Jesus chose Peter to follow Him. And Jesus knew what he was doing.
Jesus chose us to follow Him. And Jesus knew what he was doing.
I'm a lot like Peter. Peter is so . . . what? Impetuous? Vulnerable?
Bold? Loyal? Cautious? Insightful? Double-minded? Courageous? Trusting?
Fearful? . . . all of these, and full of questions, too.
Recall how he left his nets at once to follow Jesus. Recall how, in the
midst of a storm, Peter saw Jesus walking toward him across the waves
and, suddenly bold, called out, "Master, if it's really you, call me to
come to you on the water."
Today, we learn (17:1-9) how Peter and his two companions have a
glimpse of the glorified Son of God. This worship experience is almost
too overwhelming for him to bear. Yet, we know he will some day deny
knowing his Master. And oh so much more is still to come.
For now, I ponder the sudden change in Peter found in chapter 16. At
one moment, he makes the profound declaration that Jesus is indeed the
promised Messiah, the Son of the living God. The next moment, Peter
steadfastly refuses to believe that Messiah's role is to die, to take
upon himself the wrath of God toward sin. In denying this truth, Peter
becomes a temptation to Jesus. Is it possible that we can love a friend
too much, so that we become "a dangerous trap"? Even when that friend
is Jesus?
Part of the answer lies in the words of Jesus after Peter's insightful
reply to the question, "Who do you say I am?" For one blessed moment,
Peter was granted a revelation from God the Father - and blurted out
the confession on which the church of Christ is built. But in his own
human frailty, he was not yet ready to accept the full meaning of what
salvation would necessitate. It's so easy, isn't it, to see things
"merely from a human point of view, not from God's." It seems that when
our wisdom is merely human, and not inspired by the Spirit of God, we
may be vulnerable to Satan's twisting of the truth. This is especially
true when we come with our own agenda.
Jesus, I want to trust that your agenda is best. I want to be working
for you and not against you. Help me give up my desire to be in
control. Be Thou my Wisdom and Thou my true Word; I ever with Thee and
Thou with me, Lord . . . Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still
be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
Deetje Wildes
4 comments:
It is so great to be reading through the Bible with my Bethesda family. It has given me new eyes for the scriptures. Have you noticed how many things are repeated? The Voice that says "This is my dearly loved Son". "I will only give them the sign of Jonah." "I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices." Life has not changed much - I need things repeated all the time - and God is patient with me.
One more thing - I never noticed before how much water travel Jesus did! He made a lot of trips across that Lake! I always picture Him walking but water travel was very much a part of His life.
As well as walking ON water. :-)
So often we answer God with church answers like when Peter answered, "you are the Messiah." But when we're faced with the reality of what Jesus did for us we deny that a perfect God would die for us sinners. We need to instead take up our crosses and follow God. It's so easy to get caught up in worldly stresses, we forget whose we are. We need to thank God for what he did and live like we mean it.
Wow-- so many comments and from new people. This is so gratifying especially to those of us who are writing these blogs to hear what others have to say.
This passage in the Bible has become, to me, a critical message. Like K.Marie said, it must be directed at ourselves and the answer must come from our heart and not our head. This is the core of what we really 'get' about Jesus. This is a question to pose to ourselves and one to pose to all those around us who don't quite believe or don't want to make that step into the truth. Who is this guy? How you define him in the context of the world and in your life. Put it just as Jesus did-- right to the heart-- "who so YOU say I am?" The answer is everything.
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