Remnant: Learning From The Passionate ApostleSample

Peter knew that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, but wasn’t a big fan of the way God intended to go about rescuing the world from sin through Jesus’ death and resurrection. He told Jesus as much. This didn’t sit well with Jesus, Who wanted nothing more than God’s glory at any cost, and He rebuked Peter for tempting Him to shirk His responsibility. 

Why’d Peter do it? It could be that Peter didn’t want Jesus to be hurt. It could also be that he didn’t want to be embarrassed by the public humiliation of the man he’d risked his own reputation to follow. Whatever the case, Peter’s concerns were human, and Jesus couldn’t afford to consider them. 

Like Peter, those of us who want to follow Jesus and help God accomplish His purposes here on earth have to put personal preference and opinion aside and just obey, trusting God to glorify Himself in all circumstances, even when it seems we (and He) are losing ground in the public eye. 

Those who choose to follow Jesus should expect to suffer as much as He did both before and after the cross. When we respond to suffering with grace as Jesus did, we give those around us a glimpse of the supernatural power at work within us and make our suffering count on an eternal scale. 

Thank God for the opportunity to represent Him, even in moments of awkwardness and suffering.