What Peter learned

The idea of Peter wanting to walk on water bugs me. Was he faithful for asking to join Jesus or was he proud in thinking he deserved divine intervention? Or did he just lack common sense?

In Matthew's account of Jesus walking on the sea to the disciples' boat, we get the idea of Jesus being master over the elements. He could stop a storm and stroll on top of water.

But there's another component to this story as well. in the Bible, the sea also represents chaos, danger, and death. Jesus, in walking on top of that, was revealing that he could master those elements as well. He was not bound chaos and death.

A boat was a life-saving device, protecting those inside from the sea. Peter asked Jesus for permission to leave that protection to come to the Lord.

When Peter became afraid, Jesus saved him but also rebuked him: "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" (Matt 14:31)

I take Jesus' rebuke seriously. Would Peter have been better off staying in the boat?

Was Peter trying to get closer to the Lord or was he trying to align himself with a person of power? Was his attempt to one-up his fellow disciples or to leave safety for a walk over chaos and death?

Jesus' rebuke makes me think his intentions were mixed.

Peter had a lot to learn before he could go change the world for Jesus. Faith was at the core of that. The next time Peter leaped from a boat, he met a resurrected Jesus who invited him into ministry. (John 21) Broken and humiliated by his denial of Jesus, Peter found Jesus ready to care for him, asking him to care for others.

We never hear of Peter walking on water again, but we definitely hear of him giving everything he had to obey Jesus' command.

Peter had failures but through them he learned this:

Set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance.1 Peter 1:13-14

Evildoers for the Lord??

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge (1 Peter 2:11-12)

I could make a case to you that these verses show the “bring them to Jesus by my actions” sort of evangelism: conduct myself honorably. Be honest, be hard working, be committed to my family and they’ll glorify God when he comes. But notice the first sentence: abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war.

I am being called in to warfare. What desires wage war against the soul? Am I honest when it hurts to tell the truth? Am I willing to shed an attitude when it tears at my soul? Am I prepared to crush a habit because it focuses me on my desires? For me, it may be food. Or pride. Or self-indulgence. For the next person, it may be fear. Or self-righteousness. Or love of man’s approval.

Peter is not talking about returning incorrect change at the gas station. He is talking about warfare. Am I willing to be labeled an evildoer because of Jesus? In the Roman Empire, religions were tolerated and many gods were honored. The Christian way of serving only one God was viewed as unreligious and so Christians were sometimes viewed with suspicion as dishonorable and evil.

Peter counsels his readers to wage war against physical desires – to look different from the indulgent ways of the Romans. This comes not by a pious appearance but by a war of spiritual forces. Wage war for your soul. Battle those things that would destroy the heart. Seek to crush the pride and jealousy and envy and fear and self-righteousness which woo the heart and threaten our relationship with God. Then they will see God in our lives.