We return once again to the 10th Chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. We have been absent from this study for a time, so I want to review for a moment what we have discovered so far in this section of our study.
We began looking at the men that Jesus commissioned that day to begin sharing the gospel of His coming. This is where the learners become the doers, where the Disciples become the Apostles (the sent-out ones). This is the pivotal point in their lives, just as it is in our own lives when we arrive at the point when it is time for us to do with and for others what has been done with and for us.
From followers to leaders, these twelve men are taking on new and challenging risks – risks like they have never taken before. As we will see in their commissioning, they are to take next to nothing with them, relying on the grace of God and the grace that those who love God will share with them. Where all of them have been self-reliant and able to survive and thrive in the world, they are being asked by Jesus to set aside what they know and the strengths they think they have. They are to become more dependent on walking by faith than they ever have imagined they would. They are ready, whether they realize it or not. They have been prepared, and now it is time to do.
In a book entitled "Quiet Talks on Service", written by a man named Dr. S. D. Gordon, a fantasy is painted for is that is strikingly poignant and says much. Dr. Gordon shows Jesus walking down the golden streets of heaven. He has just returned from earth in His ascension. All heaven is eager to greet Him and welcome Him, and the first to rush up in excitement and greet Him is Gabriel. They have known each other forever, it seems, and these two companions of old walk and arm in arm along those streets of golden. Gabriel – curious – engages Jesus in a conversation that (in the fantasy) goes something like this:
"Master, You died for the whole world down there, did You not?"
"Yes."
"You have suffered much."
"Yes," the Lord said. "
And do they all know what You did for them?" replied Gabriel.
"Oh, no...no; only a few in Palestine know about it so far."
Gabriel replies, "Well, Master, what’s Your plan? What have You done about telling the world that You died for them, that You shed Your blood for all of them? What is your plan?" Gabriel waited expectantly, anticipating a grandiose plan – along the lines of the Creation itself.
And Jesus answered, "Well, I asked Peter and James and John and Andrew and a few other fellows to make it the business of their lives to tell others. And then the ones that they tell could tell others, and then the ones that they tell could tell others, and the ones that they tell could tell others, and on and on and finally it would reach to the farthest corner of the earth and all would know the thrill and power and blessing of the gospel."
And Gabriel is said to have replied, "But suppose Peter fails? Suppose after awhile that John just doesn’t tell anybody? What if James and Andrew are ashamed or afraid? What if the rest of them simply chicken out? What then?"
To which Jesus replies, "Gabriel, I haven’t made any other plans. I’m counting totally on them."
This, again, is a fantasy conversation, but one we can well imagine could take place, for that is just what Jesus did – He made the spreading of the Good News of the coming of the Savior dependent upon the faithfulness and dedication of twelve men from a little, backwater country in the middle of the world. He trained them, He prepared them, He equipped, them, He authorized them, and then He empowered them – the rest was up to them.
These twelve men are part of the foundation of the Church – the apostles and the prophets – as Paul states in Ephesians 2:20. It is these men who are the pattern for the rest of us to observe and follow. Despite their failings, they are men of virtue and strength. Despite their weaknesses, they are the men Jesus chose to reveal the deepest mysteries of God to in order that they would pass them on to those of us who would believe down through the ages. From these men, along with the Apostle Paul, we get our understanding of God, the person and mission of Jesus Christ, the composition of the Body of Christ, as well as its place in God’s plan. From them, also, we see what it is for each of us to know and live in obedience to the Word and the will of Jesus Christ.
As we saw last time, the parallel account in Mark 6:7 tells us that Jesus sent them out in pairs. Dr. Luke gives us the groupings of the Twelve in Luke 6 and Acts 1, Mark does so in Mark 3, and, of course, we have this breakdown of the groupings in Matthew 10. In all four lists, Peter is first, Judas Iscariot is last – the extreme opposites of character and loyalty and love for the Savior. Each group is listed in the order in which each group is called, and we know less about the members of each group as we progress down the list. The groups never vary; they are always the same. The order within the group may change, but they groupings are always the same and the same name is listed first in each group in every list.
This tells us that, just as the apostles would always have a leader, each subgroup also had a leader.
Even though Peter wasn’t called first to follow Jesus, he is called “first” because Jesus chose him as “first in importance”. He was the chosen and acknowledged leader of the group.
One of the most encouraging things about Peter being chosen as the leader as you will see as we investigate his character further, is that Peter is the most human, the most passionate, the most involved, and the most likely to say the wrong thing of any of the Twelve. The reason this is encouraging is that it shows that Jesus cares more about our willingness to be used of Him than about our abilities or our weaknesses. All He needs is the raw material made available, and He can work miracles!
Remember when Paul says, “but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).” This group of men is a living witness to that fact, and Peter is “first among them.”
So, let’s look at Peter, the big fisherman from Galilee. Remember that Galilee would be like Mobile-Home-Ville in Arkansas.
His given name was Simon, which was a very, very common name. He was a son of Jonas, or Jonah. A fisherman by trade who lived with his brother Andrew in a village called Bethsaida. Later on, they all moved to Capernaum. They were fishing partners with the other two brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. We find from the Scriptures that Simon Peter was married because the Lord healed his mother-in-law, which we discussed when we studied Matthew 8:14-17. In I Corinthians 9:5, Paul makes an interesting observation when he says, “Do we not have a right to take along a believing [sister as] wife, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?” Cephas is Aramaic for “Rock”. This tells us that Peter and the other Apostles, including Jesus’ own brothers, were married and that their wives traveled with them in their ministries. (Side Note: If Jesus or Paul had been married, Paul would most likely have indicated so right here to bolster his argument. By that omission, it is reasonable to assume that neither Jesus nor Paul was married.)
Peter was not an educated or learned man. No college, no seminary, not even a high school diploma. Yet, he was a man’s-man, a man who worked hard, was skilled at his job, was loyal and faithful to his family and friends, a man of integrity, a man who cared deeply for others, and a man who loved his God more than life itself.
These characteristics and more make up the man Simon, who will become the Apostle Peter – the Rock. Jesus nicknamed him “Rocky” the day he proclaimed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16).”
Let’s take a look at what Jesus had to work with to make Peter a leader among leaders. Let’s look at that raw material.
First of all, he was a man who asked questions – lots of them! In fact, if you take all of the questions asked of Jesus by everyone else in the gospel records, you will find that all combined they asked far fewer questions than Peter did. Peter always wanted to know why something was so, what something meant, or what he was supposed to do about something Jesus taught or did.
It was Peter who asked how many times he had to forgive his brother; it was Peter who asked the Lord, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us? (Matthew 19:27)” It was also Peter who wanted to know what Jesus meant in His teachings, like in Matthew 13:16, Matthew 15:15, Mark 11:21, and Mark 13:3. It was Peter who suggested that they build a tabernacle for Jesus and Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration; it was Peter who declared that Jesus shouldn’t be so defeatist and speak about His upcoming death; and, it was Peter who declared that even if the other disciples abandoned Jesus, Peter would stay by His side, even to the death. There is much, much more about Peter and his questions and questioning that we could say, but you get the idea.
The important thing about this characteristic is that people who become leaders are people who want to know the “what” and the “why” of something. They are people who seek solutions to the problems and questions and doubts in their lives and the lives of those around them. This was the first and perhaps the strongest characteristics in Peter’s “arsenal” of raw material to become a leader of leaders.
Secondly, Peter was always the one who was nearest to Jesus – right in the middle of everything. Wherever Jesus went (unless He had purposely sent Peter and the others away or had slipped away from them on His own), there was Peter. Looking over the gospel accounts, I get the impression that Jesus probably literally bumped into Peter more than once.
When Jesus came walking across the water toward them in the storm, who was it that got out of the boat and walked toward Jesus? Peter. Who was it that Jesus always chose to go with Him on special outings (with James and John)? Peter. And on the night Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, who was right there, wielding a sword in his untrained hand, trying to defend Jesus? Peter.
All through the gospels, it is Peter who is found to be ever present when Jesus does something or asks a question. In fact, Peter was the only disciple around the home of the High Priest the night Jesus was tried by the Sanhedrin. Granted, Peter denied Jesus three times, just as Jesus had prophesied he would early the evening before. But, none of the other disciples were even around to deny or not deny the Lord.
Leaders are people who make things happen or who are in the middle of great events as they happen. That’s Peter for sure.
The third thing we see about Peter and the raw materials Jesus had to work with to make him a leader of leaders is initiative. We saw some of this when we talked about Peter walking on the water. All of the disciples were terrified of the storm, yet Peter alone was willing to step out of the boat: “‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’ And He said, ‘Come!’ And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus (Matthew 14:28-29).”
Just like when no one understood what Jesus was talking about and Peter asked, “What does this mean?” so Peter is the only one willing to take the initiative and step out in faith and walk to Jesus on the water. Again, even though he sank, he was the only one in the position to sink or not sink, just as he was the only one in a position to deny or not deny.
Peter was willing to take risks, just like all who become leaders. What they are willing to do makes little or no sense to others, but it makes perfect sense to them. They have the ability to take the initiative and do when others just sit back and watch. Again, we see that Peter was pretty much destined to be the leader of the leaders.
Peter had a couple of character traits that were not so much on the straight and narrow.
First of all, he vacillated; he wavered a lot. One second he’s the staunch follower and believer, the next he’s carnal and doubtful. This is something that seems to have followed him for most of his life, even long after he was the leader of the Christian Church at-large. Look again at Peter’s little “walk on the wild side”. There he is, walking on the water toward Jesus, demonstrating greater faith than his contemporaries, and what happens? He gets his eye off of Jesus and onto the storm and he begins sinking. Fortunately, Jesus is right there, anticipating this. Peter cries out, “Lord, save me!” And Jesus reaches out His hand and pulls him up and walks him back to the boat and climbs in with him. There are many times when Jesus is going to have to take Peter by the hand and walk him to a place of safety, a place of peace, a place of calm and balance.
Let’s take a moment and look at Matthew 16:13-20. Take special note again of Peter’s declaration, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16).” Now let’s move on and read Matthew 16:21-23. What a remarkable contradiction. One moment Jesus is commending the revelation that God has given to Peter, announcing that his declaration of Who Jesus really is will be the foundation that His Church will be built on. He then states to Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…(verse 19a).” In fact, we see God giving Peter the opportunity to use those keys and unlock the kingdom of heaven for the Gentiles in Acts 10. The interesting thing about that account is that, once again, we find Peter arguing with the Lord. Later we see Peter vacillating about this very issue until he is confronted by Paul, as recorded in Galatians 2:11-13ff.
There are several other occasions when we see Peter vacillating between two opposing attitudes or behaviors. Yet in every case, Jesus (or His spokesman) calls him on it and he repents – he changes his mind and goes full steam down the right path.
That, too, is one of the very strong traits of Peter’s character. He was a man who did nothing halfway; leaders don’t. When he and John ran to the empty tomb that first Resurrection Morning, John may have gotten there first, but Peter blew past him and ran into the tomb to see whatever there was to see. Even when Peter went back to Galilee after Jesus’ resurrection and went back to fishing, he did so with full-out devotion to his task. When the fishing was lousy and Jesus waited for them on the beach with breakfast, as soon as he found out that it was the Lord, he ran through the surf to be the first one there.
The first twelve chapters of Acts are pretty much about Peter. There he is most definitely the leader of the church:
In Acts 1, he is the one who determines, without instruction from the Lord, that Judas must be replaced among the Twelve.
In Acts 2, he becomes the first spokesman of the church on Pentecost and preaches the first and probably the most powerfully Spirit-filled sermon of all time.
In Acts 3, he and John heal the lame man, then defy the Sanhedrin in Acts 4.
In Acts 5, he demonstrates profound gifts of knowledge, wisdom and prophecy when he deals with the hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira.
In Acts 8, Peter handles the carnal desires of Simon the magician in Samaria, who wanted to purchase from Peter the ability to bestow others with the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands.
In Acts 9, he heals Aeneas and raises Dorcas from the dead.
In Acts 10-11, Peter is the first one to preach the gospel to the Gentiles and to see the first Gentile conversions to Christianity since Christ’s ascension.
Tradition tells us that Peter was led away to his death just as was prophesied to him by Jesus Christ Himself in John 21:18-19. We are told that Peter was forced to first watch his wife die the cruel death by crucifixion before he himself was crucified. The story goes that Peter stood before his wife’s cross saying over and over again, “Remember the Lord; remember the Lord.” When it was his turn to die, he requested that he be crucified upside down, for he felt that he was unworthy to die as his Savior had. Tradition tells us that his request was granted.
All through his life, in spite of his weaknesses and shortcomings, Peter was a man of determined strength, nobility of character, the strength to overcome his weaknesses, and a man who learned every lesson that Jesus tried to teach him. He learned them so well, in fact, that you find them throughout his two epistles: humility, self-control, submission to authority, self-sacrifice, grace and courage in suffering, devotion to the gospel, and a deep and abiding love for Jesus Christ and for others. Through his writings, he accomplishes the rest of his mission for Jesus by passing those lessons on to us and millions of others just like us.
What kind of raw material does Jesus have to work with in you? Can you identify with Peter? If so, then there is no more reason to wait. Let Jesus begin right now, today, teaching you the lessons that you need to learn and molding and shaping your character into the character He desires so that you may be used mightily of Him.
If not, stay with us for the next few weeks as we study the rest of the disciples. I’m confident that you’re going to find at least one of them that sounds a lot like you.
Let’s pray.
