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 hele fjendens hær og befalede dem at prædike det samme budskab og gøre de samme gerninger.
Og således gik Jesu disciple, ligesom Jesus gik, og prædikede og bragte Guds Rige til dem, som tilhørte Israels hus, med tegn og undere efter dem, ligesom Jesus.
Peters bekendelse
Da Jesus kom ind i Cæsarea Filippis kyster, Han spurgte sine disciple, ordsprog, Hvem siger menneskene, at jeg er Menneskesønnen? Og de sagde, Nogle siger, at du er Johannes Døberen: nogle, Elias; og andre, Jeremias, eller en af profeterne. Han siger til dem, Men hvem siger I, at jeg er? Og Simon Peter svarede og sagde, Du er Kristus, the Son of the living God. Og Jesus svarede og sagde til ham, Velsignet er du, Simon Barjona: thi kød og blod har ikke åbenbaret det for dig, men min Fader, som er i himlen. 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 (Læs også: ’The gates of hell shall not prevail against My Church’, ’What did Jesus mean with the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven?’ And ‘Hvad mente Jesus med at binde og miste?’)
Jesus commanded His disciples to not tell anyone that Jesus was (and is) the Christ (Matthew 16:20, Mærke 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, ordsprog, Be it far from thee, Herre: 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, se, 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, Herre, 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, død, 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. sagde Jesus til ham, 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.
Imidlertid, 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.
Derudover, the disciples confessed that they would never deny Jesus, no matter what, imidlertid, 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 (midlertidigt) 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’ (Mærke 16:7).
Jesus’ prayer for Peter
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, se, 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, Herre; 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, Herre; 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, Herre, 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 (Åh. 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, angst, 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, som tilhørte Israels hus, 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.
Selv da Peter og de andre apostle blev taget til fange og viste sig til rådet, hvor de blev befalet af ypperstepræsten til ikke at undervise i Jesu navn og udbrede deres lære, Peter og de andre apostle ville ikke tie og blev ikke skræmt.
De gav ikke efter og sagde ikke, “Okay, vi skal holde vores mund lukket og justere vores doktrin”, som så mange ledere i kirken gør i dag, og tilpasse Bibelen og læren til samfundet og blive egnet til verden og forkynde et magtesløst evangelium
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 (Handlinger 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.
Imidlertid, 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 (Galaterne 2:11-16).
Do you love Jesus with all your heart?
The love for Jesus, hvilket Peter og også de andre disciple viste ved deres ord og gerninger, bør også være synlig i kristnes liv, som har omvendt sig ved tro på Jesus Kristus og er født på ny i ham og er blevet en ny skabning og tilhører ham.
Hvis du er blevet en ny skabning og tilhører Jesus, du skal lytte til hans røst og følge ham.
Du skal lytte til hans ord og adlyde hans ord og hans befalinger, og derfor skal du gøre, hvad han har befalet dig at gøre. Også selvom hans vilje og bud går imod din vilje, da du ikke længere lever, men Kristus lever i dig. Det er det valg du har taget, da du besluttede at gøre Jesus til ikke kun dit livs frelser, men også dit livs Herre (Læs også: ’Hvad hvis Guds vilje ikke er din vilje?’)
I stedet for at holde din mund lukket og tie og lade alt gå sin gang, og du slutter dig til verden og taler verdens ord og de kødelige mennesker omkring dig og går på kompromis og fornægter Jesus; ordet direkte eller indirekte, du skal frimodigt stå op og åbne din mund og bekende Faderens ord, som er talt til dig af Jesus Kristus og Helligånden, og vidner om Jesus Kristus, Guds levende ord, og kalder folket til omvendelse og fjernelse af synd, ligesom Jesus og netop Peter, som både talte hårde ord og fornærmede mange mennesker. Men du kan bedre fornærme mennesker end at fornærme Jesus Kristus og fornægte ham.
Du gør alt dette, af kærlighed til Jesus Kristus. Hvis du gør det af en anden grund end kærligheden til Jesus og kærligheden til Faderen, så vil det ikke gavne dig noget, og du vil ikke være i stand til at stå ved troen på Ordet og udholde afvisninger og forfølgelse, men du skal tvivle på Guds ord og bøje dig for mørket og gå på kompromis og give op og fornægte Jesus Ordet.
Du er frelst ved tro på Jesus Kristus, men du skal forblive frelst ved din kærlighed til Jesus, hvilket du viser gennem lydighed mod Jesu Kristi befalinger og ved at gøre Faderens vilje.
'Vær jordens salt’
