His name is Simon Peter.
We remember him as the disciple who tried to walk on water, but started sinking
when the wind and the waves blew his faith away. He was the one who testified
Jesus as the Son of God, yet denied him three times in one night. He swore never
to forsake his master, but ran away for fear of his life. Simon Peter, a man of
broken promises…a man of failure.
His name is Simon Peter.
We remember him as a great Apostle. He boldly and tirelessly proclaimed Jesus
as the Son of God. He baptized hundreds and perhaps thousands of people. He
performed many miracles by healing the sick and even raising the dead. People
chased his shadow believing that if his shadow fell upon them, they would be
healed. Simon Peter: a man of great success and fame in the church of Jesus
Christ.
What made the difference
between the first Simon Peter, and the second Simon Peter was the account in
our scripture of Jesus – as he walked - approaching the shoreline – He was the
God of “Second Chances”.
There are two other
separate occasions when Jesus appeared to His disciples, yet Jesus did not
confront Peter. He gave him time! Then he gave him a second chance. Instead of
rebuking Peter for his failures, Jesus gives him another chance to prove
himself. Jesus was not looking to Peter’s past, he was looking to Peter’s
future! He was looking to what Peter was going to do from that moment on.
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