Peter’s Heart Was In The Right Place
His Head Was In Another
In my last post, I made the point that Peter’s failure, the reason he denied Jesus, was ideological. He was invested in ideas that ran contrary to God’s plan.
Failure was guaranteed. The only plan that works is God’s plan. Changing the details is like rewriting the Bible.
People, Christian or not, don’t see it that way. A little modification here or there can’t be that bad. That’s what Peter thought but he might have something very different to say if he were here today.
Fortunately, Peter did recover. It wasn’t easy. He had to work through a bit of guilt and despondency but he got through it. The question is did Peter learn his lesson?
Yes, but it took a while.
What Jesus Planned
Jesus had a plan in eternity past, before the creation of the world. He knew exactly what would happen and what He would do and He did it.
He took on human form, He grew and developed in the way humans develop – except without sin, and died for the sins of the world.
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That wasn’t what Peter wanted but it was the plan. Jesus made the plan clear to the disciples but there’s no evidence the penny dropped until after He rose from the grave.
Allusions To The Cross
Early in Jesus’ public ministry, Jesus began making allusions to His death, burial, and resurrection.
- After cleansing the Temple, Jesus said, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. (John 2:19)
He was talking about His body and the resurrection but no one caught on till after he rose from the dead.
- He referred to being life up in the same way Moses lift of the serpant in the wilderness. (John 3:14)
- He used Jonah’s experience to represent His burial and resurrection. (Matthew 12:39-40)
Instead of getting it, they were confused. It went right over their heads. [Read more…] about How Peter Learned Obedience