Good morning, beloved,
One of the most difficult things about reading the Bible is understanding context, at least to me. The Gospel writers are telling the stories to their audience, of their day, of their time, knowing who will be receiving the letters. For instance, as I write this blog, there are certain ways, sayings, idioms that we understand, but to someone 2000 years from now, the meaning may be lost to them.
In the following story, so often, we are very hard on Peter. We criticize Peter for rebuking Jesus or for a lack of understanding. Let’s read and then we’ll discuss…or rather, I’ll discuss. I’d love to have your comments!
29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.
31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life[d] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
So, in verse 29, Jesus bluntly drills Peter. Who am I? Peter knows the answer and without missing a beat…
You are the Christ.
You are the Messiah. The long expected One, the One my ancestors have been waiting for, we have longed for..I’m staring right at Him. He’s here. And I’m telling Him to. His. FACE. Exit stage left. New scene…
Verse 31. Okay, so this could have happened right after. This could have been a couple of days later. We don’t exactly know. These are memories Mark is writing down, right? So, the next entry begins…
Jesus began to teach…
Verse 32. Peter amazes. You can see why Jesus said upon this rock I will build my church,(Matthew 16:18) right? I mean, it really does take a certain type of strength to pull the Son of Man aside and rebuke Him. Obviously, Jesus saw Peter’s heart. Jesus saw what Peter was doing and it was not after God’s interests, it was man’s. See the rest of these verses.
Peter, in his heart, was not setting his mind and heart on God’s interests, but man’s. Here’s the problem though, and Jesus knew this intimately. He explained this to the disciples before He left them. This was prophesied in Jeremiah. Peter and the rest of the disciples had hearts of stone. They were softening. They needed, well, look with me.
33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
The first covenant that the Lord made with His people Israel was on stone tablets. The Lord was telling Jeremiah there would be a covenant to come, a new covenant and He would put the law in them. Let me remind you of something Jesus said that the Last Supper…
Luke 22:20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.
Know the Lord, for they will all know Me…The beauty of the fulfillment of Scripture! Let me show you this! 🙂
7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
8 Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.
for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more…Jesus, the Lamb of God, would come and take away the sins of the world by dying on that terrible cross. A scene that our beloved Peter, the redemption scene for Peter, for poor Peter, his story is not perfect. He denies Jesus. He falls many times before that church is built on his back. Let me share with you, Peter’s redemption…
John 21:15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus *said to Simon Peter, “Simon,son of John, do you [f]love Me more than these?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I [g]love You.” He *said to him, “Tend My lambs.” 16 He *said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you [h]love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I [i]love You.” He *said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” 17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you [j]love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you [k]love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I [l]love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep.
That heart of stone that we beheld in the beginning of this blog? Gone. It has been replaced. A beautiful transformation, all because of Jesus.
Pray on. Pray on.
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