Apostle PeterAnd Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And He saith unto them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. And straightway they left their nets, and followed Him". -Matthew 4:18-20. ....
Is there a more interesting disciple of the Savior than Peter? I've heard many humorous messages over the years spoken about him because of his propensity to 'put his foot into his mouth', to speak before thinking, and for his alternate bravery and cowardice in the face of danger. It appears that Peter was one tough dude. When Jesus called him, he left all- immediately- and followed Him. He was a bold talker, his loyalty to his Lord was unfeigned and strong, and I have no doubt that he'd walk up and punch a man in the face if the man had said anything less than good about Jesus. Some have wondered out loud why Jesus would choose such a tactless time bomb of a man to be His disciple. I think that Peter was a wonderful example of God's grace and power, as he eventually became perhaps the most important and influential disciple that Jesus had.....
Now, we all know of his bold affirmations of his love and loyalty to Jesus, of his being the first to declare Jesus' divinity ("Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God"), of his being rebuked by Jesus for suggesting that Jesus would not go to the cross, of his denial of his Lord in the face of persecution- but it's what happened after the Holy Spirit fell upon the disciples that we see a dramatic change in this wild man. He boldly proclaims to observers just what had happened to those in the upper room as God poured out His Spirit, he proudly testifies of Christ in the face and in the very midst of imprisonment and persecution- he is bold, sure- but no longer boastful, no longer trite, NO LONGER LIVING FROM HIS FLESH.
God had changed this man from a loud fraidycat to a man who eventually wrote two epistles dealing with standing for Christ IN THE FACE OF PERSECUTION (1 Peter deals with persecution via enemies from without, 2 Peter addresses the reality of enemies from within the Body of Christ)...
Everybody is different, and God does not make 'cookie-cutter' Christians. Peter was not a GQ kind of guy. He was 'rough around the edges', to be sure. He was also somebody whom God's hand was upon mightily. God help me, I want to be a man like that!
En Agape, Jim Ewing
