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Chapter 9
Upon this Rock
Estimated reading time: 7 Minutes
Wood crackled and snapped as embers shot into the cool evening sky. After a long day's walk, Jesus and his twelve disciples were glad to relax around the fire, taking in a hearty meal of fish and bread.
Jesus picked up a stick and poked at the fire with a stoic look.
"I think your piece of fish is bigger than mine," Andrew said to his brother, Simon.
"That's because I carry more in my pack. More work equals more food. Plus, I'm older than you," Simon said with a grin as he ruffled his brother's hair. Andrew shook the hand off his head as a few disciples chuckled.
"Stop it," Andrew said. "Stop treating me like I'm a little kid. I may be your younger brother, but I demand a little respect. Just because you're older doesn't make you better than me."
"Whooaaa, somebody is a little testy," Simon said, grinning at the others. "I meant no disrespect. But if you're going to act like a cranky baby, let's change your diaper and get you off to bed."
Across the fire, James shook his head as he watched the brothers go at each other again.
Andrew stared at Simon with fire in his eyes. He was just about to spew a retort when he was cut off.
"Who do people say that I am?" Jesus asked.
The disciples looked at each other as if a pop-quiz had just been issued, but nobody studied. They sat quietly, not daring to look in Jesus' direction.
"Who do people say that I am?" he asked again.
"Umm," Philip cleared his throat. "Some say that you're John the Baptist."
"Yes, and others say Elijah or one of the prophets," Thaddeus added.
"But who do you say that I am?" Jesus asked.
Silence fell over the group once more as shadows from the flames danced upon their faces. A loud pop from the wood punctuated the awkward hush.
"You are the Christ," said Simon, his mouth full of bread. He chewed the rest loudly, then gulped and swallowed. "The Son of the living God."
"Very…eloquently put," Jesus said with a chuckle. "And you are blessed, Simon, son of Jonah, for you did not learn this from any human, but from My Father who is in heaven. From now on, you shall be called Rock. And on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it."
Reflection
There are two sides to everyone—a natural one and a spiritual one. Our natural side is easy to see. We describe it in height, hair color, physical attributes, character traits, etc. The spiritual side is a little more challenging to see, sometimes hidden behind the natural. But it is our spirit, which lives eternally, that truly defines us.
While walking on the earth, Jesus appeared and operated like any other man—he ate, needed sleep, and had morning breath. But Simon saw beyond His physical attributes and identified Jesus, not by His "flesh," but according to the Spirit, as the Messiah.
Likewise, Jesus identifies Simon as Cephas (in Hebrew) or Peter (in Greek), both meaning "rock" or "stone." Jesus does not define Peter by his behavior or lack of maturity, but by his spiritual nature and destiny.
In his day, Peter would have been likened to a country bumpkin. He was a fisherman, a blue-collar working man with little education. That would have put him toward the bottom of Jewish society. He did not go through years of education and wear fancy robes like the Pharisees or Sadducees.
This is pure conjecture, but I imagine that Peter swore (he was a sailor after all) and maybe drank a little too much wine at weddings or parties. Working with fish all day, he probably didn't smell great. James Bond, he was not.
In the Gospels, we see Peter as a brash and rough individual. His given name, Simon, ironically means "to hear" or "to listen." But he's generally a little hot-headed and speaks/ acts before listening or thinking. Right after Jesus declares Simon to be Peter (Rock) in Matthew 16, he gets rebuked. As Jesus tells his disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and be killed, Peter exclaims, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"
Jesus famously turns to Peter and tells him to "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."
Ouch.
If that weren't bad enough, Peter has another embarrassing moment in the following chapter. He gets excited as Jesus is transfigured on the mount with Moses and Elijah. As Peter boldly proclaims that they should make three tabernacles, God cuts him off to declare that Jesus is His Son. In his eagerness, Peter perhaps misses the moment and is thus corrected.
Also, when the Jews arrest Jesus, Peter infamously cuts off the ear of the high priest's servant (John 18:10).
The point is, Peter doesn't look like the unshakeable, resilient "Rock" Jesus would build his church on. Heck, he even denied knowing Jesus three times.
Yet Jesus calls the "Rock" out from within Peter before Peter sees it within himself (or even acts like it).
But this is God's mode of operation. He calls the most unlikely people to carry out His plans on the earth. He doesn't see us strictly through our outward actions and appearances, and He has never judged a book by its cover. He continues to use the "lowest" in society—the blue-collar, the uneducated, the abandoned, etc., to confound the "wise" and change the world.
"Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important."
1 Corinthians 1:26-28, NLT
Once Jesus forgives and restores Peter, and after he is baptized in the Holy Spirit, we see a new man appear. The once brash and cowardly Peter turns brave and courageous (as Jesus knew all along).
After being filled with the Holy Spirit and power, Peter immediately preached the Good News, and 3,000 people received salvation (Acts 2). He continues to preach the name of Jesus after being arrested, imprisoned, and threatened with death, eventually being crucified himself for the sake of the gospel—a far cry from the man who denied knowing Jesus.
In fact, the courage and wisdom of this fisherman impress the council of the Sanhedrin in Acts 4. After being arrested, Peter preaches Jesus to them.
"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled."
Acts 4:13, NKJV
The most brilliant Jewish scholars and teachers of their time marveled at uneducated and untrained men. Why? Because Jesus can take flawed people and fill them with His wisdom, power, and authority to impact the world and spread the Kingdom of God.
Jesus doesn't call us based on who we are today (how we act, look, etc.). He's looking at the heart, just as God did with King David. He looks for those who will have a heart after Him. Jesus sees us according to how God originally designed us, before any impact of sin affected our lives. You are not a perfect person, and that's okay. God has used imperfect people to do His will for millennia.
But once you are saved and born again of His Holy Spirit, you now have the power, strength, wisdom, and courage to step into your God-ordained purpose and destiny. Each day, God, "who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).
"So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image."
2 Corinthians 3:18, NLT
If you think you're too poor, too uneducated, too much of a work-in-progress, then congratulations—you're just like Simon. But today, you get to be Peter (or Petra).
God isn't looking for you to be perfect before He can use you. He is simply looking for those who will take a step to trust and follow Him. Then the responsibility is on God to help us accomplish amazing things for His Kingdom. And each day that you follow Him, you'll go from glory to glory until you can't even recognize the person you used to be.
Application
Jump on the journey of discovering the "rock" within. Ask Jesus what nickname he'd give you. Write it down and remember that is how you look according to the Spirit. Start speaking that nickname over yourself as you follow after God and progress each day.