aggressive Christianity seriously and have the strength to admit when we missed it. Let your example sear the hearts of Christians today!

GP