Peter - Hope that's Rocky

Peter’s Story

Being a Christian does not mean that everything is plain sailing! Far from it! Peter knew that only too well. One of those first fishermen to be called by Jesus he did not have an easy time of it at all. It’s not just that hope eluded him from time to time, things happened that called in question his commitment to following Jesus … and that troubled him. Indeed, Peter doesn’t fit into any stereotype of what it means to be a Christian. The very uncertainties that surround Peter’s story make that story a very good place to start in reading the New Testament. That’s specially the case if you are the kind of person who finds that faith is sometimes called into question and hope seems hard to come by.

Was there every a point when Peter could say, “I’ve got it right! That’s it! Now I’ve really got it”?

Was it when Jesus said to the fisherman by the Sea of Galilee, Follow me? Mark 1:16-18.

Or when Jesus healed his mother-in-law? Mark 1:29-31

Or when Jesus outlined all that he stood for in the Sermon on the Mount ? Matthew 5-7

It certainly looks as if he’d got it by then!

And yet, and yet! Confronted with a storm at sea Peter thought his faith was big enough to enable him to walk on water. When he found it wasn’t Jesus could say to him, “O you of little faith …” (Matthew 14:28-33)

He though he’d got it a little while later. After all when Jesus asked his twelve closest followers who do you say that I am, Peter was the one who said with confidence, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God” Matthew 16:16 Read the story just in Matthew’s Gospel and you really get the feeling he’s made it. “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah!” Jesus says to him, “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church …” Matthew 16:17-19

And yet, not all is as it seems. It is at that moment Mark tells us that Jesus adopted a very stern attitude to Peter and the others. Jesus spoke of the suffering that would come his way and of his death and of resurrection beyond. Such talk of suffering and death Peter could not stomach. That was not what would happen to the Messiah. And he told Jesus so. To which Jesus replied, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things!”

That’s some indictment of Peter … an un-nerving one at that!

Was everything put right by the time Peter witnessed the glory of God in the face of Jesus in that wonderful mountain top experience related in Mark 9:2ff.

You might have thought so! Did Peter stand aloof from the arguments on the way to Jerusalem about who should be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Did he have a quiet faith that would see him through by this time. It would seem so. He has a remarkable confidence at the Last Supper Jesus shared with his disciples: “Even though all become deserters, I will not.” It is at that point, however, that Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” (Mark 14:26-31)

And that night he did deny Jesus three times. And Peter broke down in tears and wept. (Mark 14:72)

He couldn’t stick it out at the cross and with the others stood at a distance.

Was everything put right when on the day of resurrection he ran to the tomb? When later he saw Jesus in the upper room and heard him say, ‘Peace be with you, do not be afraid.” (John 20). Or was it a little after that, when the risen Jesus sat down for one more meal on the shore. Three times he called in question Peter’s love for him. Peter had to declare his love for Christ three times.

Fear kept Peter and the others behind locked doors in Jerusalem.

Maybe it all fell into place when the Holy Spirit was released into his heart. After all on the Day of Pentecost it was Peter who spoke up for all the others in a speech that was to become typical of the preaching of the first followers of Jesus.

It had confidence. The expectations of Israel’s prophets were fulfilled in the coming of the Spirit of God (Acts 2:14-21); he told of the life, the death and the resurrection of Jesus, showing how that was the fulfilment of the prophets of old (Acts 2:22-28). He spoke with such confidence because he was a witness of the resurrection, knew that Jesus reigned with God, and that the unseen yet very real power of God in the Holy Spirit was let loose in his life (Acts 2:29-36)

Peter knew what people had to do. And this was open to all people.

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” (Acts 2:27-42).

This is a wonderful faith. Confident. Full of Hope.

Peter lived it to the full. Healing, preaching, praying.

It was the kind of confident faith that took him to prison and made him sure that come what may God would be with him. Acts 3-4. His story is taken up again in Acts 9:32.

But still he hadn’t got it! Peter had a major hang up. He couldn’t bring himself to believe that this good news was really for everyone. It took a vision on a rooftop to convince him. Then it was that he met up with Cornelius, a centurion. Not only did he cross that divide and reach out to the Gentile centurion, but he also challenged the church in Jerusalem to be more inclusive.

“I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Acts 10:34-35

This is the climax of the story of Peter. When one of the twelve is executed, Peter finds himself in prison again. On his release he stands by his faith ‘left and went to another place’. (Acts 12:17). And on that note Peter’s story is finished.

But Peter’s presence and his contribution to the New Testament is not over.

It is not insignificant that the letters that are linked to Peter are among that group of seven letters at the end of the New Testament that are sometimes called the Catholic Epistles. That doesn’t have anything to do with modern denominational labels! The word ‘catholic’ simply means for everyone, for the whole world. That’s who Peter writes for.

His letters have a confidence about them. They are written for Christians everywhere and in every age.

And yet out of his ‘rocky’ experience, Peter recognises that following in the footsteps of Jesus will be tough. It is out of that experience that he is able to say that come way may God will always be there.




Peter’s First Letter

This is for everyone … everywhere who knows they’re part a family with God as Father. It’s for everyone … everywhere who feels the unseen yet very real presence of God as Spirit making a difference in their lives. It’s for everyone … everywhere who seeks to be obedient to the call of Jesus, falls down on the job and then looks to the cross and knows for sure they are forgiven. And with it comes all the grace and all the peace you will ever need!

Hope? It’s down to the loving forgiveness of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it’s alive! A living hope rooted in nothing less than the resurrection of Jesus.

We’ve seen it for ourselves – and it has made all the difference. Even though you’ve not seen it for yourselves you are as much part of it as we are. Jesus rose from the dead. And we can all have a share in that resurrection victory! What a difference that makes. In the face of all the world can hurl at us, we have a hope that will never let us down.

That needs to make a difference to the way we all lead our lives. A life rooted in faith, the kind of faith that means we have hope will be a life of action. Money and all the troubles that come with it are not the be all and end all. There’s no place for deceit: you can’t say you believe one thing and then behave as if you didn’t believe anything at all! We can live our lives in such a way that other people can see in us the love God has for them … and so share the hope! We need to be prepared to explain the hope that is within us when people put us on the spot and ask questions of us!

The most important thing is to follow in the footsteps of Christ and take his way of love seriously … even if it means putting yourself last and other people first. Do that and you will find that you are a good citizen, you will get your family relationships right, and you will be in a position to hand on the wonderful gifts of God’s creation that were handed on to you.

Being part of God’s people, letting his rule come into your hearts, your home and your world is no easy task – you will be up against it at times. Look after each other, be honest about your own inadequacies accept some discipline in your spiritual life and then take a stand against all the evil there is in the world around.

Jesus thought of Peter the writer of this letter as a rock in spite of all his inadequacies – who knows if we take his advice seriously we’ll be the living stones that make up the living house of God on earth. It’s worth a try!




Peter’s Second Letter

You may not have been there and seen for yourselves but your faith is as precious as ours, writes apostle and Servant of Jesus, Simon Peter in his second letter. In all that you know about God and of Jesus our Lord what’s most important is that you have the free gift of God’s love in your heart and his peace in your innermost being.


Following Jesus it is as if we become part of God and God becomes part of us. But faith on its own is not enough. To faith add goodness. To goodness add knowledge. To knowledge add self-control. To self-control add stickability. To stickability. add godliness. To godliness add mutual affection. And to mutual affection add love.


Follow this kind of path and it lead into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. My writings are designed to help you keep all that has been passed on to you about Jesus.
After all I saw him in all his glory with my own eyes. That’s the message I have passed on to you so that the light of Christ’s presence may dawn in your lives.


What you read in Scripture has a ring of truth to it as those who have written the Scriptures were moved by the Holy Spirit and spoke from God.


Beware those who would lead you away from the path set out by Jesus Christ.


Whether it be injustice, self-centred greed or destructive immorality it will result in all that is good being torn apart. Hold fast to the truths of Christ and walk in the light of his way.


Just as it had a beginning so the world has an end. Just as the beginning of God’s creation was in God’s hands so the end of that creation will be in God’s hands. No one knows when that end will come. But in each generation there will be plenty of things around in the suffering of the world that will remind you of the possibility that one day it will come to an end. Let that always be a prompt to you to follow in the way Jesus has mapped out for us to follow.


As we follow in the footsteps of Jesus we sense the presence of his love and look to the glory that is to come. We wait for nothing less than new heavens and a new earth where righteousness is at home!


Meantime, the key thing is peace. That’s the wholeness that Jesus Christ brings into our lives. That’s what all of Paul’s letters are about as well!


We need to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.