Without knowing the real motive of Peter’s action, we might believe that Peter was a good and faithful follower of Jesus. We might innocently think that he loved Jesus so much that he couldn’t allow such think to happen to him. However, we know that his outcry was not due to his love for Jesus but because it went against his own plan. He wanted to restore the pride of the Israelites, the chosen one, by destroying the enemies, the lowly gentiles, who have been their oppressor. Don’t we do the same things? I do. I pray earnestly for something for my own pride to be restored or enforced. When God throws His plan which many times go against my plan, I’m tested and cry out complaining. However, God knows what’s best for us and I’m thankful for even the curve ball that God sometimes throws in my life. It shows me my real motive. When I feel that my faith is strong enough and become self dependent, he throws another curve ball that I never seen before to let me know that my faith is weak. I still need and depend on God each day. So to answer the question, is the cross necessary? Absolutely! No matter how mature you think you might be in faith, you will always need Jesus on your side.
This made me think a little bit about the prayers we lift up to God. Should we be discouraged from lifting up prayer regards to our needs and wants? I don’t believe so. Long as we are not praying for malice and out right evil things, we should continue to lift up those prayers. Like the sermon from two weeks ago. God is much bigger than you think. He can make a wrong plan to a perfect plan. Peter became the disciple of Jesus with a wrong plan. His plan was to set Jesus as the king of Israelite and destroy the enemies of Israel. God transformed Peter’s wrong plan to a perfect plan which was to set Jesus as King of all and destroy all enemies of God. So don’t worry about your prayer or action not being perfect because God will humble you by revealing them to you and demonstrate His power by making it into a good and perfect one.
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3 comments:
Thanks Il for the post. Was the cross necessary? Absolutely! Was it easy to understand why it was necessary? No! It took awhile for the disciples to accept it... in fact they didn't fully understand it even after the resurrection. And I think that's because the way of the cross is directly contrary to our human perspective. As the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." The message of the cross is foolish because it is an attack against human pride and it teaches us of our inability to do anything to save ourselves from the penalty of sin.
But what really struck me is that the message of the cross is the power of God, not only in terms of what it did objectively (ie. took away the penalty of sin) but also what it does subjective in us now(ie. motives and changes us). I need to hear the message of the cross again and again, and as Il pointed out, we need to depend on it for God will use it to change us. It is the basis of the Christian life and the motivation behind everything we are called to do. That is why Paul says, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ..."
Let us all live with the cross at the center of our lives... remembering what Jesus did for us... and how the cross can sanctify and change us.
Posted by Pastor James
this was a great post, il. so great that my comment on it actually turned out to be my blog for this friday (completely off-topic, i may add).
Thanks Il. I'm reminded of how Peter's ambitions are so familiar as those who use the name of Christianity as a platform or justification for our actions as a "Christian" nation. When we abandon our agendas, God cuts through so clearly to the real work which starts within each one of us.
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