Pondering on the transformation of Peter from John chapter 21 to Acts chapter 2. One profound insight that I received in my discipleship class is to read the Bible with fresh eyes as if I am reading it for the first time. We who grew up in churches hear the story first and then read it in the Bible and that robs us of the attention to the details. To me, it feels like the fruit has been waiting to ripen all this time and now suddenly it did.
“What if?” – these 2 words could entirely change our faith and our lives. Jesus was with the disciples for more than three years. Provisions met. Food needs met. Attention in the eyes of the public as decorated servants. They did not need to think of their old professions for a livelihood. That could be why, when Jesus talked about His awaited suffering and death, Peter rebuked Jesus saying that it should not happen to Him. Though Jesus had been foretelling them repeatedly about His crucifixion and death, as their time of understanding and revelation had not come yet, they were blinded and deaf. Before they could process what was happening, Jesus was crucified and buried in the tomb. Imagine the devastation that the disciples must have felt! Their lives changed upside down when their good shepherd was slaughtered. What now? Forget being the royal servants, now the tables have turned and they were afraid to even go out of their houses.
Peter thought that there was no point in wasting any more time. It is best to become practical and go dust up the fishing nets and go back to the fishing profession. In a way that would put some security on his life as the chief priests and others would not consider the disciples as a threat anymore. As in Zechariah 13:7, the shepherd was struck and the sheep fled for their lives.
John chapter 21 – When the calling was to catch men for Jesus, the attempt to catch fish was futile. Jesus gave them a repeat of their first “Follow Me” call. This time He awaited them with a prepared meal. I truly have no words about the heart of Jesus in this place. After the meal, Jesus restores Peter by asking the question, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” indicating that if You are not aligned with My calling, you are a simple Simon, and not Peter. Jesus asks Peter to feed His lamb and sheep. Could it be because Jesus being the good shepherd, passed on the rod and the staff to take care of the lamb and the sheep? Jesus did not forget the littlest lamb either. Isaiah 40:11 He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young. As Peter and the disciples experienced how it felt to be like scattered sheep, Jesus gave them the responsibility of taking care of His other sheep and lamb so they are not scattered by the wolves.
Jesus predicted to Peter about the kind of life he would live for the cost of the gospel and the kind of death by which He will glorify God. Then Acts chapter 2 happens and Peter stood up with the disciples, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd.
See, if Peter had not quoted these verses from the Old Testament and connected them with what had happened, about the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the betrayal that Judas did, and also the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, would we have understood just by reading those verses in the Old Testament?
Joel 2:28-38 In the last days. God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people.
Psalm 16:10 You will not abandon Me to the realm of the dead, You will not let Your holy one see decay.
Moses stated that a prophet will rise from among you and you must listen to everything that He says.
In my little wisdom, I wouldn’t have made any of these connections if Peter had not spoken in Acts chapter 2. And how did Peter suddenly make all these connections from the Old Testament? Luke 12:12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say. It was the work of the Holy Spirit whom they explicitly received just then.
Now, back to my “what if?” question. If Jesus had not resurrected from the dead and had not appeared to these disciples for 40 days and showed them signs and miracles throughout that time thus proving Himself as resurrected, what would have happened? The disciples would have gone back to their fishing and whatever professions and there would not have been anything called the Christian faith. If this Jesus had not made Himself so real to them after He was crucified by resurrecting back to life, why would these disciples, instead of going back to their safe profession, take a U-turn and go about spreading the gospel of Christ and up to the point of being martyred for the sake of their faith in Christ. Just as Jesus predicted to Peter in John chapter 21, Peter gave himself to be crucified upside down as he did not consider himself worthy to be crucified in the same manner as Christ. If something profound had not happened, like the resurrection of Christ, would anyone in their right mind choose a path like this?
What makes me still ponder on the restoration of Peter? Because I can relate to Peter a lot. My common statement is, “Lord, You are worth my everything, my breath, and my life”. I understand that Peter also said the same in the strength of his flesh, which could not sustain him. But the outpouring of the Holy Spirit accomplished everything that Jesus had purposed with Peter’s life. So I commit my desire unto the nail-pierced hands of Jesus. May He equip me to accomplish whatever He has purposed through me, by pouring out His anointing upon me. Amen!
