This month’s blog is a continuation from February’s blog, being part two in studying the impact of calling in Peter’s life. We see how Jesus seeks to take time to invest in building his relationship with Peter, Andrew, James, and John before He called them to follow Him. This truth is the same for us in relation to Jesus. The more time we spend with Jesus the more we will know the calling and plan He has for each and every one of us in our lives.
Peter was quite raw between the words he spoke and his physical actions depending on the situation he was in. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John we find Peter living on the forefront with Jesus in being a dearly loved disciple of Jesus and it is through Peter’s words and action we get to learn more about Jesus and the calling he experienced. Now in this month’s blog we will dig more into Peter’s calling as we explore his faith and the leader of the early church he became.
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”
Matthew 16:13-19 NLT
In this passage we witness Peter’s acknowledgement of Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God as this reveals that his eyes had been opened by faith. Jesus states that it was God who revealed His plan to Peter that salvation for all would come through Jesus, the Messiah. God’s will for humanity is becoming unveiled and Peter was permitted to know of this revelation and confess it here in Matthew 16.
A second important element to this passage is after Peter makes his declaration of faith, Jesus blesses him and states that upon Peter, Jesus will build His church and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. Peter was the foundational rock of the early church in being the first confessor and leader of the apostles. This is fundamentally important when studying the calling and plan that Jesus placed in Peter’s life as it is in the birth of the early church where we see Peter step forward boldly as a leader.
In the book of Acts is when the church begins in Jerusalem and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. At this time all the believers were gathered in one place and everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in different languages as the Holy Spirit gave them the ability to do so. Devout Jews from every nation were living in Jerusalem at that time and upon hearing the loud noise came running and were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by all the believers as we read in Acts 2. The crowd stood there both amazed and confused at what was happening genuinely seeking answers for what was happening while others ridiculed the believers saying they were drunk.
However, none of them were drunk, but filled with the Holy Spirit and this is when Peter boldly steps forward with the other eleven apostles shouting to the crowd telling them to listen. Peter addresses the crowd in preaching the Good News beginning in the Old Testament with the prophecies concerning Jesus, that the apostles themselves were witnesses of Jesus’ ministry, that all are called to repent and have faith in God through Jesus Christ, and that both salvation and the presence of the Holy Spirit are promised to new believers who respond to the Good News. When Peter finishes preaching the crowd’s response was this…
Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
Acts 2:37-42 NLT
Previously there were about 120 believers and after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the number of Christians increased to about 3,000 in all. Following this, the number of Christians grew to about 5,000 through the preaching of Peter and John and continued to rise afterwards. Peter was responding and fulfilling the impact of calling that Jesus had given him. In continuing on in Acts we read of how Peter healed a crippled beggar among many others, preached in the Temple and to families, and was persecuted by Jews and the High Council. We read in Acts 5 the response of Peter and the apostles after the High Council orders them flogged…
The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: “Jesus is the Messiah.”
Acts 5:41-42 NLT
That is right, they left rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. How many of us would rejoice after being flogged for faithfully declaring the name of Jesus? In many first world countries such as America, we are quite blessed to practice and profess our Christian faith publicaly while at times we may be oppressed by those around us, but not to the point of persecution I would say, at least not yet. Today many believers face persecution around the world and are even killed for our faith that Jesus is the Messiah. Yet here we find Peter on the front lines of it all being the leader of the early church and of the apostles.
Peter also wrote two books in the Bible being 1 and 2 Peter that was of encouragement to believers. 1 Peter was written to encourage Christians to live a life maintaining holiness in the midst of the non-Christian culture they lived in that created pressure and 2 Peter was written to Christians to address the concern of false teachers in the church. Peter writes in 1 Peter 1…
So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.
For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:13-16 NLT
Peter was of great encouragement to the church by the power and grace of Jesus Christ in being whom Jesus sought to build His church upon. Nevertheless, like many others in the Scriptures, Peter was still human and had moments of failing Jesus throughout his time in being an apostle. For me this gives me hope and reassurance that even though Peter was a leader of the early church and of the apostles, he still failed and every time Christ’s forgiveness was there to meet him with open arms.
So what can we learn from Peter when it comes to The Impact of Calling? I am sure many of us have different insights and thoughts on this and I personally do not want to outright answer this question. Mainly because I want to challenge you to ask yourself this question based off what we have come to learn in last month’s blog and this one as well. For those of you who may not be too familiar with the story of the apostle Peter, I would encourage you to read the four Gospels being Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but perhaps if you only want to read one I would say Luke based off what we have discussed in these two blogs.
We learn of Peter’s impact of calling through Scripture and what better place to explore God’s Word in learning how he worked in Peter’s life and also seeks to work in our own lives. Reading of Peter’s life in the four Gospels, the book of Acts and then reading 1 and 2 Peter are exceptional places to see how Peter was a man of faith and how his obedience and at times failings shaped him into being the leader of the early church and of the apostles.
“In the New Testament, Peter stands as a reassuring example of Christ’s forgiving grace for those who know they’ve failed him – and of the way Christ can graciously restore and use such people for his glory, in spite of their failings.”
NLT Illustrated Study Bible
Best Regards,
Derrick Shipley