In any given story, there will always be characters with whom we resonate more than others. This is true of your favorite television show, movie, or book. I’m fairly certain we could each provide numerous examples of characters whom we wish we could emulate. Undoubtedly, however, there exists an equally robust corpus of characters whom, for better or worse, serve as accurate examples of our own attitudes, words, and actions. I find this to be true, not just of pop culture, but also of the Bible. One such character, for me personally, is Simon Peter.
Peter was a bold, ambitious, hard charging kind of guy. He wasn’t just one who would jump off a cliff if his friends were doing it; He was likely the first friend to make the leap. There are clear examples of this at the end of the gospel of Matthew. Jesus and His disciples were hanging out in a garden when a “large crowd armed with swords and clubs” came to arrest Jesus. As Jesus is conversing with His would be captors, Peter jumps to action, pulling a sword and taking off a man’s ear. In that moment, Peter was ALL IN. He was hard charging and ready to fight an army on his own, if necessary. Just a few verses later, however, the script has flipped and Peter has gone from fire hot to ice cold. Gone is the bold, courageous, sword swinging Peter and, in its place, stands a timid, terrified Peter, swinging his tongue faster than the sword in attempts to cut himself loose from his connection to Jesus. While I’ve never been to either of those extremes, I can relate to the feelings that drove Peter to them.
We don’t get to accept Jesus when it suits us and edit and adjust Him when He doesn’t. It’s not Jesus’s job to fit into our expectations and follow our agenda.
Peter actually received his meaningful moniker from Jesus Himself as a result of these very personality traits. At times, the name pointed to the positive aspects of the bold, confident, and immovable personality of Peter. In Matthew 16, we read of a discussion between Jesus and His disciples concerning who people believed Him to be. After they lay out what the word around town was, Jesus turns the question on the disciples. It’s no shocker that Peter is the one to step forward. Peter declared, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus responded, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” Jesus affirms the accuracy of Peter’s confession and uses Peter’s name to proclaim it the bedrock foundation of the church. Peter stood as a rock in that foundation in that moment.
In true Peter fashion, though, the story shifts quickly. Upon hearing Jesus announce the news of His forthcoming abuse and execution, Peter takes it upon himself to correct Jesus’s error. Jesus quickly puts Peter back in his place. Jesus looks at Peter and says, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” In the span of just a few verses, Peter goes from being a pillar to stand on to being an inconvenient stone upon which one might stub their toe. It’s quite a precipitous fall.
Whether or not we can relate with Peter’s personality or mode of operation, we can certainly see the warning in the extremes of these verses. We can see how easy it is to go from asset to liability when we stop resting in the truth of Who Jesus is and start acting out of an overinflated idea of who we are. As followers of Christ, we are not co-equal with Christ. He is the Lord and Savior, and we, by His great grace, are the object of His salvation and participants in His work. We don’t get to accept Jesus when it suits us and edit and adjust Him when He doesn’t. It’s not Jesus’s job to fit into our expectations and follow our agenda. It’s our job to submit to His plan and follow where He leads to accomplish His purposes.
Will we accept the gift of God’s salvation as we, with Peter, confess that Jesus is the Savior? Or, will we, again like Peter, stumble over the inconvenience and ugliness of the cost of our sin?
Over the next few weeks, a great deal of attention will be brought to the sacrificial gift of God’s grace. We will remember the horrors of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Our tendency, like Peter is to want to turn away from the discomfort of this truth. But it is the truth we need and it is the foundation upon which our faith stands. Each of us has a decision to make. Will we accept the gift of God’s salvation as we, with Peter, confess that Jesus is the Savior? Or, will we, again like Peter, stumble over the inconvenience and ugliness of the cost of our sin? Believe it or not, Christ did die for your sin and mine and salvation is available to all who do believe.
