All Things NewSample

Up and Down

Reading about Peter throughout the gospels is a little bit like riding a roller coaster—full of ups and downs, and interesting twists! In Matthew 16:13-20 we see Peter at his best, followed directly by one of his lower moments. In v. 16, answering Jesus’ question “Who do you say I am?” Peter answers in a way that seems to really impress Jesus: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In this moment Peter gets it, and he is the first of the disciples to truly understand who Jesus is. It’s a huge moment for Peter, and obviously it is an important moment for Jesus as well, based on how he responds to Peter’s confession.

Jesus goes on to tell Peter that he is blessed, and that he is the rock upon which he would build the church! Can you imagine Jesus saying something like that to you? What must Peter have felt like in that moment? Excited? Prideful? Humble? Scared? We do not know for sure, but looking to Peter’s next interaction with Jesus in verse 22, it seems that he had no shortage of confidence as he tried to selfishly correct Jesus only to hear Jesus respond to him “Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” It’s not hard to imagine that whatever Peter was feeling from his previous interaction with Jesus, changed dramatically to feelings of humiliation and shame. He went from being called a rock, to being called Satan; from having the keys of the kingdom to being a stumbling block.

Obviously, this was a huge blow for Peter, and likely caused him to do a bit of soul searching—maybe asking the question, “Who am I… the rock that the church will be built on, or a stumbling block?” How often do we have these kinds of up and down experiences in our walk with Christ, where one moment we totally get it, and the next we are totally clueless? What is our response to both kinds of experiences? Are we overly content or prideful when we “get it”? Do we give up and walk away after our stumbles?

Fortunately for us, Peter’s journey is an encouraging one. In Peter’s journey he is continually being made new through transformational experiences with Jesus. While he has some major ups and downs throughout the gospels, we see transformation in his perspective and attitude as we read about him in Acts, and as we read his words in 1 Peter and 2 Peter, we see writings of a mature and humble man.

Reading: Matthew 22-28

Reflection:

1. What are some of the ups and downs you have experienced on your spiritual journey with Jesus?

2. Did you experience transformation during those moments? How so?

3. Take a moment to pray and ask God to show you areas of your life that need transformation, and ask him to make you new.