“…and turned to me again…”
I had not moved from the position in which I had been praying since arriving home from the tomb where Jesus had been laid just three days before.1 Mary Magdalene discovered the tomb was empty and reported what she had seen firsthand and heard from the angel: “Peter! Jesus has been raised from the dead! He is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died!” 2
Kneeling on the stone floor, my head resting on folded hands propped up on a bench by the fire I had made. There is hope!
My mind played back to the events that led up to my run with John to the tomb—
The night before the first day of the week, John and I took turns praying continuously in the upper room where the Twelve of us last supped with the Son of God This familiar place brought comfort for our congregating after experiencing the most gruesome and tortuous eyewitness account of Jesus’ trials, torture, trek, testimony, and death We were in awe of Jesus’ grace and mercy as he hung, nailed to the beams, looking down upon the crowd, saying, “Father, forgive these people because they don’t know what they are doing.” 3 Jesus’ words humbled me to the point of brokenness.
Peter wrestled with the thoughts of his erratic behavior over the past four days. He was frustrated with his rash actions in the garden when he struck the high priest’s servant with his sword4 and then fled.5 He felt demoralized by his spiritual vulnerability and the resulting disloyalty when he denied knowing his Lord three times.6 He was not the stalwart, invincible leader he promised to be for the Twelve.
He recalled the boasts he had made7—after they had broken bread, given thanks, and passed the cup8—when they argued about who was the greatest amongst them.9 Jesus put their pride in perspective when he humbled them, saying, “In this world, the kings and great men order their people around, and yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ But among you, those who are the greatest should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant.” 10
At that moment, he thought of Jesus and John, the disciple whom Jesus loved.11 What was it about John with which Jesus so identified? John was the youngest and by far the most trusting and loving of the Twelve. Jesus favored Peter, John, and his older brother James in His demonstration of signs and miracles, and Peter as the leadership of this band of brothers.12 Yet he, Cephas—the Rock13—routinely blundered in his self-appointed role as their leader.14
Peter’s mind looked back to his first confession of Chri t. He felt the pride he had experienced for being the one to answer Jesus’ question to the disciples traveling with Him, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” Before his mind had even considered the question, Peter had answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 15 It was not of his own thinking, but as Christ himself acknowledged, “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.” Then Jesus warned them not to tell this to anyone16—not that Jesus feared for His life, but rather, that He did not want to lose a single one of them17 on account of their confession. Peter recalled Jesus’ explanation, “For I, the Son of Man, must suffer many terrible things. I will be rejected by the leaders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. I will be killed, but three days later, I will be raised from the dead.” 18
Then I heard these words as if Jesus was standing next to me
now in this room of my home: If you want to be my follower, you must put
aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me.19
At that instant, I realized that my pride and self-confidence kept me
from knowing and loving Christ the way John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, so
willfully portrayed.
Again, I heard Jesus: The leaders who are served are the most important in your eyes, but in the kingdom, it is the servants who l ad. Am I not here with you as one who serves?20
I sat in the chair by the fire, humbled by the words of my Master,
my Teacher, my Lord. Suddenly, I saw him—Jesus!—washing my feet. Tears of
humility flowed, and I cried out, “I am not worthy to be in Your presence,
Lord, for I shamed myself before you and the others when I denied that I am one
of Your disciples.” And then Jesus said to me, “So now put into practice
what I have done for you, and you will experience a life of happiness enriched
with untold blessings!” 21
Then
Jesus, knowing what Peter was thinking,22 held out his hand,
the scar of the nail that pierced his arm evident to the disciple on whose
faith He would build His church23 and said, “Don’t be afraid! From now on, you’ll be fishing for people!” 24 Jesus’ comforting
words took his thoughts to the place where He had initially called Peter to
follow Him,25 and the gesture of Jesus’ hand reaching out to
him filled his heart with the saving grace of his Lord when he became afraid
while walking on water and sank beneath the waves.26
Peter
took Jesus’ hand, touching the scar of sin and the hand of
forgiveness, which then, lifting Peter up, delivered Peter from the sifting of
Satan.27 Jesus said, “If you try to keep your life for
yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find
true life.” 28 Peter now understood why Jesus had washed his
feet.29
I have yet to give you your cross to bear. As this thought crossed his mind, Peter heard Jesus continue, “But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen and build up your brothers.” 30
I closed my eyes and pictured John ahead of me, both of us running, full of anticipation of what we were told we would encounter at the tomb.31 Mary Magdalene’s voice rang in my head: “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and I don’t know where they have put him!” 32 I saw the tomb as clear as if I were there right now: the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head, folded by itself, separate from the linen.33
“The Adventures of Peter-The Last Days”
This story is Step 6 of a 7-part series.
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Praise to Our Father for the words He has given me.
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Copyright © 2004, 2005 Stellar Rhema Ministry
2016 by Jeff Cambridge
2024 bycambridge @ BrokenVav Media
Scripture quotations marked TPT are from The Passion
Translation®. Copyright © 2017, 2018, 2020 by Passion & Fire
Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com.
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