From Phillip

Ezek. 36:22-28, Acts 2:22-38 (For reading and reflection over the next three weeks, you don’t have to do it all at once!!)

  • We celebrated Pentecost this last Sunday and so I wondered if it would be helpful to us to look more closely at Peter, the Apostle’s life over the next three weeks. Peter experienced some significant changes in his life after Pentecost and I am sure we can learn from Peter’s experiences.
  • Since Easter, we have had two close pictures of Peter. The first close picture is of Peter, after the traumatic events in the Garden of Gethsemane, he follows Jesus at a distance into the courtyard of the High Priest. And there in the courtyard, those prophetic words of Jesus come tragically true:

Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” (Matthew 26:34)

  • Matthew records that Peter went outside and wept bitterly.
  • The second close picture we have of Peter is when he meets the risen Lord. We find that event recorded in John 21. Peter had denied Jesus and was still living with that wound. So, Jesus took Peter through the process of leaving what lies behind him and becoming the rock that Jesus had predicted he would be when they first met.
  • After Peter’s reinstatement, Jesus told Peter: ‘Follow me.’ So, began a life of following and obeying the Risen Lord.

We don’t know all the events of Peter’s life; some early church fathers tell us that Peter suffered martyrdom under the emperor Nero in AD 64 or 65.

Reflection:

  • Peter must have been so broken after that terrible evening in the courtyard of the High Priest. There will have been times in our lives when it has seemed as if our whole world has crashed down around us, and we are left with nothing but broken pieces and fragments of once what was.
  • Reflect on those times and give thanks to God for the way he repaired, renewed and healed the broken pieces of our lives.
  • Ask God that this verse from Psalm 40:2 will speak to you and lift your heart in thanksgiving: He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

Category: The Bridge , Thought for the week