SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/28/2015
11:03 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 The Seeking Souls
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John 1:38-42
Message of
the verses: “38 And Jesus turned and saw them following,
and said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi
(which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?" 39 He said to
them, "Come, and you will see." So they came and saw where He was
staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40
One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s
brother. 41 He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have
found the Messiah" (which translated means Christ). 42 He brought him to
Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you
shall be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).”
John MacArthur writes concerning Messiah: “Messiah transliterates a Hebrew or Aramaic
term that, like its Greek equivalent Christ, means ‘anointed one.’ In the Old Testament it was used of the high
priest (Lev. 4:3, 5, 16; 6:22), the king (1 Sam. 12:3, 5; 16:6; 24:6; 26:9; 2
Sam. 1:14; 22:51; 23:1), the patriarchs (Ps. 105:15), and the people of God
(Ps. 28:8). But supremely, the term
referred to the prophesied (d. g. Dan. 9:25-26) Coming or Expected One (Matt.
11:3), God’s anointed Deliverer and King, His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Andrew was not just content in telling his brother
about whom he had found, but he took the time to bring Peter to meet Jesus and
then Jesus said to Peter “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called
Cephas" (which is translated Peter).”
When I first became a believer I use to listen to Hal Lindsey a lot and
one of his sermons I listened to many times was entitled “Becoming what you Are,”
and the title of that sermon and what was said in that sermon fits into what
Jesus said to Peter, for Jesus was telling Peter what he would become when He
changed his name from Simon, the son of John to Cephas or his Gentile name
which we know the best as Peter. Now
when we read in the gospels about Peter we know that this was going to be a
long process, but when we read what happened to Peter in the book of Acts we
find that the process of him beginning to be fulfilled. As we look at this can we wonder if when the
Lord saved us that He has plans for what we are to become just like He did
Peter, and we wonder how far along in that process we are and what we will
finally become.
John MacArthur quotes from his book “Twelve Ordinary Men” in his commentary
the following rather long statement of a couple of pages in his
commentary. Perhaps it is best to quote this
section in closing as we all can probably gain from his insight into the life
of Peter.
“Simon was a very common name. There are at least seven Simons in the Gospel
accounts alone. Among the Twelve were
two named Simon (Simon Peter and Simon the Zealot). In Matthew 13:55, Jesus’ half brothers are
listed, and one of them was also named Simon.
Judas Iscariot’s father was called Simon as well (John 6:71). Matthew 26:6 mentions that Jesus had a meal
at the home of a man in Bethany named Simon the leper. Another Simon—a Pharisee—hosted Jesus at a
similar meal (Luke 7:36-40). And the man
conscripted to carry Jesus’ cross partway to Calvary was Simon of Cyrene
(Matthew 27:32).
“Our Simon’s full name at birth was Simon Bar-Jonah
(Matthew 16:17), meaning ‘Simon, son of Jonah’ (John 21:15-17). Simon Peter’s father’s name, then, was John
(sometimes rendered Jonas or Jonah). We
know nothing more about his parents.
“But notice that the Lord gave him another
name. Luke introduces him this way: ‘Simon, whom He also named Peter’ (Luke
6:14). Luke’s choice of words here is
important. Jesus didn’t merely give him
a new name to replace the old one. He ‘also’
named him Peter. This disciple was known
sometimes as Simon, sometimes as Peter, and sometimes as Simon Peter.
“Peter was a sort of Nickname. It means ‘Rock.’ (Petros
is the Greek word for ‘piece of rock, a stone.’) The Aramaic equivalent was Cephas (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:12; 3:22;
9:5; 15:5; Galatians 2:9). John 1:42
describes Jesus’ first face-to-face meeting with Simon Peter: ‘Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, ‘You
are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be
called Cephas’ (which is translated, A Stone).’
Those were apparently the first words Jesus ever said to Peter. And from then on, ‘Rock’ was his nickname.
“Sometimes, however, the Lord continued to refer to
him as Simon anyway. When you see that
in Scripture, it is often a signal that Peter has done something that needs
rebuke or correction.
“The nickname was significant, and the Lord had a specific
reason for choosing it. By nature Simon
was brash, vacillating, and undependable.
He tended to make great promised he couldn’t follow through with. He was one of those people who appears to
lunge wholeheartedly into something but then bails out before finishing. He was usually the first one in; and too
often, he was the first one out. When
Jesus met him, he fit James’s description of a double-minded man, unstable in
all his ways (James 1:8). Jesus changed
Simon’s name, it appears, because He wanted the nickname to be a perpetual
reminder to him about who he should
be. And from that point on, whatever
Jesus called him sent a subtle message.
If He called him Simon, He was signaling him that he was acting like his
old self. If He called him Rock, He
commending him for acting the way he ought to be acting…
“This young man named Simon, who would be Peter, was
impetuous, impulsive, and overeager. He
needed to become like a rock, so that is what Jesus named him. From then on, the Lord could gently chide or
commend him just by using one name or the other.
“After Christ’s first encounter with Simon Peter, we
find two distinct contexts in which the name Simon is regularly applied to
him. One is a secular context. When
Scripture refers to his house, for example, it’s usually ‘Simon’s house’ (Mark
1:29; Luke 4:38). When it speaks of his mother-in-law,
it does so in similar terms: ‘Simon’s
wife’s mother’ (Mark 1:30; Luke 4:38).
Luke 5, describing the fishing business, mentions ‘one of the boats,
which Simon’s’ (v.3)—and Luke says James and John were ‘partners with Simon’
(v. 10). All of those expressions refer
to Simon in such a context; the use of his old name usually has nothing to do
with his spirituality or his character.
That is just the normal way of signifying what pertained to him as a
natural man—his work, his home, or his family life. These are called ‘Simon’s’ things.
“The second category of references where he is
called Simon is seen whenever Peter was displaying the characteristics of his
unregenerate self—when he was sinning in word attitude, or action. Whenever he begins to act like his old self,
Jesus and the Gospel writers revert to calling him Simon. In Luke 5:5, for example, Luke writes ‘Simon answered
and said to Him, ‘Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing;
nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.’ That is young Simon the fisherman
speaking. He is skeptical and reluctant. But as he obeys and his eyes are opened to
who Jesus really is, Luke begins to refer to him by his new name. Verse 8 says, ‘When Simon Peter saw it, he
fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O
Lord!’
“We see Jesus calling him Simon in reference to the
key failures in his career. In Luke
22:31, foretelling Peter’s betrayal, Jesus said, ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, the he may
sift you as wheat.’ Later, in the Garden
of Gethsemane, when Peter should have been watching and praying with Christ, he
fell asleep. Mark writes, ‘[Jesus] came
and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘Simon are you sleeping? Could you not watch on hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into
temptation. The spirit indeed is
willing, but the flesh is weak’ (Mark 14:37-38). Thus usually when Peter needed rebuke or
admonishment, Jesus referred to him as Simon.
It must have reached the point where whenever the Lord said ‘Simon,’
Peter cringed. He must have been
thinking, Please call me Rock! And the Lord might have replied, ‘I’ll call
you Rock when you act like a rock.’
“It is
obvious from the Gospel narratives that the apostle John knew Peter very, very
well. They were lifelong friends,
business associates, and neighbors.
Interestingly, in the Gospel of John, John refers to his friend fifteen
times as ‘Simon Peter.’ Apparently John couldn’t
make up his mind which name to use, because he saw both sides of Peter
constantly. So he simply put both names
together. In fact, ‘Simon Peter’ is what
Peter calls himself in the address of his second epistle: ‘Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of
Jesus Christ’ (2 Peter 1:1). In effect,
he took Jesus’ nickname for him and made it his surname (cf. Acts 10:32).
“After the resurrection, Jesus instructed His
disciples to return to Galilee, where He planned to appear to them (Matthew
28:7). Impatient Simon apparently got
tired of waiting, so he announced that he was going back to fishing (John
21:3). As usual, the other disciples
dutifully followed their leader. They
got into the boat, fished all night, and caught nothing.
“But Jesus met them on the shore the following
morning, where He had prepared breakfast for them. The main purpose of the breakfast meeting
seemed to be the restoration of Peter (who, of course, had sinned egregiously by
denying Christ with curses on the night the Lord was betrayed). Three times Jesus addressed him as Simon and
asked, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’
(John 21:15-17). Three times
Peter affirmed his love.
“That was the last time Jesus ever had to call him
Simon. A few weeks later, on Pentecost,
Peter and the rest of the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit. It was Peter, the Rock, who stood up and
preached that day.
“Peter was exactly like most Christians—both carnal
and spiritual. He succumbed to the habits
of the flesh sometimes; he functioned in the Spirit other times. He was sinful sometimes, but other times he
acted the way a righteous man ought to act.
This vacillating man—sometimes Simon, sometimes Peter—was the leader of
the Twelve.”
That is the end of the quote from John MacArthur’s Twelve Ordinary Men.
Egregiously: “Very
bad and easily noticed.”
MacArthur concludes this section of his commentary
on this subject: “Seeking souls will always find Christ receptive; as He later
promised: ‘All that the Father gives Me
will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out’
(6:37).
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I certainly could see myself as I read about
Simon Peter as there are times when I act like Simon far too much.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I want to act more like Peter and less like
Simon.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Yea and Amen” (2 Corinthians
1:20).
Today’s Bible question: “Who said ‘And whence is this to me, that the
mother of my Lord should come to me?”
Answer in our next SD.
12/28/2015 12:26 PM
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