Peter's Testamony

Matthew 16:13-23 reveals something fascinating about how each of us hears what we think is God’s voice yet may not be so. Matthew writes that the Lord was with his disciples and asks them a question about His authenticity. Peter is the only one who chimes in with an answer and is verbally rewarded for his insight. Yet only a short time later Peter has another opinion about the Lord’s future and he is quickly put in his place. I will tell the story in my own words.

One day when the Lord and His disciple chums were hangin out in Caesarea He asked them a question. He says, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The disciples start looking at each other waitin for someone to say something. You see up until now Jesus has asked them a lot of questions about things and they usually get them wrong but, this was different this question was about Him specifically. They certainly don’t want to get this one wrong.

So some of the disciples start sayin things like “Well some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and to a lesser extent Jeremiah.” “Yes” another disciple says, “To a lesser extent Jeremiah, I think that’s true.” Then they stop talking and wait to see what Jesus says. Then Jesus looks at them and says, “But who do you say I am?” Now the disciples completely clam up and don’t say anything because they were afraid of getting the answer wrong. Then Peter steps up to the plate and says what some were thinking but, none had the chutzpah to say publicly.

Peter says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” For a moment the apostles are stymied. They don’t know if a lightning bolt is gonna come out of the sky or what. Sure some of them have thought this about Jesus but, none were gonna open their trap and say it out loud. I mean after all Jesus is flesh and blood like everybody else so they gotta be careful here when we start comparing Him to divinity.

Then Jesus says, “Blessed are you Simon because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father who is in heaven.” I tell you the truth you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” Simon, who is now Peter (from the Greek word petros meaning rock) is standing with the other apostles but his feet are not on the ground. He starts looking at the other apostles and begins pullin his suspenders and say’s, “Yah, I am the man!”

But a short time later Jesus and his disciple chums are hangin out and Jesus says to them that He is gonna be turned over to the scribes and Pharisees and be killed and raised on the third day. Peter didn’t like the sound of this at all and pulled Jesus aside and said, “Look dude this aint gonna happen to you. You are the messiah and messiah’s don’t get into trouble and killed or anything like that. Instead they get lots of friends and have successful blog sites and groupies and everything.

Then Jesus turns to Peter and says, “Get behind my Satan for you are not setting your sights on God’s interest, but man’s. Peter went shooooooooop and was only about a foot tall. It was hard to see his suspenders but it was obvious Peter wasn’t pullin on them that’s for sure. Then Jesus said to the apostles that God sees things differently than man. And God has His own plans for mankind, and in this case that means obedience to the point of death.

Peter did not want to see Jesus arrested by the religious leaders of the day because that would remove His status in the eyes of many people. Peter believed that anyone who was disdained by the religious leaders of that day was someone that God did not approve of and worse may be an unbeliever. This writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John clearly point to the presumption that the rich and the religious leaders of the day were considered close to God and the sick and poor were God’s least favorite. Once again Jesus is trying to dispel that notion in the minds of His disciples.

One final note it is interesting to see that Peter had difficulty understanding the difference between what God was saying to him and what his own ambitions were saying. In a very short period of time Peter was given great praise from Jesus for hearing something God was saying, and condemnation for listening to his own desires.

This is a lesson for us all.