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Peter INTRODUCTION Now the purpose of this study is not to glorify or honor Peter but to glorify and honor

the work of the Lord in Peters life. And I think that its important to know Peter as a man, and by doing so understand what Jesus was doing and how he shaped Peter as He shapes all of us. The character and promises of Jesus are seen this way, through Peter, and when we look at someone like Peter we can better understand Christ and His work in our own life. Do you agree? Weve all heard the analogy of the potter and the clay. The potter takes a clump of clay, puts it on the shaping wheel, give the clay form and heats it by fire to harden it. When hes finished, hes created a usable vessel to hold water. When we look at Peters life we see the Potter (Jesus Christ) taking Peter, the clay, and forming him shaping him into a usable and purposeful vessel. During the forming process of a vessel the potter is spinning the clay and there are pieces at are thrown off of the clay the potter will collect these thrown bits in a pan. As the potter starts shaping hell trim the pot or vase thats being created. The thrown bits and the trimmings are called scraps. Many times, if the shaping of the pot doesnt take, or if its not to the potters liking hell break the pot, into pieces and mix it with the other scrap pieces to reclaim the clay. Knowing these things lets get to know Peter. Who was Peter. We know Peter as the one of the apostles of Christ. Simon Peter The rock. Peter was the brother of Andrew, another disciple. They both were fisherman off of the Sea of Galilee, from a town called Bethsaida. It would be safe to say that Peter, and his brother were both were studied in Judaism, or at least were instructed. Andrew and Peter were aware of the Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah. It was Andrew who told his brother Simon that they had found the Messiah. In John 1:28 41, Andrew had come to hear John the Baptist speak and tell of the coming Messiah. There are some that say that Andrew may have been a disciple of John the Baptist. In any case, the Gospel of John tells us that John the Baptist knew the true identity of Jesus and identified Him to Andrew. Andrew told Simon WE HAVE FOUND THE ANNOINTED ONE!, THE CHRIST, THE MESSIAH! And then Andrew brought him to Jesus. So Simon meets Jesus. Jesus tells him (John 1:42) YOU SHALT BE CALLED CEPHAS (STONE) TRANSLATED PETER! And Jesus even tells him, you WILL be called Peter the rock/stone. And you have to think about what went through Peters mind ME? A rock? What went through Peters mind ME? Rabbi tells me that I will be a rock? At this point in Peters life there was no sign of Cephas and wouldnt be for a while except for the potential of being hardened as a rock is.

But we see, in the hands of Jesus, the clay that He will use, shape and form what we know as Peter. Simon loved the Lord, that was obvious. When Jesus asked His disciples who he was Simon answered that He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus said you are blessed because it wasnt flesh and blood that revealed this but the Heavenly Father. Then Jesus reminding him..called him Peter, a rock on which He will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against this rock. Peter watched Jesus feed thousands. He watched Him heal the sick and make the blind see. He walked with Jesus and learned from Him. But it was at the end of Jesuss life that His work with Peter revealed His plan and Peter realized the purpose that God had intended for him. Throughout this entire time, Jesus is shaping, pressing Peter and the form begins to take shape. Lets move to John 18. Jesus is washing His disciples feet, he reveals that he will be betrayed and tells Judas to move quickly and do what he must. Jesus is telling them that He will be leaving soon and that where Hes going, they cant follow. Peter says why cant I follow? I WILL LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR THY SAKE!!!!! Jesus says will you? truly I say to you, that you will deny me three times before the rooster crows. Jesus is trimming the clay now and as he does He begins exposes points of weakness, fractures, in Peters faith. Peter is left to consider what this means. He doesnt have foresight into what is going to happen. He cant jump forward a few verses to determine his outcome. He knows, however, that something is occurring that is out of his control. When people feel this way, when they are trying to get control of events, they often do things out of their character Peter dawns a sword and goes with Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane. Let me just say here that weve all been in Peters shoes. You see, Peter didnt try to REGAIN control of the events. He was never in control. It was his faith in Christ that started to experience confusion. Either Christ was in control or He wasnt. Peter was going to do everything that he could to make sense of what was happening to step in for Jesus If Jesus is who He said He was, did He actually need Peters sword? No of course not. So many times we try to step in for Jesus and take the reins, of which we believe that He, Jesus, has dropped, and place them in His hands again. When we do this we are responding to confusion. Is confusion part of Gods will or plan? Certainly not. So. Lets do the math if we do this, RESPOND TO CONFUSION, and the author of confusion is the enemy, then we respond to the enemy. So now the setting changes. They are in Garden of Gethsemane. They have walked from Jerusalem to the Garden and we can only imagine the tenseness in the air.

You know when someone is stressed out, when they are under strain, you can feel it right. Peter could feel it, Im sure. The mood must have been unexplainable. Jesus begins His prayers in the Garden. He had just asked God if there was another way. Let this cup pass, nevertheless not my will buy Yours. While all of this is occurring, Judas had already set the wheels in motion. He had made an agreement and was now acting on it. Everything was in place to betray the Lord. Peter and the other disciples are with Jesus in the Garden. Peter, Im sure, hears the Roman soldier approaching He probably saw them carrying torches, heard their footsteps on the path and recognized the rattle of their armor. Hes on pins and needles now and Hes watching, knowing that something is about to happen. Expecting something that he cant really put his finger on. He sees Judas approach Jesus and kiss him. He watches as Jesus asks WHO DO YOU SEEK? when they say we seek Jesus of Nazareth Jesus says I AM HE. Immediately they fall to the ground. They get up and lay hands of Jesus. This is it Peter knew it he draws out his sword and attacks the high priests servant .. Malchus. Probably the closest person to him. Maybe he spoke for the priest???? Peter was no swords man. He fished for a living. But he knew something was going on so he went armed. Little good it did him. Jesus is in control but Peter doesnt get it yet. Jesus healed the soldier and scolded Peter He said my Father has given me this cup so shouldnt I drink it? this shows that Jesus went willingly to his judgment of men. From here they lead Jesus off. They took him to be interrogated, interviewed, whatever, at the high priest. Peter follows behind him trying to make sense of whats about to happen. In the city, theres got to be a commotion going on. They have just arrested the Messiah! Everyone is talking. Peter follows, trying to go unnoticed but someone recognizes him. They ask, arent you one of them one of His disciples? no, no Im not!..... again, werent you in the garden? Didnt you just chop an ear off? no no I didnt!!! At this very time, a rooster crows, and, as theyre leading Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment, Jesus turns and immediately finds Peter in the crowd (Luke 22:61) their eyes meet and Peter remembers WHY CANT I FOLLOW ILL LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU. Will you Peter? The eyes of Jesus, that fell on Peter, bold, compassionate, loving .. full of mercy full of pity for Peter. Full of truth that convicted Peter to his very soul. The Bible says that Peter ran and wept bitterly (Matthew 26:75). He must of thought .. oh my gosh, Im a betrayerIve betrayed my savior, the SON OF GOD. Oh my gosh Ive betrayed God!!! I abandoned my savior and my God what have I done?

So how could a man who just lived through this have been so well shaped by Christ that he died as a martyr for Christ? That he felt so convicted and humbled by the actions of Christ that he chose to hang upside down on a cross so that it wouldnt retract any glory from the actions that Jesus did. There was a certain and specific change that occurred. What happened? When did that happen? I believe that this change may have occurred sitting beside the resurrected Christ on the shore of the sea of Tiberias (Sea of Galilee). The day before , he and several other disciples went fishing, including John. At this point I dont think that the disciples of Christ were beaten and wearied but they were surely without a clear direction. So they did what they knew to do they referred back to what they were before. Peter was a fisherman so he said, Im going fishing. Its been said that there has existed a bit of competition between Peter and John when you read the Bible you get to know its characters and you begin to see personalities formalize throughout the pages. There seems to be some kind of competition between John and Peter. John, to me, seems to have Peters number not maliciously, I dont think, but hes quick to point out things like as they raced to the empty tomb John writes, the other disciple, meaning John, outran Peter. Here John writes that they were on the boat and Jesus stood on the shore. Jesus yelled, catch anything? They didnt know it was Jesus but answered back nothing. Jesus yelled back. cast your nets on the right side of the boat. They did and their nets were filled. Then he writes that disciple whom Jesus loved said unto Peter its the Lord!. Now it could be that John being figurative with his language. John may have been describing the relationship between Peter as being detached from Christ. Peter being in a state of separation with Christ, with his discipleship with Christ, of his own choice?. Thats totally speculative but, no doubt Peters relationship, because of his own denial of Christ, was fractured. Have you ever been there? Because of your own sin, you begin to sever your relationship with Christ? It starts small. You stop listening to Christian radio. You avoid reading your Bible. You go through the motions at church? Regardless, they seemed to have recognized him without being able to fully see that it was Him. How? Now in my minds eye I can imagine Jesus telling them cast your nets on the right side. This had to seem odd it should have peaked their interest. I can imagine Peter looking up trying to make out the image on the shore . He hears the nets drop hes still looking at the shore . The nets begin to fill he doesnt have to look at the nets to know that theyre full because he hears the commotion, feels the movement of the boat and suddenly they, John and Peter, recognize the CHARACTER of Christ. His PERSONALITY is revealed. Second nature kicks in and he jumps into the water knowing that its Him. Jesus says COME AND DINE.

Now Christ had appeared two other times to the disciples. But this time he ate with them. It was a bit more intimate. This was more personal. The first two times must have been really awe inspiring and there had to be a fantastic air of wonderment about the whole entire situation but this time was different. They sat down with the risen Lord. I can almost imagine Peter, beginning to withdraw inside himself remembering what he did, remembering the things that he said and the stark raving fear that shot through his body when the people asked him about, and associated him, with Jesus. Whatever was going on in Peters heart, Jesus knew it. He asked him, Simon, do you love me more than these? Bible scholars agree that there is some ambiguity in this question. Is he asking do you love me more than these objects ..fishing utensils, employment etc or it may be referring to the other apostles. .. this is the most likely intent of the question which would refer back to what Peter had said earlier john 13 37 LORD WHY CANT I FOLLOW THEE NOW? I WILL LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR THY SAKE! But now Peter had lived it he had followed Jesus and he had denied Jesus. Peter answered him YES LORD. YOU KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU. Feed My Lambs. After all that had happened, all that Peter was feeling and experiencing, Jesus was taking Peter to a place of humility away from his confident pride, so that he would be prepared for the arduous work that was right before him. Jesus was breaking the pot. Jesus asks a second question. He says Simon do you love me? NOW NOTICE that he leaves out the more than these.this is a totally different question. This wasnt a comparative question but it still required a repetitive answer that uncovered his hearts sincerity. Also notice that Jesus is using original name, Simon This disciple .. hes frail, crushed Feed My Sheep. Now its not just the lambs.its a larger commission of watching over the sheep of the fold. Hes reclaiming the clay. A third time Simon, do you love me?. three time, it must of pained Peter, you can almost feel his heart wrenching/breaking. and the tears running down his face! The Bible says that he was grieved!!!! He may have been thinking, he knows that I denied Him three time!!! He knows!!! but what Christ was doing, in all of this, was putting that denial to rest he buried it. Peter said Lord you know everything you know that I love you! Jesus had reminded him of his weakness of faith and his ability to fall and, in doing so, drew Peter into an unshakable relationship He secured Peters obedience. From this point on Peter was one of the most firm and unwavering of all the apostles. From this point, we see the vessel coming into shape. This is the vessel that Jesus would fill with the Holy Spirit and the vessel that He would use to pour out over the people in Acts 2. This is the vessel that would begin working for the

Lord and in dependence of the Lord. You know, theres a difference between being independent and being in dependence right. Independent says I can do all things and in dependence says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Now we can see why, that at that time, he was Simon and why he became PETER , the rock on which the church would be built on. He was transformed and it is His, Jesuss, desire that each and every one of us go through A transformation to bring us into a closer relationship with Him. Awesome is the Lord isnt He? If you havent gone through that transformation yet then Ive got to ask you? Do you want to love Christ? Are you through depending on yourself? Are you ready to depend on Him. You know He says come all who are heavy laden. My yoke is light but yours is heavy. He wants you to move from being independent to being in dependence. If you know the Lord then you have to know that God shapes us. Like clay. Into a vessel that He desires to use. And He will continuously keep shaping you. But there comes a time when He will ask you do you love Me? Are you ready to be a vessel because Im ready to fill you and use you? Do you love me?

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