The Characters of Holy Week: Simon Peter


Yesterday we looked at Judas Iscariot, the villain of Holy Week. It is easy to describe him as the villain among the disciples, as he did the unthinkable; he betrayed Jesus to his death. Today we look at another disciple, Simon Peter.

John 1:41-42 records when Peter first met Jesus.
Peter’s brother, Andrew was a follower of John the Baptist. They were together when John saw Jesus and pointed him out. “Look, the Lamb of God!” The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

Cephas, or Peter, is translated “the Rock.” So Jesus renamed Simon “the Rock.”

One of my favorite stories about Peter comes in Matthew 14. Jesus sent his disciples across the lake in a boat and went to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Peter was the one who got out of the boat and walked on water!

Peter is also the one who made the great confession of faith, In Matthew 16:13-18, when Jesus asked his disciples “Who do people say I am?” “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 

At the Last Supper, when Jesus told his disciples that one of them would betray him, Simon Peter joined with the others in questioning him. “Surely not I!” Simon Peter told Jesus, “I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus told him, “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!” 

So, in John 18, we see Jesus arrested. 

15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard,16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.
17 “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.
He replied, “I am not.”
18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus. And as this happened, Simon Peter was still standing there, warming himself. 

25 So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?”
He denied it, saying, “I am not.”
26 One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.

Matthew 26:75 tells us that Peter went outside and wept bitterly.

And Jesus was crucified. Dead. Buried.

We know what would happen next. Jesus rose again, victorious over death. But what of Simon Peter? … He went back to fishing. And one day, while he was fishing, Jesus showed up on the shore! They had caught no fish, but Jesus told them to cast on the other side of the boat, and when they did, they caught so many fish that they couldn’t even haul in the net. John recognized Jesus, and when he did, he said, “It’s the Lord!” At that, Simon Peter jumped in the water and swam to the shore to meet him.

We pick this story up in John 21:15. 
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot found themselves in similar positions. Both of them were Jesus’ trusted disciples. Judas betrayed Jesus. Peter denied that he even knew him. But the difference was — where Judas continued to take matters into his own hands, delivering his own judgment in the form of suicide, Peter went back to fishing. He figured that he had washed out of Jesus’ program, might as well go back to what he knew. But Jesus had other ideas. He reinstated Peter, who went on to be a leader of Christ’s church. 

What does this have to do with us? We may be sinners. We may have done wrong. We may be full of guilt and shame. But Jesus gives second chances.

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