SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/2/2021 8:39 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 “Peter’s
Raw Material”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
10:2a
Message of the
verses: “The first, Simon, who is
called Peter”
This
SD will be a shorter one, but as we begin it I want to remind you of the first
two words of the Scripture verse that we are looking at as we read “The first,
Simon,” and I once again want to focus in on that word first. The following is the definition from this
word “first” from my Online Bible Strongs Book:
“protos pro’-tos
1) first in time or place
1a) in any succession of things or
persons
2) first in rank
2a) influence, honour
2b) chief
2c) principal
3) first, at
the first”
Now we know from the gospel of John
that Peter was not the first disciple chosen by Jesus to follow Him, but Peter
became the “first in rank” as he became the leader of the disciples, that is
apart from Jesus, and once Jesus had been resurrected Peter continued in that
role.
Now we will continue to look at the
raw material of Peter, as we look at his name which even gives us insight into
his character. He was given the common
name Simon by his parents; however Jesus changed his name to Peter which is
actually Cephas in the Aramaic, which means stone as seen in Matthew 16:18. One of the things that we see as we go
through the gospels is that every time Peter would revert back to his old ways
that Jesus would call him Simon. The
truth is that by nature Peter was vacillating and unstable, and so when the
Lord named him Peter, the other disciples doubtlessly had great reservations
about the new name that Jesus gave to him, but in time Peter would turn into
the stone as our patient Lord worked in his heart. Jesus wanted him to be a stone and a stone he
would be. I read in the book of
Revelation that believers will receive a new name, and perhaps that new name
will be what our Lord has made us to be like as He patiently works with us.
MacArthur kind of agrees with what I
have stated in this last paragraph when he writes: “Peter is usually referred to as Simon when
the purpose is simply to identify him or something related to him—such as his
house or mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-30), his boat (Luke 5:3), or his fishing
partners (Luke 5:10). He is also
referred to as Simon whenever he is reprimanded for sin or displays special
weakness, as when he questioned Jesus’ advice to go ‘out into the deep water
and let down your nets for a catch’ (Luke 5:4).
When Jesus came back from prayer in the garden and found the disciples
sleeping, He said, ‘Simon, are you asleep?
Could you not keep watch for one hour?’ (Mark 14:37). After the resurrection Peter disobediently
returned to his fishing, and when the Lord confronted him three times about his
faithfulness, each time He addressed him as Simon (John 21:15-17). He used his old name to point out that he was
acting like his old self.”
When we look at John’s gospel we
will find that some seventeen times Peter is called by both names together,
Simon Peter. This could be because John
knew Peter so well that he used the two names to depict both the old and the
new characteristics of his friend, as they were often intermixed and difficult
to distinguish. So here we have, after
three days, a brief discussion of Peter’s raw material. In our next SD, Lord willing, we will begin
to look at “The Right Experiences.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I wonder
if I have been given a new name by the Lord at this time, and if I have, I
wonder how many times I would be called by my old name.
My Steps of Faith For Today: I trust that
I will, like Peter, live up to the new name that the Lord has or will give me.
8/2/2021 9:05
AM
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