Sometimes Peter Did Get It Right

One of the more common jokes about Bible characters surrounds the Apostle Peter and his propensity for sticking his foot in his mouth. There is the amazing scene in Matthew 17 of Jesus being transfigured before the eyes of Peter, James and John. This is an incredible moment for the three witnesses of Christ’s glory. They see amazing things on top of that mountain and the first thing that comes out of Peter’s mouth is “it is good for us to be here.” Duh! Talk about a moment killer.

Peter is also famous for wanting Jesus to wash his whole body, not just his feet; for promising Jesus that he would never deny Him and for asking about the future of John. Peter messed up so many times with his words that most people think that he never could get his words right. But in John 6 we see that Peter did get it right, at least once.

The first 6 chapters of John are an amazing account of the early ministry of Christ. Jesus, over and over, would tell the crowds that they must believe in Him if they want eternal life. By my count the word believe is used 24 times and the word(s) life or eternal life are used 22 times in these chapters. Jesus’ teaching was very clear. If you want eternal life you must believe in the Son of God. As a matter of fact that last sentence is very close to what Jesus said in John 3:36 ~ “Whoever believe in the Son has eternal life.”

It is recorded several times in the first six chapters that many people “believed.” They liked this message that Jesus was preaching. They liked the miracles that He did. The signs and wonders performed by Him captured their attention. They wanted to follow this man. On top of that Jesus was standing up to the religious elite and calling them on the carpet for their fake religiosity. But, when Jesus told them what following Him really meant at the end of John 6 many of them decided for reject Jesus and turn away from him.

Granted, Jesus’ words at the end of John 6 are tough to swallow (no pun intended). It reads

53Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." 59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Verse 60 clearly points out that the crowd had a hard time with these words. Some have suggested that the people understood this to be a literal command of Jesus. That if we were to follow Him, believe in Him, have eternal life, than we must literally eat His flesh and drink His blood. I don’t think this is what they had trouble with. What they had trouble with was that if they wanted to be true followers of Jesus they would need to whole heartedly grasp, take in, surrender to and believe that Jesus is the only way to God. He was the only means of salvation. This they could not do.

As a result many of these false disciples left and turned away from Jesus. They refused to believe that He was from Heaven and the only way for them to get there. They walked away. In response Jesus turns to His true disciples and asks “Do you want to go away as well?” No doubt this was testing time and Peter stepped up and hit a home run. He says in verse 68 “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Wham! Peter opened his mouth and the right answer came out. Peter and the other apostles got it. Remember, Jesus had been preaching since the start of His ministry that “you must believe in me and if you do you will have eternal life.” And Peter and the other apostles got it. They know that the only way to God was through Jesus Christ. They were true disciples.

Think about Peter’s words for a minute. He starts off by declaring that Jesus is “Lord.” No one else is Lord, Jesus is. Lord is an amazing word. It is defined as “one who has power; or a position of authority.” Right away Peter acknowledges who Jesus really is. He is not some dime store trickster who can do some really cool magic like turning water into wine. Jesus is the One who has the power of God, the One who has the authority of God because He is God. He acknowledges that no one else has the right direction by saying “to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Peter makes it very clear that all other people who claim to have a path to God are charlatans. Their path is false and will only lead to death and destruction. Jesus and Jesus alone has the words of eternal life. He then pronounces that they “believe.” No doubt these words were a source of encouragement to Jesus. He just watched a multitude of people walk away and reject believing in Him. But, His 12 apostles have just said “we will not follow the crowd, we will believe in you.” Not only do they believe but they have “come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Scripture clearly tells us that the apostles did not understand most of what Jesus did in His earthly ministry. They only understood after He rose from the grave and ascended to the father and sent the Holy Spirit to “teach them.” But in their limited understanding they were able to say “Jesus, you are the Holy One of God.”

All of this must force you to ask the question: Can you answer as Peter did? Do you believe? Do you believe that Jesus is the Holy One of God? Do you believe that He is The Way, The Truth and The Life and no one can come to the Father accept through Him? If so, rejoice during this season as we celebrate Jesus becoming a baby that was born to die.

Jason