Be a Peter
by Maria Rudolph
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Peter answered Jesus, ‘We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?’ (Matthew 19:27)
Read Matthew 19:16–30
If you happen to be called Peter, what a great name you bear! I think we should all be a ‘Peter’. Not like yourself, if you are a Peter, or like the Peters we might know, but I think we do well to strive to be like Simon Peter, the disciple of Jesus.
Peter is so intent on following Jesus and, in the process, puts his foot in his mouth plenty of times. Often, Peter received hard teachings from Jesus, even to the point where ‘many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him’ (John 6:66). But Peter blurts out: ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’ (John 6:68).
Just a little while before the encounter with the rich young man, Peter had witnessed the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain and beheld the patriarchs Elijah and Moses there. In typical Peter style, he simply offered to build tents for these men! And how about when the well-intentioned Peter rejects Jesus’ prophecy that he would deny any affiliation with Jesus, and then turns around and manages to do just that. His denials are not just in a brief moment of weakness but over the course of hours as the nightly events before the crucifixion unfolded and while Jesus was still standing in the courtyard near him (Luke 22:61).
Jesus didn’t write Peter off, though, and Peter’s subsequent professions of love for Jesus negated his earlier denials (John 21:15–17). The final words of Jesus to Peter were a renewed reminder: ‘Follow me.’ Peter, the simple fisherman, would go on to be one of the most amazing preachers and teachers of the good news.
Let’s be a Peter and follow Jesus. This sounds like the simplest invitation you have ever received, and you will find it the hardest to put into daily practice. But let’s be a Peter and do just that. Let us simply follow Jesus, one day at a time, even if we put our foot in our mouths and make an occasional mess of it.
Loving God, I need your help! I cannot follow you with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, no matter how hard I try. I cannot deny myself and take up my cross daily. I need you to carry my burdens for me. I need your Holy Spirit to lead and guide me along life’s way. I need you to nourish and strengthen me. Help me follow you today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Maria will be ordained as a pastor of the LCANZ on Palm Sunday on 13 April at 2pm at Concordia College Chapel in Highgate SA. She would love to see many Daily Devotion readers there! She has been assigned to serve St John’s Lutheran Church in Perth WA. She also supports the ministry of her pastor husband, Michael. They will be the first pastor couple of our church, but she hopes not the last. They are parents to three children, who are kept busy in their primary and secondary schools. Maria also serves the church on the Commission on Theology and Inter-Church Relations.
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