Transformation > Transportation, or, Thoughts on Christ and Peter
Reading through Luke this morning it hit me--I want to be like Peter.
What glowing example does Peter set in Luke 22:31-65? Let me recap for you: 1) Peter overreacts and slices of a Roman soldier’s ear, and 2) Peter denies Christ three times on the night of the crucifixion.
“And you want to be like him because…?” Rewind with me for a minute to a discussion I had with Kyle recently. He was preparing to teach on boldness and his main text was Acts 3-4. In this passage, Peter and John, well, read it yourself and you’ll see what Peter and John do. The point is, this bold new Peter is the same guy who was too much of a wuss to admit that he was a follower of Christ back in Luke.
Sure, it's easy enough to read the gospel narratives of impetuous Peter and think, "Gosh, what a dweeb!" But honestly, I am equally impetuous and dweebish in my attempts to follow Christ. What hit me while reading Luke was the transformation that occurs in Peter after the resurrection.
In Luke, Jesus tells Peter that after he gets over denying Christ he is to “strengthen the other disciples” (v. 32, GWT). In Acts, we see Peter boldly proclaiming the good news of Christ--boldly associating himself with Jesus—and leading the believers in a prayer for God to strengthen and embolden them all.
I have screwed up. I have sliced off some ears and ran out of some courtyards. But I am not a radically different person because of my encounters with the risen Christ. Not, at least, as radical and bold as, say, impetuous Peter.
The same Jesus who restored Peter and transformed him also transported him. He was not the same person and he was not in the same place. He was changed; he was moved.
I thank God for the story of wuss-man-Peter. It’s a story that offers me hope—despite my denials and lack of faith/understanding, God desires to restore me and to use me restore others. My prayer is that I will be transformed and transported. I want to be a new person living in the new place that He has for me.
What glowing example does Peter set in Luke 22:31-65? Let me recap for you: 1) Peter overreacts and slices of a Roman soldier’s ear, and 2) Peter denies Christ three times on the night of the crucifixion.
“And you want to be like him because…?” Rewind with me for a minute to a discussion I had with Kyle recently. He was preparing to teach on boldness and his main text was Acts 3-4. In this passage, Peter and John, well, read it yourself and you’ll see what Peter and John do. The point is, this bold new Peter is the same guy who was too much of a wuss to admit that he was a follower of Christ back in Luke.
Sure, it's easy enough to read the gospel narratives of impetuous Peter and think, "Gosh, what a dweeb!" But honestly, I am equally impetuous and dweebish in my attempts to follow Christ. What hit me while reading Luke was the transformation that occurs in Peter after the resurrection.
In Luke, Jesus tells Peter that after he gets over denying Christ he is to “strengthen the other disciples” (v. 32, GWT). In Acts, we see Peter boldly proclaiming the good news of Christ--boldly associating himself with Jesus—and leading the believers in a prayer for God to strengthen and embolden them all.
I have screwed up. I have sliced off some ears and ran out of some courtyards. But I am not a radically different person because of my encounters with the risen Christ. Not, at least, as radical and bold as, say, impetuous Peter.
The same Jesus who restored Peter and transformed him also transported him. He was not the same person and he was not in the same place. He was changed; he was moved.
I thank God for the story of wuss-man-Peter. It’s a story that offers me hope—despite my denials and lack of faith/understanding, God desires to restore me and to use me restore others. My prayer is that I will be transformed and transported. I want to be a new person living in the new place that He has for me.
posted by Jenn at 12:42
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