Peter

John 1:41-42

“He (Andrew) found first his brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, “You are Simon the Son of john; you shall be called Cephas” (which translated means Peter).

We are now given a brief introduction of Peter and it is good to reflect on this great man of God. I’m impressed that as our Lord was choosing His disciples he so often chose the common men to be the leaders of His church. Peter, for instance, was an uneducated fisherman. As we study the disciples it is evident that Jesus knew their heart much better than we. While man looks mostly on the appearance of others, Jesus knows our hearts. He immediately identified Peter as the man upon whom He would build his church. Notice Jesus response to Peter’s confession of faith in Matthew 16:18: “…you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven….”

We know from Luke’s gospel that life was not a bed of roses for Peter. In Luke 22:31-34 we learn of Peter’s denial of Christ in a time of crisis. Even after much personal mentoring by Jesus, Peter still failed. That points up to us the fact that we must be constantly on guard against Satan’s devices. Neither are we able to depend on the strength of our own personality to bring us through difficult times. We must continue to strengthen our spiritual lives and our dependency on Him.

We get another glimpse of Peter at the end of John’s gospel (John 21:15-17). There Jesus asks Simon three times whether he loves Him. I believe this passage stresses the love motivation in our lives. The success of our lives as Christians is dependent on our consistent love for Him.