It
has been said, He that thinks he leads and has no one following him only takes
a walk.
I
hope that you can follow today because I would like you to take a walk in
someone else’s shoes. We will be
following this person through the Gospel of John.
I
would like you to become for a little while Jesus’ disciple Simon Peter.
To
hopefully see some things through his heart and mind as Jesus transformed him. So if you are ready, you are Simon. Let’s begin our walk.
Do
you remember when you first met Jesus and He changed your name?
John
1:40-42
40 Andrew, Simon Peter's
brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed
Jesus.
41 The first thing
Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the
Messiah" (that is, the Christ).
42 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).
Which,
when translated means ‘a rock’.
Did
you wonder why He gave you that new name?
Could it be that being with Jesus is going to change your life?
And
do you remember the great falling away of Jesus’ disciples and what you said to
Jesus?
John
6:66-69
66 From this time many
of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 "You do not want
to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered
him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
69 We believe and know
that you are the Holy One of God."
How
did it feel to say openly before people that Jesus is the Christ?
Do
you remember that last night before Jesus died when He bent over in front of
you to wash your feet and you wanted all of you to be clean and not just your
feet.
John
13:6-9
6 He came to Simon
Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"
7 Jesus replied,
"You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will
understand." 8 "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my
feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with
me."
9 "Then,
Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my
head as well!"
How
did it feel to be served by the Son of God?
And
remember that same night you wanted to know who would betray Jesus:
John
13:24-27a
24 Simon Peter motioned
to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he means."
25 Leaning back against
Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?"
26 Jesus answered,
"It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped
it in the dish." Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas
Iscariot, son of Simon.
27 As soon as Judas took
the bread, Satan entered into him.
Were
you worried that you could have been the one who would betray Jesus?
And
I know you recall that same night when Jesus said that you would disown Him.
John
13:36-38
36 Simon Peter asked
him, "Lord, where are you going?"
Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you
will follow later."
37 Peter asked,
"Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you."
38 Then Jesus answered,
"Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before
the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
You
resolved with all your heart and being that you would show Jesus He was wrong.
There
was no way you would ever disown the Son of God. And later that night when Jesus told you and the other ten
disciples that all of you would desert Him:
John
16:32
"But a time is
coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You
will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
You
resolved even more deeply that even if all the other disciples left Jesus you
would not.
You
would be faithful to Him even if you had to die. And I know Jesus hurt your heart:
John
21:15-17
15 When they had
finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you
truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
16 Again Jesus said,
"Simon son of John, do you truly
love me?" He answered, "Yes,
Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
17 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."
Isn’t
it interesting that Peter denied knowing Jesus three times and Jesus asked
Peter three times if he loved Him. What
is also interesting is that Jesus used a different word for love when Jesus
asked Peter the first two times if he loved Him.
The
NIV transtlates it the first two times as “truly love”.
The
King James translates both words for love as ‘lovest’ all three times.
The
meaning of the love that Jesus asked of Peter the first two times refers to:
“a love in
which the entire personality, including the will is involved”
The
other word used for love in Jesus’ third question to Peter and in all of
Peter’s answers to Jesus refers to:
“a
spontaneous natural affection or fondness in which emotion plays a more
prominent roll than will”
I
wonder why Jesus made that distinction in His Word to you.
But
the most important matter to Jesus and to you is that Jesus is saying “Do you
really love me?”
So
what happened that night when Jesus was arrested?
Well,
you were deeply determined with all your heart not to disown Him or leave Him.
Then
the mob came for Jesus. There were so
many of them and they were armed.
Jesus
had just told the mob to let you and the other disciples go free.
Nobody
was doing anything to help Jesus. You had to do something now.
John
18:10-11
10 Then Simon Peter, who
had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his
right ear.
11 Jesus commanded Peter, "Put your
sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?"
Your
heart was crushed and confused.
Couldn’t
Jesus see that you were showing Him that you were ready to die for Him, that you
were not going to disown Him or desert Him? But Jesus didn’t want your help.
You
were stunned and feeling helpless as the mob arrested Jesus and took Him away.
Nine
of the disciples ran away. Only you and John remained. What should you do?
John
is going to follow the mob to find out what happens to Jesus. You make the decision to go with him. When you get to the high priest Annas’
courtyard, they let John in because they know him, but you have to stay outside.
Then
comes something you’re not expecting. John comes back and asks the doorkeeper
to let you come in also. But as you enter you are asked:
John
18:17
"You are not one of his disciples, are
you?" the girl at the door asked Peter.
He replied, "I am not."
God
help you. You just denied being Jesus’
disciple, but you refuse to run away.
You
are scared and cold and you don’t know what to do to help Jesus.
Then
Jesus is taken away to Caiaphas, but before you can leave two more stinging
questions come:
John
18:25-27
25 As Simon Peter stood
warming himself, he was asked, "You are not one of his disciples, 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 olive grove?"
27 Again Peter denied
it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.
Jesus
is gone. You are surrounded by Jesus’
enemies and you know they will want to take your life. You think that the only
possible escape is for them to believe that you don’t know Jesus.
In
quick sucession you have lied twice more about being Jesus’ disciple and walk
away.
Amazingly
they don’t try to stop you.
Then
you remember the words that Jesus spoke to you, “before the rooster crows you
will disown me three times”.
The
other three Gospels tell us that you went out and wept bitterly.
You
realize that Jesus was right; you have disowned the Son of God. How can God ever forgive you?
Didn’t
Jesus say, “if you disown me before men, I will disown you before my Father”?
All
the Gospels are silent about Peter from this time until three days later when
Jesus was resurrected.
It
must have been an extremely painful and agonizing three days for you.
And
when you saw Jesus alive again, what did you say to Him? What could you say to Him?
Scripture
tells us that you saw Jesus two times with the other disciples before that day
on the beach when Jesus asked you three times if you loved Him.
When
we realize that Jesus forgave Peter, one of His closest disciples after he
denied Him three times before men then there is hope for us.
How
many times have we denied knowing Jesus by our words, our actions, and our
thoughts?
How
many times have we failed Jesus?
Like
Peter we can not be faithful to Jesus in our own strength. Only in the strength
of His Holy Spirit can we remain faithful.
And
how can we abide in His Holy Spirit unless we spend quality time with Jesus
everyday
in
reading His Word, in prayer, and in fasting.
So
let us plead with our Savior for that Spirit of faithfulness, obedience and
humility and trust His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us if we
are truly yielded to Him
Hebrews
13:5-6
5 Keep your lives free
from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
6 So we say with
confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to
me?"
How
is your walk today Simon with Jesus?
My
prayer is that this walk makes a difference for you in your walk with the Lord