St. Peter

I had a discussion a few weeks ago with a friend that involved St. Peter. Peter gets a lot of flack for denying Christ. I think there's a few valuable lessons we can learn from Peter. The first of which is that actions truly do speak louder than words...and this is true for both sides of the coin. It's easy to judge his betrayal as being spineless. How could he possibly flat out deny his association with Jesus? How cold is that? Some of us are quick to say we would not have acted the same. And, perhaps, this is true. However, we may be missing a lot. I'd like to point out that Peter's words probably held far more weight than ours would. And perhaps his actions carried a bit less. Peter's mind worked a bit differently. This is one fierce guy, quick to the draw, with zeal to back it up. Whether chasing Jesus out ON the water, or lopping off some guy's ear, he was passionate about Jesus and put his actions behind it. We might go so far to criticize how trigger-happy he was...jumping the gun before he was really ready. This explains him jumping off the boat without realizing (or probably just not caring) about his forthcoming failure. In one fell swoop he offs the soldier's ear in the garden. I think Peter would be that guy we went to kindergarten with that was 'special'. Perhaps it's not that he was necessarily any better than the other disciples. He just learned differently. After all, none of us are better people in and of ourselves. We only grow and become stronger and more pure by God's gracious work in our lives. And God, being the personal being that He is, works with us where we are. He created us and knows our personality. He knows what our learning style is better than anyone else. To be honest, I bet the other disciples were a bit irritated with him. He seems like a new testament version of Joseph...the "favorite". My point here is that Peter's expression of faith was just different from the others'. In Matthew 16, he professes Jesus as the Christ and a few verses later is telling Jesus how it's gonna be before Jesus rebukes him and calls him the devil. This doesn't phase Jesus. He gets Peter's personality and embraces him. I think that Peter's feelings are hurt and he is ultimately disappointed and afraid once Jesus willingly goes with the guards. His promises to stay loyal to Jesus are somehow tied to a guarantee of what Jesus would do and how Jesus would defeat all the Pharisees. Peter would be on the "winning side." I think that Peter's denial of Jesus has more to do with his disappointment with himself than it does with disappointment with Jesus. All throughout the night, he watches from the shadows, and suddenly the words Jesus spoke over the past few years begin to haunt him. He is filled with utter shame coupled with immense grief. As he focuses on these words Jesus spoke pertaining to his death, I think he forgets about Jesus' prediction of his betrayal. The third time, in Matthew 26:74, he calls down curses upon himself. My thinking is that this is due to his anger towards himself. He's overwhelmed with the gravity of it all. Everything is clear now, and he is now separated from Jesus as he goes to his predicted death. As the grief can't seem to get worse, he hears the eerie crow of the rooster. This is Peter's breaking point.

I don't think that Peter's betrayal / denial is purely cowardice. I think it has a lot more to do with his being broken in the only way that was possible...for him to recognize his immense shortcoming.

Redemption is beautiful, though. Peter's redemption is beautiful, indeed. The others failed Jesus just as well. They also claimed they wouldn't abandon him, but they did. I think Peter was just a bit more extreme than all the others.

I think that we all have breaking points. I believe that the the importance for us in these times is in how we respond/cope with our breaking. Christ does not abandon us during these times and He promises to always provide what is needed...comfort, healing, help, growth, etc. I am grateful for this.