People can say and promise all kinds of things, until a situation arises, where their words and the promises they made are no longer remembered. This also happened in the life of Simon Peter, the man who loved Jesus and paid the price for his love. Because loving Jesus and following Jesus will cost you everything!
The call of Simon Peter
After Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, was baptized in water and received the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit to the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil for forty days and overcame the devil, Jesus went to preach the Kingdom of God and to call the people to repentance. Along the way, Jesus met twelve men, whom Jezus called to follow Him. These twelve men answered His call and decided to follow Him and became His twelve disciples.
Simon Peter was one of the twelve disciples, who answered Jesus’ call and quit his job, and left everything behind to follow Jesus.
Peter followed Jesus, where ever Jesus went and was a witness of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God that Jesus preached.
Simon Peter and the other disciples not only were witnesses of Jesus’ life and the words, which Jesus preached with authority, but they were also witnesses of the many signs and wonders that followed Jesus.
Jesus was their Teacher and they lived so closely to Jesus and they had seen so much, that at a certain time, Jesus sent His disciples and gave them power (authority) over the whole army of the enemy and commanded them to preach the same message and to do the same works.
And so the disciples of Jesus went, just like Jesus went, and preached and brought the Kingdom of God to those, who belonged to the house of Israel, with signs and wonders following them, just like Jesus.
The confession of Peter
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged He His disciples that they should tell no man that He was Jesus the Christ (Matthew 16:13-20)
After a while, Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I the Son of man am? His disciples answered, that some said that Jesus was John the Baptist, and some Elias and other Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Then Jesus asked them ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered Jesus and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!”
Jesus told Peter, that he was blessed since flesh and blood had not revealed to him that He was the Christ, but His Father, who is in heaven.
Jesus promised that upon Peter and his testimony, Jesus would build His Church and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Jesus would give the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever he would bind would be bound in heaven and whatsoever he would loose on earth, would be loosed in heaven (Read also: ‘The gates of hell shall not prevail against My Church’, ‘What did Jesus mean with the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven?’ And ‘What did Jesus mean by binding and loosing?’)
Jesus commanded His disciples to not tell anyone that Jesus was (and is) the Christ (Matthew 16:20, Mark 8:30)
The disciples obeyed the words of Jesus and kept their mouths shut until the time came, that they were allowed to open their mouths and preach Jesus the Christ, first to the house of Israel and then to the Gentiles.
“Get thee behind Me, satan; thou art an offence unto Me!”
From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto His disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee. But He turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind Me, Satan: thou art an offence unto Me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men (Matthew 16:21-23)
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. And He said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest Me (Luke 22:31-34)
Although Peter was the one, who testified that Jesus was the Christ and to whom Jesus promised that He would build His Church on Peter and His testimony, there were various moments, when Peter was led by his emotions and feelings and eventually denied Jesus the Christ.
The devil also heard that Jesus would build His Church on Peter and his testimony and therefore the devil’s eyes were focused on Peter and sought a moment to have Peter and to prevent Jesus from building His Church on Peter and his testimony.
The first moment came directly after Peter’s testimony when Jesus spoke about His sufferings, death, and resurrection and Peter wanted to prevent Jesus from going the way of the cross.
According to the flesh, Peter’s words looked pious, compassionate, and loving, but since Jesus was not carnal but spiritual, Jesus saw the works of the enemy and rebuked him by saying, “Get thee behind me, satan: thou art an offence unto Me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men”.
The denial of Peter
Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto Him, Though all men shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice. Peter said unto Him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny Thee. Likewise also said all the disciples (Matthew 26:31-35)
Then came the moment, that Peter denied Jesus thrice, while Peter had said before that he would never deny Jesus Christ. However what is written in God’s Word shall come to pass, no matter what people say.
Jesus had spoken the prophetic words of God, as is written in the Word, but Peter refused to believe and accept the words of God, which were spoken by Jesus, and rejected the words of Jesus by saying that he would never be offended of Him.
But Jesus knew the generation of the old man, who is carnal, and knew exactly what would happen and so Jesus prophesied that Peter would not deny Him once, but thrice.
But again Peter didn’t believe the words of Jesus, but went against it, by saying that although he would be taken captive and put into prison and had to die with Him, Peter would never deny Jesus. And also the other disciples spoke the same words as Peter.
However, God speaks the truth and God’s Word is the highest authority despite the will of man.
The disciples, who were still the old creation, didn’t want Jesus to go the way of the cross and die. Because the carnal mind and the nature of the old man are enmity against God and can’t submit to the words and the will of God.
Besides that, the disciples confessed that they would never deny Jesus, no matter what, however, the flesh is weak.
Because just as Jesus had spoken, all His disciples were offended of Him and ran away, when Jesus was taken captive.
And just as Jesus had prophesied, Peter denied Jesus thrice by saying that he didn’t know Jesus. And by his words and his confession, Peter became separated from Jesus and was (temporarily) no longer His disciple.
Because after Jesus was raised from the dead and Jesus commanded Mary to tell His disciples, Jesus didn’t say to Mary ‘His disciples’, but Jesus said, ‘His disciples and Peter’ (Mark 16:7).
Jesus’ prayer for Peter
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren (Luke 22:31-32)
Fortunately, Peter was only separated from Jesus for a short period of time. This was due to Jesus’ prayer for Peter. Jesus saw the works of the devil and saw that the devil desired to have Peter, but Jesus had prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail and that when Peter would be converted he would strengthen his brethren.
Peter, the man who loved Jesus
So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto him, Feed My lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto him, Feed My sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time, Lovest thou Me? And he said unto Him, Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed My sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake He, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He saith unto him, Follow Me (John 21:15-19)
When Jesus asked Simon Peter if he loved Him more than the others, Peter answered, “yes Lord, Thou knows that I love Thee.”
Jesus didn’t ask Peter once if he loved Him, but thrice, since Simon Peter had denied Jesus thrice.
And so Peter repented by confessing his love for Jesus thrice. When the confession of Peter was made, Peter was restored and became Jesus’ disciple again.
Besides the promise that Jesus would build His Church on Peter and his testimony, Jesus commanded Peter to feed His lambs and to feed His sheep and Jesus made known with what death Peter would glorify God.
That was the price, Peter would pay for following Jesus and showing the world that he loved Jesus.
The old Peter and the new Peter
When Peter was the old man, Peter was led by his flesh (a.o. his senses, feelings, and emotions) and was influenced by the devil several times, and eventually denied Jesus thrice. But when Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and had become a new creation and was led by the Holy Spirit, all the doubt, anxiety, and fear for people were gone.
Peter was no longer led by a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and of a sound mind. As a result, Peter stood up boldly in front of the house of Israel and testified of Jesus the Christ and confronted those, who belonged to the house of Israel, with their sins and what they had done to Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, and called them to repentance.
Because of the boldness of Peter and his testimony, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, 3000 souls of the house of Israel repented and were baptized in water and received the Holy Spirit.
Peter proved by his words and actions that he loved Jesus
Peter, who was filled with the Holy Spirit didn’t keep his mouth shut and didn’t stay silent, but he spoke boldly to the rulers of the people and to the elders of Israel. Peter had laid down his flesh and died to ‘self’ and wasn’t ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, even if his words led to captivity and persecution.
Even when Peter and the other apostles were taken captive and appeared for the council where they were commanded by the high priest to not teach in the Name of Jesus and to spread their doctrine, Peter and the other apostles wouldn’t stay silent and were not intimidated.
They didn’t give in and didn’t say, “ok, we shall keep our mouths shut and adjust our doctrine”, as so many leaders of the church do today, and adjust the Bible and the doctrine to society and become conformed to the world and preach a powerless gospel
But Peter and the apostles were no longer carnal but spiritual and stayed faithful to the words and the commandments of Jesus and answered the high priest that they ought to obey God rather than men (Acts 3-5)
This all derived from Peter’s love for His Lord. Peter showed his love for his Lord through his obedience to the words of Jesus and His commandment and to do what Jesus had commanded to do and to follow Jesus.
Peter showed that he loved Jesus by his words, works, and eventually his death, wherewith Peter glorified God, just as Jesus had prophesied.
However, there was a short period of time, when Peter was led by fear of man and showed hypocritical behavior, but Paul confronted and rebuked Peter in front of the others (Galatians 2:11-16).
Do you love Jesus with all your heart?
The love for Jesus, which Peter and also the other disciples showed by their words and works, should also be visible in the lives of Christians, who have repented by faith in Jesus Christ and are born again in Him and have become a new creation and belong to Him.
If you have become a new creation and belong to Jesus, you shall listen to His voice and follow Him.
You shall listen to His words and obey His words and His commandments and therefore you shall do what He has commanded you to do. Even if His will and commandments go against your will, since you no longer live, but Christ lives in you. That’s the choice you have made, when you decided to make Jesus not only the Savior of your life, but also the Lord of your life (Read also: ‘What if God’s will is not your will?’)
Instead of keeping your mouth shut and staying silent and let everything run its course and you join with the world and speak the words of the world and the carnal people around you and compromise and deny Jesus; the Word directly or indirectly, you shall boldly stand up and open your mouth and confess the words of the Father, which are spoken by Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to you, and testify of Jesus the Christ the living Word of God and call the people to repentance and the removal of sin, just like Jesus and just Peter, who both spoke hard words and offended many people. But you can better offend people than offend Jesus Christ and deny Him.
You do all this, out of love for Jesus Christ. If you do it for any other reason than the love for Jesus and the love for the Father, then it won’t benefit you anything and you shall not be able to stand by faith on the Word and endure rejections and persecution, but you shall doubt the words of God and bow for the darkness and compromise and give up and deny Jesus the Word.
You are saved by faith in Jesus Christ, but you shall stay saved by your love for Jesus, which you show through obedience to the commandments of Jesus Christ and by doing the will of the Father.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
