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Becoming a more Fruitful Witness to Jesus: Peter’s Three Revelations
It was not obvious to people in Jesus’ day that he was the promised Messiah. They were more inclined to think he was just one of the prophets who had come back to life. So when Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, it was only because the Father had revealed this to him. That’s what Jesus said. But Peter wasn’t expecting a Messiah who would suffer and die—or that the followers of the Messiah would have to suffer too, and lead a lives of daily self-denial. So the Father gave Peter—along with James and John—a second revelation. But after seeing Jesus’ glory, and Moses and Elijah appearing in glory with him, Peter could only think of building three religious shrines to commemorate this amazing supernatural experience. Only after receiving a third revelation, on the Day of Pentecost, did he understand that the ‘divine power’ given to him that day was part of his own calling to the same ‘glory’ that he witnessed on the mountain. By growing in his own relationship with the Father and with Jesus, he too was becoming a ‘partaker of the divine nature’. And by cooperating with the transforming work of the Spirit in his life, he had also become a more fruitful witness to Jesus. - JKM
Meditation Text
'Father' texts: Matthew 16:17,27; Acts 2:33; 2 Peter 1:17
Scripture passage: Mat. 16:13-14, 17-29, 21-23, 27-28; 17:1-2, 5-7, 9; Luke 9:18-20, 23-24, 30-31, 33; Acts 2:16-18, 22, 32-33; 2 Pet. 1:3-8, 10-11, 16-18
Introduction Video Time: 00:50
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE
MATTHEW (16:13-14a GH[i])
Jesus…asked his disciples, ‘Who do the people take me, the Son of Man, to be? ·They said, ‘Certain ones actually say “John the Baptizer”; some others “Elijah”; still others, “Jeremiah”.
LUKE (9:18b-20)
‘And different ones: that one of the ancient prophets has risen again,’ they answered. ·‘But YOU’ he now said to them, ‘who do YOU say I am?’ ·So Peter said, ‘The Messiah of God!’
MATTHEW (16:17-19, 21-23)
Jesus replied, ‘Simon,…flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father, the One in heaven. ·...You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church; and the gates of the underworld will never prevail against her. ·I will also give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on the earth will be considered loosed in heaven.’ ·…From then on Jesus began to make clear to his disciples how it was necessary for him: …to suffer many things…, to be put to death and be raised up on the third day. ·But Peter, taking him aside, began to rebuke him, ‘...Master!’ he said. ‘This shall not happen to you!’ ·Yet turning to Peter he said, ‘Off with you, Satan! Get behind me! You are an obstacle on my path because you are... focused…on human ways.’
LUKE (9:23-24)
And to all he said, ‘If anyone is determined to come after me, let him renounce himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. ·Because whoever determines to save his own life will be destroying it, yet whoever dies to his own life on my account will be saving it.
MATTHEW (16:27-28; 17:1-2)
For the Son of Man will soon come in the glory of his Father, with his messengers [Gr. angelon][ii]; and he will then reward each one according to his actions. ·…There are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.’ ·After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James and his brother John and led them privately into a high mountain. And he was transformed in front of them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light.
LUKE (9:30-31,33)
Then, lo and behold, there were two men conversing with him: Moses and Elijah, ·who, appearing in glory, spoke of his passing…in Jerusalem. …·As these were leaving him, Peter said…, ‘Master, how good it is for us to be here! We should make three booths—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’
MATTHEW (17:5-7,9)
A bright cloud enveloped them, and…a voice said: ‘This is my Son, the Beloved One in whom I delight. Listen to him!’ ·…These disciples fell on their faces, overwhelmed with fear. ·But Jesus…touched them, saying, ‘…Don't be afraid! ·…Tell this vision to no one until after the Son of Man has risen from the dead.’
LUKE quoting Peter (Acts 2:22,32-33,16-18)
‘Men! Israelites!… ·This is the Jesus whom God raised up. Of this we all are witnesses … ·Exalted to God's right hand, as well as having received the promise of the Holy Spirit alongside the Father, he pours this out—what YOU are now seeing and hearing…. ·This is the event spoken of by the prophet Joel: ·“…I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Then YOUR sons and YOUR daughters will be prophesying… ·Yes, on both… I will pour out my Spirit in those days; both will be prophesying.”’
PETER (2 Pet. 1:3-8, 10b-11, 16b-18[iii])
‘All things of his divine power have been given to us towards life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and virtue —·through which have been given to us the precious and very great promises, so that through these YOU may become partakers of the divine nature… ·For this reason, make every effort in YOUR faith to also add on virtue, and in virtue to add on knowledge, ·and in knowledge to add on self-control, and in self-control to add on endurance, and in endurance to add on godliness, ·and in godliness to add on brotherly affection, and in brotherly affection to add on love. ·If these…are increasing, YOU will not be…unfruitful... ·For in doing these things YOU will never be tripped up. ·And thus the entrance into our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s eternal kingdom will be richly added to YOU. …·…We made known to YOU the power and presence [Gr. parousian] of our Lord Jesus Christ..., ·when he received honor and glory alongside Father God—when the voice came to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my Son, my Beloved in whom I delight”. ·This we heard…when together with him on the holy mountain.’
MEDITATION
Sometime after the disciples' first ‘outreach’ (Med.#83), Jesus asks them: Who do other people, and the disciples themselves think he is? Only Peter, speaking for the others, seems to recognize Jesus as God's promised Messiah. According to Jesus, this is because people need a revelation from his Father in order to know who he really is. But Peter still doesn't have the full revelation. Just as the contemporary religious framework keeps others from recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, it is also keeping Peter from accepting Jesus' words that God's Messiah must suffer and die. Like all his fellow Jews, he assumed the Messiah would come and ‘remain forever’, to set up an eternal kingdom (Med.#66). So he doesn't even hear Jesus' words about rising from the dead or about how disciples of Jesus need to expect suffering, sometimes even on a daily basis.
So Jesus introduces a second revelation that he is about to receive. ‘Some’ of them will ‘soon’ see Jesus ’coming with his kingdom—in his Father's glory along with ‘his messengers’. Yet when Peter, along with two other disciples, sees this vision of Jesus with Moses and Elijah, his contemporary religious framework gets in the way again. And he wants to commemorate this amazing supernatural event by building three memorial shrines. So the Father silences him by enveloping them in a bright cloud, and then tells them to just focus on his ‘Son’ and ‘listen to him’. Then Jesus tells them not to be afraid, but also not to say anything about the vision until after they have witnessed his resurrection. For after Jesus' resurrection and ascension, the Father has a third revelation planned for Peter, and for more than one hundred other disciples (Act.1:14-15). On the Day of Pentecost, these men and women are filled with the Holy Spirit and begin prophesying in different languages to a large crowd of ‘Jews and Jewish proselytes’ from many nations (Med.#49). In Peter's explanation of this event we see that he now has a new revelation about the Father, and not just from the Father. The God who ‘raised’ Jesus from the dead, and ‘exalted’ him to his own right hand, is also ‘the Father’ who has poured out his Spirit on us—as he promised—in partnership with Jesus, who first received the Spirit on our behalf (Med.#26).
Years later, in his second letter, Peter connects this Pentecostal ‘divine power…given to us’ with his second revelation—of the ‘power and presence [Gr. parousian] of our Lord Jesus Christ’ that he witnessed ‘on the holy mountain’. The ‘glory’ that Jesus ‘received… alongside Father God’ that day was not only about the glory he would one day receive at his second ‘coming’. For the Greek word parousia can also refer to the immediate impact of a person's ‘presence’ (2 Cor.10:10; Phil.2:12 ESV). So in this vision the curtain is being pulled aside for the disciples to see the full expression of the glory already present in Jesus' life and relationship with the Father. Though this glory was hidden to most people, because Jesus had a normal physical body like ours, it was already being revealed to his followers in small doses (Med.#58, Med.#66 & Med.#37).
Secondly, Peter also now grasps that the ‘glory’ he saw in Jesus on the mountain—and in Moses and Elijah (Lk.9:31)—is part of our calling too; for we too are becoming ‘partakers of the divine nature’ through a deepening relationship with Jesus, our Eldest Brother. But like with Jesus, the glory we now enjoy—as sons and daughters of the Father and as co-heirs with Jesus—is hidden from most people (Med.#5, Med.#80). Yet by continuing to listen to him and obey him, we are being ‘transformed from glory to glory’, into his image. The glory that we already have, by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Med.#32), is a ‘deposit’ on the glory of the full inheritance we will enjoy when our bodies have become like Jesus' resurrected body (Med.#8; Med.#94).
Thirdly, Peter realizes that this glory will only fully develop (‘increase’) in us if we cooperate with the work of the Spirit. We must ‘make every effort’ to add specific character qualities to our faith—like virtue, self-control, godliness, and self-giving love; also brotherly-affection towards our fellow believers. And we need to develop endurance, when people simply don't understand us, or our witness about Jesus, and also during times of suffering. We must remember Peter's first revelation—that everyone needs a revelation from the Father to recognize who Jesus truly is. Peter's story also reminds us why the Father gave him, and the other two disciples a second revelation: to help them deal with Jesus' imminent suffering and death, and also to help them endure the suffering and daily self-denial that they too would face in their own lives, for Jesus' sake.
To wield the keys of the kingdom effectively like Peter did, we need the full revelation of the Father that Jesus came to bring. Only as we walk in relationship with him and with Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, will we grow: in being fruitful like Jesus was in ‘binding and loosing’ things[iv] on earth, amid all the stresses, temptations and sufferings of life in this world. And only by continuing to practice the above qualities can we be confident that we will finish well and ‘never be tripped-up’.
PRAYING THE WORD
Father, give me the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to know you better. Open the eyes of my heart to know the riches of your glorious inheritance in the saints. (Eph.1:17-18)
Father, strengthen me with power through your Spirit so that Christ may dwell in me, so that I may participate in your divine nature through faith—increasing in: virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love…for effective and fruitful witness with you. (Eph.3:14,16; 2 Pet.1:4-8)
NOTES
[i] The Scripture passage is taken from J.K. Mellis, The Good News of the Messiah by the Four Witnesses: pp.117-120 & 290-291.
[ii] The Greek word angelos refers to human messengers of God & Jesus (Lk.9:52; 7:24,27; Mk.1:2; Mat.11:10) as well as heavenly ones.
[iii] This final text from Peter's second letter is also my own translation based on the KJV and the Greek text.
[iv] The community exercise of this authority to ’bind and loose’ is discussed in another meditation (Med.#19).
