Biblical Lessons And Story Of Peter

Biblical Lessons And Story Of Peter

KEY SCRIPTURES: Matthew 4:18-20; 10:2; 16:16-19

Matthew 4:18-20 “And Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 4:19 “And he says unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 4:20 “And they immediately left their nets, and followed him.”

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INTRODUCTION

Peter was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ when he began his ministry. From the scripture, Peter was among the most popular biblical characters, he was from a native town of Bethsaida and his father’s name was Jonas. His original name was Simon but it was later changed by Jesus Christ to Cephas which means Stone. He was a fisherman on the sea of Galilee. It was his younger brother, Andrew that brought him to the Messiah. Peter was married before he became one of Jesus’ disciples.

There is something dynamic about his personality because it was found in the bible that he does open his mouth at inappropriate times. One minute in the bible, he was promising undying love for Jesus and the next minute, he was standing in a courtyard swearing he had never even heard of Jesus before. Despite his overzealous and impulsive nature, Peter has a big heart. Peter shared intimacy with Jesus that the other disciples didn’t experience because he was always sternly corrected by Jesus more than any of the other disciples, he was also part of Jesus’ inner circle to witness the transfiguration in Matthew 17. Pater was perceived to be uneducated by people since he was a fisherman but Peter’s conversion after Jesus’ resurrection was among the most dramatic and powerful events. It was recorded in the scripture that on the day of Pentecost, he gave an inspiring and powerful message that moved more people to follow Jesus’ doctrine. Through him and other disciples, miracles were recorded and the church grew daily. 

Peter was imprisoned by King Herod after the death of James, the brother of John but he was miraculously saved by an Angel when prayers were raised on his behalf by the church. There are many biblical lessons to emulate from the story of Peter in the bible. In this article, we will learn some biblical lessons from the story of Peter to apply in our daily walk with God.

• HUMILITY: Luke 5:1-11 

Peter was a humble man and his humility paid him at the end. The Book of Luke gave us an in-depth glance at Peter’s calling. It told us how Jesus appeared at the shore of Galilee, climbed into a boat which happened to be Peter’s boat, despite the sad mood of not being able to catch any fish since morning and still responded to Jesus’ request to row out a little into the water so Jesus could teach the crowd. He waited for Jesus to finish teaching the crowd despite the situation of no catching of fishes till that time. After teaching, Jesus told him to take his nets and take them into the deep water, though he told Jesus the situation of things but he still obeyed Jesus and a great miracle took place which caused Peter to be astonished and considered himself unworthy of Jesus. Through his humble nature, he was able to respond to the power and calling of Jesus. We also should humble ourselves, no matter our level of education or status, we should be humble enough to respond to the power and presence of God on a daily basis. God has a purpose in your life and only him can lead you to that purpose when you leave all and follow him. When you respond to his call in humility, you must now live a separate and holy life, dedicated to doing the will of God.

• AVAILABILITY OF JESUS REDEMPTION AND RESTORATION: Matthew 26:30-55; 69-75; John 21:15-17

After Jesus prophesied during the Last supper, Peter ended up betraying the Lord three times, when he realized what he had done, he wept bitterly. After the resurrection of Jesus, Peter must have felt he can’t be trusted again since he betrayed Jesus but the availability of Jesus’ restoration power had to handle the situation in John 2:15-17, when he asked if Peter loved him once for every time Peter denied knowing Jesus. After Peter responded that he loved Jesus, Jesus encouraged him to care for his sheep which implies that Jesus reassured Peter that his betrayal had been forgiven and not disqualified him from his role as Christ’s trusted ally. The same is true to us as believers, we might have moments of failing in our walk with God or duty towards his kingdom but Jesus is always continually at work to redeem and restore us back to God. You should not give up on yourself but repent and forget past mistakes by pushing on to the future to strive to serve God more. Not forgetting the fact that you are purchasing with a huge price.

• DILIGENT: Peter was a fisherman and earned his living by catching fishes and selling them. He was not irresponsible and unreliable. Peter was diligent, hardworking and industrious which was more of the reason why he was part of Jesus’ disciples. The time Jesus called Peter, he was actually doing his work which means as Christians, we are not expected to be lazy. You are not supposed to burden others but be a blessing in the household of faith. Also, being a fisherman, makes him strong because they have to endure the dangers of water which means as Christians, we should know how to endure hardships because we will always face persecutions.
• BOLDNESS: Acts 4:1-22

From the scripture, after the miracle of healing the lame man at the beautiful gate, Peter and John were locked up by the elders and teachers of the law. The next day, when they were being questioned by them, Peter was bold to preach to them about Jesus. They don’t have education but what they did have was a close relationship with Jesus that made them fearless and bold. Their boldness opened doors to the gospel that no other attribute would have cracked. If we get closer to Jesus Christ, we will be filled with the Holy Spirit which will show through our boldness as well in the things that pertain to Jesus Christ. We need not be afraid to take a stand for Christ before people around us. You should serve God rather than men.

• COMMITTED: Mark 10:28 “Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed you.”

Peter might have been a man that fell many times but he was committed to Christ. He gave up his career and home to follow and serve Christ fully. Peter wanted all of his life to be affected by Jesus. Despite his mistake, he still spends time with Jesus and he was able to transform him through the power of the scripture. As Christians, we should learn to be fully committed to Jesus and not just to experience a touch, our whole lives should be affected by the power of the scripture and allow it to transform us by yielding to the Holy Spirit willingly.

• LOOKING UNTO JESUS ALWAYS: Matthew 14:28-33

The scripture recorded Jesus’ walking on the water, in the process, Peter wanted to be sure it was Jesus and requested that Jesus should command him to come. Jesus told Peter to come and he also was able to walk on water looking at Jesus while walking on water but when he took his eyes off Jesus and saw the wind, he began to sink until Jesus saved him and rebuked him for his little faith. This tells us as Christians that we should always look unto Jesus no matter what life throws at us and even in the tumultuous storm of life, we should still keep looking unto Jesus with faith and wait until the supernatural is released.

• WILLINGNESS TO LEARN: Luke 12:41; Matthew 18:21; Matthew 15:15; Mark 13:3-4

Peter was called to be a disciple which means to obtain necessary knowledge, wisdom and understanding to be an effective preacher of the Gospel. He lived up to this expectation and it was even recorded in the scripture on different occasions where Peter showed his eagerness to learn. This means that as Christians who have been called to be disciples of Christ, we must endeavor to live a life of learning because learning God’s way is a life-long process. We must have a teachable and humble spirit, do our best to learn through Bible study, attending church services and reading more about God’s way of life.

CONCLUSION

The New Testament gave us a glimpse of what it means for ordinary people to follow Jesus. Peter’s relationship with Jesus makes us understand that we also can be comfortable with him no matter where we come from or who we are and also be courageous in our faithfulness towards the calling into God’s kingdom.