Scripture focus: When Jesus arrived in the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "What are people saying about who the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some think he is John the Baptizer, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah or one of the other prophets." He pressed them, "And how about you? Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter said, "You're the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus came back, "God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn't get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I'm going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. "And that's not all. You will have complete and free access to God's kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven." He swore the disciples to secrecy. He made them promise they would tell no one that he was the Messiah. Matthew 16:12-20 The Message
Simon Peter was a leader, blessed by God, let in on a secret, created as a rock upon which the church would be put together.
You’d expect a guy that had this much going for him to be a peak performer.
You’d expect that God would pick a man he could trust implicitly for a big mission like church building.
Spiritually renewed people must look past their assumptions and expectations if they are going to grow up in their salvation.
The promise of Peter’s potential and his actual performance are more complicated stories than we might expect to find in a man respectfully described as “the rock” by the son of God.
If you get a chance, find a decent concordance, look up all the scripture references to Peter and study his life. Then ask yourself questions like: what do I find that is surprising, intriguing, assumption-busting and encouraging in the life of Peter? How might knowing this inform my own spiritual pilgrimage?
Recommended reading: Isaiah 47- 49
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