Becoming Peter
Come Follow Me
"As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him." Matthew 4:18-22
Here we read that when Jesus calls us, He says "come".
Come
And you know what Peter and the others who were called, did.
They went to (and with) Jesus. Peter did. But did Peter "follow"?
Follow
Well. Peter did follow. In fact, he left everything. He went with Jesus, he went everywhere Jesus went. But the only thing, he didn't do was obey Him (again and again).
This inspite of him being so sure of himself and so quick to say he would do whatever Jesus told Him to. But we all know that countless times, he bit more than he could chew. Yes, just so typical of Peter, and like so many believers -- so quick to say they will do this or they would do that. But when push came to shove. He faltered, just like the rest of us.
And this makes Peter so endearing, real and so easy to relate to.
At the Last Supper, again Peter being Peter, boasted he was ready to go to prison for Jesus, even die for Him (Luke 22:33-34).
But then a few short hours later, just as Jesus predicted he would, Peter denied Jesus three times (Luke 22:54-62), most probably because he was just so terrified of being arrested and possibly put to death.
Eventually, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter did do what He claimed he would do, and what he was called to do from the very beginning.
Me
Remember Jesus said come follow "me". He didn't say follow John or follow Mary or follow someone else. Jesus said 'come follow me".
In the end, Peter personified what Jesus told all of His followers:
"If you love me, you will obey me.
I will ask my Father. He will give you another one to help you and to be with you always.
He will send you the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive the true Spirit because it does not see or know him. You know him because he is with you and will be in you." (John 14:15-17)
So before Jesus left, His final charge to Peter was: (If you love me) “feed my lambs", (if you love me) “take care of my sheep", and a third time, (if you love me) "feed my sheep" and then again, He told Peter, "follow me!” (John 21:15-22). Even though Peter was so busy looking at John and asking Jesus, what about him. Funny really, Peter still looking to and worried about someone else, instead of looking and hearing what Jesus was telling him.
Follow me
Following Jesus means, looking at Jesus, keeping our eyes on Him, listening to Him, learning of Him, being sensitive to His Spirit and then following Him.
If and only if we love Him, then these will be the evidence to others and more importantly to ourselves.
But do not forget, it took some time for Peter to achieve this -- one of His closest disciples. He had to fail several times, tripping all over himself, many times totally falling flat on his face, getting his foot stuck in his big mouth, and rising back up each time.
Follow Jesus, Peter eventually did. And so can we.
"As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him." Matthew 4:18-22
Here we read that when Jesus calls us, He says "come".
Come
And you know what Peter and the others who were called, did.
They went to (and with) Jesus. Peter did. But did Peter "follow"?
Follow
Well. Peter did follow. In fact, he left everything. He went with Jesus, he went everywhere Jesus went. But the only thing, he didn't do was obey Him (again and again).
This inspite of him being so sure of himself and so quick to say he would do whatever Jesus told Him to. But we all know that countless times, he bit more than he could chew. Yes, just so typical of Peter, and like so many believers -- so quick to say they will do this or they would do that. But when push came to shove. He faltered, just like the rest of us.
And this makes Peter so endearing, real and so easy to relate to.
At the Last Supper, again Peter being Peter, boasted he was ready to go to prison for Jesus, even die for Him (Luke 22:33-34).
But then a few short hours later, just as Jesus predicted he would, Peter denied Jesus three times (Luke 22:54-62), most probably because he was just so terrified of being arrested and possibly put to death.
Eventually, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter did do what He claimed he would do, and what he was called to do from the very beginning.
Me
Remember Jesus said come follow "me". He didn't say follow John or follow Mary or follow someone else. Jesus said 'come follow me".
In the end, Peter personified what Jesus told all of His followers:
"If you love me, you will obey me.
I will ask my Father. He will give you another one to help you and to be with you always.
He will send you the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive the true Spirit because it does not see or know him. You know him because he is with you and will be in you." (John 14:15-17)
So before Jesus left, His final charge to Peter was: (If you love me) “feed my lambs", (if you love me) “take care of my sheep", and a third time, (if you love me) "feed my sheep" and then again, He told Peter, "follow me!” (John 21:15-22). Even though Peter was so busy looking at John and asking Jesus, what about him. Funny really, Peter still looking to and worried about someone else, instead of looking and hearing what Jesus was telling him.
Follow me
Following Jesus means, looking at Jesus, keeping our eyes on Him, listening to Him, learning of Him, being sensitive to His Spirit and then following Him.
If and only if we love Him, then these will be the evidence to others and more importantly to ourselves.
But do not forget, it took some time for Peter to achieve this -- one of His closest disciples. He had to fail several times, tripping all over himself, many times totally falling flat on his face, getting his foot stuck in his big mouth, and rising back up each time.
Follow Jesus, Peter eventually did. And so can we.
Comments
Post a Comment