Peter - The Faithful Follower
At some point in our lives, we have all been called by Christ to repent of our sins and follow him. And once we begin to follow him, life does not get easier, but it often times becomes even tougher than we could imagine.
At some point in our lives, we have all been called by Christ to repent of our sins and follow him. And once we begin to follow him, life does not get easier, but it often times becomes even tougher than we could imagine. This sinful world was not meant for us who belong to Christ. This world is full of sin, and once we believe in him and are made new, our eyes are opened for the first time to see the world as it really is. We will all stumble along the path in following Christ. Even those who followed Christ as his disciples stumbled in their own ways, but it all starts by being a faithful follower.
First meeting
- John 1:35-42
- Andrew was the younger brother of Peter.
- Andrew, after meeting Jesus, went and brought his brother to meet him.
- Have we shared our faith with those around us?
- Simon could have blown off his younger brother, but he followed him to see Jesus.
- Jesus named Simon, Cephas in Aramaic which translated in Greek is Peter ("Rock").
- He did not yet "follow" Jesus as a disciple.
Who was Peter
- He was a hard working fisherman who had good days and bad.
- He most likely was fairly uneducated.
- He worked for Zebedee who was James' and John's father.
The Call
- Mark 1:17 * Matthew 4:19
- Come, Follow me
- He left his nets at once and followed Jesus. There were no questions or excuses, he left the only life he knew to answer the call.
- What excuses have we used to not Follow Him?
- Luke 5:1-11
- Verse 8, "…. Oh, Lord, please leave me - I'm too much of a sinner to be around you"
- He acknowledged his sinfulness, then Jesus called him to be a fisher of men.
- Verse 11, "And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus."
- Verse 8, "…. Oh, Lord, please leave me - I'm too much of a sinner to be around you"
Denies Knowing Christ
- Matthew 26:31-35 * Mark 14:27-31 * Luke 22:31-38 * John 13:31-38
- Peter boldly says he would never deny Christ.
- It is easy to say what we would do in a given situation. However, we do not always do what we think when we are in the mist of the situation.
- Peter boldly says he would never deny Christ.
- Matthew 26:69-75 * Mark 14:66-72 * Luke 22:54-62 * John 18:25-27
- Peter denies knowing Jesus.
Jesus's challenge to Peter
- John 21:15-22
- Two times Jesus tells Peter to "Follow Me".
- Two words that changed Peters life at the start, would also be used to fuel him for the future.
- Often times, the answer we need is simpler than we make it out to be. Jesus was reminding Peter to just follow Him.
- Two words that changed Peters life at the start, would also be used to fuel him for the future.
- Two times Jesus tells Peter to "Follow Me".
Where to next?
- Matthew 16:13-20
- We go back to see what God has set Peter up for in the beginning.
Peter who boldly stated he would never deny Jesus, did just that not once, not twice, but three times in a very short amount of time. Peter stumbled and fell flat on his face. He left weeping as he knew exactly what had happened. Later after the resurrection, Jesus tells Peter again to "Follow me". Throughout Peters life, he was a faithful follower. Jesus told Peter in the beginning that he would be the "rock" that he would build his Church. Was it because he was a great public speaker, a profound scholar of scripture, or a wealthy and influential man? Or, could it have been that he was a faithful follower? We are not always asked to lead, sometimes we are asked to just "follow me", and He will do the rest.
"We may find that words of faith come easily, but deep appreciation for Christ comes with living by faith."