Meet Peter. He is one of the most prominent figures in the New Testament. His life falls conveniently into three categories. There is Peter the disciple. There is Peter the apostle. There is Peter the martyr.
Occasional references to Peter's original name, Symeon, show that he belonged to the Jewish community. His home was in Galilee at Bethsaida. This town on the East Bank of the Jordan River, just north of where it flows into the Sea of Galilee, was both Jewish in culture and religion and also a cosmopolitan community.
Both Andrew, Peter's brother, and Philip, who also came from Bethsaida, bear Greek names. This bilingual setting, arising from Greek culture, explains why Simon, the Greek version of Symeon, became his adopted name. His father's name was Jonah.
At some unspecified point in his life he had married, and in latter days his wife accompanied him on a missionary journey, evidently to Corinth, where she was apparently known. Paul makes a passing reference to her in 1 Corinthians 9:5.
Peter's trade, both at Bethsaida and at Capernaum, a port on the northwest shore of Galilee, was fishing.
Some preachers and writers tend to minimize Peter's cultural attainments. That's unfortunate. When Peter and John are referred to as being "uneducated, common men" in Acts 4:13, it means no more than that they were ignorant of the finer points of the rabbinical interpretation of the Jewish Torah. Peter's exposure to Hellenistic culture in Bethsaida is a counterbalancing argument in favor of Peter's general education. He spoke his native language with a special recognizable accent.
Both Peter and his brother Andrew were followers of John the Baptist (John 1:40-42), as were a considerable number of the original disciples (Acts 1:22), before their call to service by Jesus.
The Gospel according to John tells of the call of Peter to become a disciple of Jesus. We read of this in John 1:40-42. In this context, we have the first replacement of the name "Simon" by "Peter." This name in both the Aramaic and the Greek means "stone" or "rock." This was to be his new name, symbolizing a change of character. Hereafter he would be a new man, consolidated by his relationship to Christ his Lord.
As we know, he did not always live up to this name but it does anticipate the great apostolic pillar he would be. Jesus saw in him the future makings of "rock-man."
Peter was part of Jesus' inner sanctum, a group of three disciples who accompanied Him on special occasions. They were Peter, James and John. In the various lists of the Twelve, Peter stands at the head. In spite of this, I love the fact that the New Testament documents show those closest to our Lord in human terms.
Mark, in particular, was quick to show Peter's humanity. Peter tried pressing on Jesus the role of a popular teacher (Mark 1:35-37). At Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:27-33) Jesus receives Peter's confession of Messiahship with a certain reserve and announces that Peter's subsequent remonstrance is the work of Satan. Even on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mark 9:2-10) we see Jesus somewhat disturbed by Peter's suggestion that they erect three booths associating Jesus with a nationalistic triumph, a kind of painless way to Messianic glory.
Although close to Jesus, Peter, in those early years of discipleship, is seen as one with his own personal weaknesses. Matthew records him as "walking on the water" and makes clear that Peter is a typical disciple who achieves greatness only in dependence upon the Lord. His role is that of a "spokesman for the Twelve," no more and no less.
Although referred to as Peter much earlier, it is only in the post-resurrection appearances of our Lord and in Peter's future ministry that the "rock-man" characteristics truly emerge. It is after Pentecost that Peter became the leading figure in the apostolic church.
Somehow the Holy Spirit got hold of Peter and took an impetuous, eager, overly-energetic, but not-too-wise person, who denied his Lord three times, and disciplined him into a man who made a major contribution to the life of the Christian church. According to church tradition, he ended his life a martyr, crucified head down, out of loyalty to the Lord he had previously denied.
I would like to focus on that particular event which makes him stand out so graphically as a well-intentioned, but flawed, person. I have already read the story to you of how in the Upper Room Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:31-32).
Peter wasn't ready for that comment. Eager, bursting with hyperactive energy, he declares his readiness to follow his Lord to prison and even to death. Imagine the feelings Jesus must have had when He responded, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me" (Luke 22:34).
How could that be? Peter is dumbfounded by the thought. Yet we know the rest of the story.
Later that evening as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, His disciples, including Peter, could not stay awake. Judas came and planted that kiss of betrayal on the cheek of our Lord. What did Peter do? He grabbed his sword, swinging it wildly in the air, and cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest. Jesus demanded, "No more of this!" He touched the man's ear, healing him, surrendering to His captors.
We see Peter following at a distance. We watch Peter during the rest of that cold Jerusalem night. It is at the house of Caiaphas the religious trial of Jesus is carried on. Peter sees a fire in the courtyard and joins the circle of those crowded around it trying to keep warm, only to have a servant girl identify him as a follower of Jesus. Peter responded, "Woman, I don't know him."
A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." He replied, "Man, I am not!" About an hour later, another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean." Peter declared, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed, and Jesus turned and looked straight at Peter. And Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will disown me three times." Historian Luke records: "And he went outside and wept bitterly" (Luke 22:62).
Can you picture his sorrow? Can you identify with his anguish? Let me read to you another description of this fateful night. It is in the words of that great preacher Clarence Edward Macartney.
It is midnight on the night of nights. The fire burns in the courtyard of the high priests. Servants, soldiers, hangers on, and two disciples are standing about that fire. A door opens into a chamber off the courtyard and Jesus is led out, bleeding from the cruel blows which have been showered upon Him, mocked, insulted, and spat upon. Just at that moment a loud, angry voice rings out through the courtyard, saying with coarse oaths, "I never knew him!"
Who can this be? Is it the man whom his brother Andrew brought to Christ, and looking upon whom Jesus said, "Thy name is Simon. Henceforth it shall be Peter, the Rock"? Is it the man who fell at the feet of Christ in the fishing boat and sounded the prayer of all penitents, "Depart from me, O God, for I am a sinful man"?
Is it the man who, when Christ asked His disciple to tell Him who He was, confessed, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God"? Is it the man who, when many of His disciples forsook Him, answered the plaintive question of Jesus, "Will ye also leave me and go away?" with that great word which still in every crisis in life keeps the follower of Christ from the abyss of unbelief, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of Eternal life"?
Is it the man whom Christ took up with him to the Mount of Transfiguration, and who was so inspired by what he saw and heard that he wanted to build three tabernacles and stay there forever? Is it the man who said though all forsook Christ he would not leave Him? Is it the man who with splendid courage drew his sword, and undaunted faced the mob in the garden of Gethsemane?
Yes, Peter, alas, it is thou! Thou art the man! All of heaven's sorrow and amazement is in that look of Christ when he looked upon Peter that night; and the saddest tears that were ever wept were the tears of Peter when he went out that night and wept bitterly.
Let me assure you sin is the saddest word in the Bible and in human speech. The fact is the Bible is the perfect and eternal mirror of the human heart. What we see in the life of Peter is not just past history, it is not just a Bible story. Read the newspapers, survey the New York Times' best selling books, both fiction and non-fiction. Read the stories of the lives of men and women in this community. Read your own life, and you will read stories of noble and gifted persons wrecked and ruined by sin, brought down in bitterness and pain by their betrayal, our betrayal, of all we were ever meant to be.
In spite of all of the warnings of Jesus, we see Peter doing precisely what Jesus predicted. And we see that desperate man as a microcosmic reflection of ourselves.
Can't you say with me, "The things I want to do I don't do, and the things I don't want to do I end up doing?" No, I am not just quoting myself. I am quoting the Apostle Paul who discovered the hard way the ravages of a life torn between all God created it to be, the distortion which comes when our own agenda takes over and eclipses God's.
Those of us who are religious want to think of ourselves as being good people, don't we? To some extent, we are -- because we can always find people who are not as good as us. But that does not deny the reality of sin. For as good as we may be, we -- right along with the biblical characters of old -- are not perfect. Each of us is a sinner. Each of us needs God's forgiveness. Each of us needs to look into the face of that One, hanging crucified on that cross, looking down and saying, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
How does the life of Peter, and the stories I have told about him this morning, apply to you and to me? Try to make sense out of all this by putting this to two verses that I had never really discovered until this week. They are the words of Jesus to Peter before the denial. They read: "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:31-32).
Encapsuled in these two verses are five truths simply stated. They can transform our understanding of who we are and the spiritual struggles which are ours.
Truth one: Satan has an intense desire to destroy every Christian.
Satan wanted to destroy Peter. Satan is particularly interested in tripping up those who are closest to the Lord.
I know what you are thinking. "Satan? Come on, John, we live in the age of modernity. We are post-Enlightenment! Don't take us back into the dark ages with all that talk about Satan and demons. We are sophisticated people. We will grant that there is a force of evil, a kind of negative, cosmic energy of an institutional and social nature that is corrupting. But don't talk about a personal Satan."
Time magazine has an article about the Roman Catholic Church in New York and Cardinal O'Conner and the sensitive way he has endeavored to enable his priests to do battle with demonic forces within that archidocese as evidenced in the occult, child pornography, the destruction of human beings by drugs, murder, sexual disease and Satanism. That's right. Satanism.
Granted, we must be careful we don't go overboard in what we say, attributing everything that goes wrong to forces outside of ourselves, abdicating our responsibility. At the same time, though, we must take the Scripture seriously, being resistant to those endeavors to "demythologize" which robs God's Word of the truth of one of its most basic teachings, that there is a personal Satan. There are demonic forces, and we have to recognize them for what they are.
I agree with the cardinal that there is a place on occasion for an exorcism. The reality is that we are in a spiritual battle, and we need to be armed for it. Our adversary is wily, is crafty, and he prefers to take no prisoners. He would just as soon shoot the walking wounded -- except God doesn't give him that power.
Jesus alerted Peter in advance to the fact that Satan was out to get him. It would be a joy to Satan to see Peter fall and a joy to Satan to see you fall. If he can't destroy you, at least he would like to molest you, defiling you, seducing you into a time of alienation from your Savior. Even if he can't permanently ruin your soul, he would love to destroy the quiet, the joy and the peace which is God's gift to you.
Truth two: Satan is permitted to test your mettle.
I think it would be very frustrating to be Satan. God has allowed Satan certain parameters within which he can function. At the same time, God has put limits on what Satan can do. In fact, God actually uses Satan. Jesus describes that use. He refers to it in agricultural terms when He says, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat."
123 of us journeyed to the Middle East. While we were there we saw Arabs, who still do dry farming, who on the threshing floor sift the wheat on the threshing floor. They throw the wheat and the chaff up in the air together, allowing the wind to blow the lighter chaff away. The wheat grains, which are heavier, fall to the ground.
Somehow Satan's temptations are allowed to sift us for ourselves, to strengthen us so we can see who we really are, as empowered by the Lord. It may be the tough experience of a financial crisis, the deathly disease of someone very close to you, the unfaithfulness of someone you trusted. God is not the author of evil, but God does allow Satan to sift us. What Satan does, as temptation designed to destroy us, can -- if we properly appropriate God's resources -- be the making of us.
Sometimes God allows Satan to sift us not just for ourselves but for the sake of someone else. Where would you and I be today if there wasn't the example of Job, whom God allowed Satan to sift, who stands as a biography today of great encouragement to me and to you.
Even the temptation of Jesus stands as an example of how you and I can handle temptation. What was painful for Him is encouraging to us.
Take the example in contemporary times of Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic. That woman has been sifted. I'll assure you that what is left is the stuff of the highest quality! I take encouragement from her. She says that if God simply stripped away from Christians any struggles, any difficulties, what kind of a witness would we be? It is how we handle the difficulty that tells the world the difference that Jesus Christ makes in a life.
Peter's own temporary lapse, in spite of his determination to be faithful to His Lord, brings nothing but encouragement to me as I struggle with what it is to be faithful to my Savior. The sifting that I go through can be encouraging to you. The sifting that you go through can be encouraging to another if you claim the help of the Lord. The help may be His forgiveness wherein you have fallen. The help may be the strength not to fall.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon says it so beautifully. "The temptations of a minister may be one of the best books in his library because it helps him to understand others and others then to understand that they too can go through temptation and suffering, seeing the example of their pastor."
He goes on to say that a parent may need affliction, for what parent without trials can give good counsel to a tempted, struggling child? Spurgeon adds to it the observation that the more public a Christian is, the more need there is for even greater discipline, so that the very difficulty and roughness of our way can help others to see the glory of Christ's sufficiency.
Peter had to be put through Satan's sieve. What makes us think we can escape?
Truth three: Jesus is praying for you, that your faith may not fail
That's right. Jesus said it to Peter. "... But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail." Jesus knows you better than you know yourself. He is prepared to follow through on you.
How special it is to know that Jesus Himself prays for us. Scriptures teach us that He sitteth now on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, making intercession for us.
Let me tell you what His prayer for you is. It is that your faith fail not. If your faith fails, everything fails. It is the faith He gives you that presents you with the courage you need. It is faith that is the source of the patience to go through whatever you are going through. It is faith that gives you hope. It is faith that enables you to love even those who have aspects to them that are unlovely. It is faith that provides joy even in the midst of sorrow and difficulty.
For God's sake and yours, don't begin to doubt simply because you are tempted. We are told in advance that we will be tempted. Let's not be surprised when we are.
Truth four: You are privileged to turn back to Jesus.
A "come back" is a big thing in athletics. It is something even bigger in the spiritual life.
I am speaking this morning to someone who needs to come to Jesus for the first time. But I am also speaking to someone this morning who needs to "come back" to Jesus. You are a backslider. You are moving sideways in your Christian faith. If you are not moving forward, you are losing ground.
You know that you are no longer experiencing the joy that you once had in your Christian life. Your soul is in the process of decaying. You have lost your first love. You are experiencing what Peter experienced as he got away from his Savior, close to the fire with those people who were the emissaries of the high priests and those who had captured Jesus.
Perhaps you have moved away from your home church, your Christian friends, and that which was such an important part of a spiritual support system. You bought into the anonymity of the fast life, to an environment where not that many people know you that well, where our cities blur one into another and the accountability structures of more traditional living are gone.
For some reason you are here this morning. God is speaking to you. The truth is that God's children are never happy when they leave the Father. Peter wasn't. He wept, and he wept bitterly. It is at this moment that we must remind ourselves of what Jesus said to him prior to his denial. Jesus said, "But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back ..."
Do you catch that? "... when you have turned back." Peter did what Judas didn't. Judas wept bitterly, but he misdirected his repentance in suicidal despair, whereas Peter turned back to the Savior. He heard the rumor that the women had seen the Risen Christ in the garden. He ran to the tomb. He saw the strips of linen. He went away wondering what had happened (Luke 24:9-12).
Next we see him, he is there in Jerusalem in the room with the eleven disciples, Judas missing. Apparently Jesus had already appeared to him individually and now appears to them all. Peter humbled himself to come back to the One who offers true life.
Truth five: Others can learn from you.
Jesus said, "And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." There is no greater witness than someone who humbly has come back to the Lord. Peter just didn't come back; he devoted his life to the serving of others in the Name of his Lord, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Tradition has it that he ended his life as a martyr. Peter, the betrayer, now truly "rock-man." That same tradition says that at his request he was crucified upside down in a sense of unworthiness.
You and I, like Peter, can sound the warning of what happens when you drift away from Jesus. You and I can express our gratitude to God for all He has done by helping others, realizing that grace neither begins nor ends with oneself. You and I can describe the joy of restoration with the Father who is a waiting Father, who yearns to welcome the prodigal home.
A concluding question. What will it be for you? You have met Judas. You have met Peter. Both were on a downward spiral. One was left hanging between heaven and hell in suicidal despair, "the son of perdition." The other turned from his bitter weeping and returned to the Savior's side and is now "rock-man," and upon a faith like his Jesus Christ is building His Church.
Which will you be? Judas? Or Peter?