Jesus knew that Peter was going to have major hiccup on his journey of faith. Peter didn’t want to believe it, but Jesus knew it was going to happen, even before dawn.
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." Luke 22:31-32.
Notice that Jesus didn’t say he had prayed that Peter would be spared from Satan’s test, only that he wouldn’t fail. And of course, Peter did fail. It seems Jesus knew that he would so he gave Peter instructions what to do when he returned from this brief detour on his journey of faith, “strengthen your brothers.”
The New Century Version translates “Help your brothers be stronger when you come back to me.”
Jesus knew that Peter would deny him, run away, then come back, and ultimately strengthen fellow believers. It seems as if Jesus had a plan for Peter’s failure and subsequent ministry.
No, Christ never wants us to fail, but when we do (of our own accord), he wants us to get back up and use that experience to help others. I’m sure Peter would later interact with other fireside chatters that might be tempted to swear and deny their relationship to Christ. The guilt and shame Peter felt from his experience undoubtedly made his encouragement to other believers even more convincing. I’m sure that many times Peter would retell the story about hearing the rooster welcoming a new day and realizing he had really messed up the old day. The hurt in his voice from having broken the heart of his savior would resonate with fellow future deniers of the faith.
Common ground makes ministry possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment