Throughout Scripture, we encounter characters with whom we can sympathize, grumble and even relate. It is the role of Scripture to both teach us about God and help us identify ourselves in relation to God. Whether we read of Adam and Eve, David and Bathsheba, Elijah and Elisha, or Paul and Barnabas, we will all find some of ourselves in each and every character. We might recognize our persistent need to blame others or our lustful eye that can lead to murder. Do we really have a conniving heart, a fear of being hurt and oppressed or a hunger for holiness? Does the passion of Paul to share the Gospel reside in us? When we read Scripture and fail to encounter someone with whom we can relate, our reading has been less than thorough and self-deception has probably taken root.
My life has been a struggle with pride and impulsivity, biting off more than I can chew, and desperately trying to lead yet often failing. At times, I have felt alone. At others, I felt like I had failed God. Both were accompanied with the doubt that God would or could ever use someone like me. That was the reality of my life when I connected with a bold and boisterous fellow in the New Testament. His palate could distinguish the different flavors of feet. His pride could swell the sails of any boat. His understanding was as shallow as a rain puddle in the driest desert. At last, I discovered someone with at least as great of a need of God’s grace as mine. Saint Peter is a New Testament monument of the human need for divine grace with which we should all be able to connect. But… he also had a passion for Jesus that eclipsed the light of his fellow disciples. One would never expect God to use someone like Peter, but this obnoxious fisherman was the Rock upon which Jesus Christ built His church.
This Lenten Devotional shall explore the life of Peter. We will consider both Scripture and Church tradition. We will move from his calling to his redemption, both of which occurred on the shore of Galilee. The journey of his life will help us explore the depths of our own need for the redeeming grace of God.
So what do we know about Saint Peter? To begin, his real name was Simon. He was not an only child; at minimum he had a brother named Andrew. He lived in Capernaum and they had their own fishing boat. His occupational success seems less than stellar as every time we encounter him fishing he has caught nothing despite having been on the water all night. Perhaps that is why he was so quick to leave everything to follow Jesus?
We know he was married, as healing his mother-in-law was one of Jesus’ first healing miracles in the synoptic Gospels. He was quick to speak and slow to understand. He often failed to follow through on bold proclamations. And he could not even beat the beloved disciple in a foot race. But there was something about Peter. Long before he had the courage to enter the tomb first, Jesus saw it and decided to build His church on Cephas. Even though Peter had returned to his former life just as quickly as he originally left it, Jesus still believed he was the rock that would feed His sheep.
On the shore of the Sea of Galilee, through the grace of Christ’s redeeming conversation and the power of the Holy Spirit Peter found in himself the person that Jesus called from the fishing boat three years before. From that moment, he would become a preacher, a healer, a visionary, a prophet and the rock of Jesus’ church. It was in that power and grace that the one who fled and denied for fear of his own death, ultimately humbled himself to death on a cross as he was martyred for the cause of Christ. Peter’s enduring legacy is the beginning of the story that is the Body of Christ.
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