Shalom,

As we enter into a fresh New Year, I pray that our Lord Jesus will help you understand the length, the breadth, the height and the depth of the Father's love for you. I pray that He will bring you to the level of experience that transformed a foul-mouthed, fast-talking fisherman named "Simon" (in Hebrew it means "hearing") into "Peter" (in Greek, Petros means "Rock") and finally becoming a pillar of strength to the Church.

In Matthew 26: 31 - 35, we read of the discussion that Jesus had with His disciples during the Last Supper and how He felt sad because all His disciples would leave Him soon just when He needed them most.

31 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:
'I will strike the Shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered'.

32 But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.

33 Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble."

34 Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."

35 Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" And so said all the disciples.

Peter promised that he would stick with Jesus even if that meant certain death. He wanted to demonstrate to Jesus his devotion and love for Him. And just a few hours later, what happened? Judas Iscariot came with a large contingent of soldiers (about 500 of them judging from the structure of the Roman guard existing in that period) to arrest Jesus and His disciples. The Bible tells us that all His disciples fled and were nowhere to be found.

In the later part of that same chapter, the apostle Matthew tells us that Peter followed Jesus from a distance and was in the courtyard warming himself by the fire. In verses 69 - 74, we read how Peter, under pressure, swore and deny that he ever knew Jesus. And at that very instant the rooster crowed and Luke recorded for us very beautifully that the Lord Jesus turned around and looked at Peter. There must have been compassion in His eyes because Luke mentioned that Peter immediately remembered his breaking of the promise he made to Jesus over supper that he would never leave Jesus and that he was prepared to even die for the Lord.

The apostle Peter was a man who would boast of his love for Jesus and what he would do for Him. Some of us may call him a "fair weathered friend" and I am not sure whether you have known any but certainly I have. I knew of one person who used to be very proud of his newfound faith and would often boast that he will do anything for Jesus even to die for his faith. Fortunately, like Peter also, he learnt his lesson and changed his attitude and learnt to build his faith in Jesus' love.

I am glad that the Holy Spirit did not stop mentioning the apostle Peter after that incident of his denial of Jesus. I am glad the apostle John recorded for us, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, how one morning our resurrected Lord Jesus appeared before His disciples while they were out fishing on the Sea of Galilee in John chapter 21. The whole night Peter, James, John, Thomas, Nathaniel and two others caught nothing and it was very early in the morning and they were preparing to come back ashore when Jesus appeared on the beach and inquired whether they had caught any fish. And when they replied that they had caught nothing, Jesus directed them to drop their nets on the right side of the boat for a catch.

When they obeyed and cast their nets, they caught so many fish that they were unable to draw in their nets. Finally, when John realized that it was Jesus and told everyone that it was the Lord Who was there on the beach, Peter jumped into the water and swam ashore. Now, when they had reached the shore with their nets full of fish, Jesus had already prepared them breakfast over the open fire. The disciples had breakfast with Jesus there on the beach and it must have been a fairly quiet breakfast because nobody dared to ask Jesus whether it was really Him. Peter was too embarrassed and scared to even open his mouth to ask Jesus for His forgiveness.

It was Jesus Who took the initiative and He asked Peter three times whether he loved Him. It is interesting the Greek words for love that Jesus used. In Greek, there are four words that could be used to describe 'love' unlike the English where there is only one word.
'erotica' - physical love as between a husband and his wife
'phileo' - common type of love exercised between friends as in the English 'like'
'stogae' - family love between siblings, parent-child love
'agape' - the highest form of love that Jesus has for us that drove Him to the Cross to die for us. Interestingly there was no such word before Jesus' time and He was the One Who coined the term because no one had ever died for someone else like Jesus had.

Twice Jesus asked Peter whether he 'agape' Him and Peter could not answer Jesus that he 'agape' Him. Peter could only answer Jesus that he 'phileo' Him. On the final time, Jesus brought Himself down to Peter's level and asked him whether he 'phileo' Him. When Peter realized what Jesus was doing, he broke down and cried.

Peter the fisherman, who was always quick on the draw with his mouth before he engaged his brains, whose mood swings bend like a reed finally realized that there was more to the love that Jesus had that he dared to admit. The early morning breakfast by the fire and possibly a rooster crowing in the background in the nearby towns certainly brought back memories of the night when he, the leader among all the disciples, denied the Lord Jesus. Certainly, Peter must have recalled the look on Jesus' face that night before His crucifixion when He turned to look at him. It was the same look that Jesus had on numerous occasions during the three years of ministry. Jesus showed compassion when He healed the woman who was afflicted with the terrible hemorrhage disease for twelve years, when He ate with Zacchaeus in his home and when He fed five thousand men with their families, etc. And Jesus had to reassure Peter by asking him three times of the extent of his love for Jesus - each time for each occasion when he denied the Lord.

After that morning encounter with the Risen Lord Jesus. Peter finally put his trust and his love on the love of Jesus. He dared on trust on himself any longer. Certainly Peter became a changed man after that. Peter who was afraid to acknowledge Jesus as his Lord finally stood up on the day of Pentecost and preached to the masses who had gathered in Jerusalem and three thousand persons believed and received the Lord Jesus Christ into their lives. It was Peter who was always at the forefront when difficult decisions had to be made and who was imprisoned for his faith. Peter was martyred in Rome.

The man who was impetuous, who boasted of his love for Jesus, who behaved more like a reed swaying with his circumstances was changed into a strong leader of the early church (in fact the apostle Paul in Galatians 2: 9 called Peter a pillar of the church). The transformation was possible once Peter realized how much the Lord Jesus loved him and he appropriated that love for his own life.

My friends, our lives can also be transformed once we realized how much the Lord loves us and died for us. Our motivation in life should not be how much we love Him; rather, knowing how much He loves us, we go forth to love and to share that same love with those around us and to make a difference for Him.

The Lord blesses you and keeps you;
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all your loved ones;
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace.

Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee

Dated : 06 January 2002