Peter: What Can We Learn From Peter's Life?નમૂનો

“Let Us Make Three Tents.”

About a week after Peter’s confession and subsequent contradiction of Jesus, when He spoke of His death and resurrection, Peter had another supernatural experience. Jesus had spoken of the suffering He was to endure – something that Peter and his fellow Jews could not comprehend would happen to their Messiah, who they expected to be a conquering hero. Not only that, Jesus had declared that whoever wanted to follow Him needed to be willing to lay down their lives as well (Mark 8:34-35). This was not the glorious future Peter would have envisioned for himself as a close associate of the Messiah. Expecting grandeur and glory, he may have been disheartened and confused about the identity of Jesus.

In order to banish all doubt about His identity, Jesus invited Peter, James, and John to join Him on a mountaintop. There, His appearance became more like God than like the human they were used to seeing Him as. Not only that, Moses and Elijah, historical figures who had been dead for centuries, also showed up. Once again, Peter spoke the first thing that came to his mind and suggested setting up tents for everyone – as if that was even an important consideration in this moment! In his fear, he didn’t know what else to say. Apparently, staying silent was not an option in his mind!

Peter, along with James and John, was confronted with the glory of God and even heard His voice speak to them, affirming Jesus’s identity as His Son. Moses and Elijah represented the Law and the Prophets of the Jewish Scriptures, both of which spoke of the promised Messiah. Luke’s account of this event says that Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus about “his departure” (Luke 9:31), referring to His coming death. This affirmed to Peter, James, and John that Jesus was indeed God’s Son, but also that He would indeed suffer. And all of it was part of God’s divine plan. They were allowed a glimpse of Jesus’s resurrection glory in advance. What an incredible moment for them! However, they still could not grasp what it all fully meant, and continued to question Jesus’s words about how He would rise from the dead.

Reflection:

Do you have a situation in your life where you find it difficult to understand what God is doing? As you ask Him for clarity, also ask Him to give you fresh revelation of His identity and character.