Mark 9:1-13; Peter

According to Irenaeus (2nd Century), Mark wrote from the teachings of Peter. With that in mind it is interested to read the narrative comments in this section. The description of the whiteness of Jesus' garments strikes me as coming from an eyewitness. Yet is is the comment of "he did not know what to say, they were so frightened" and the comment that they did not understand what rising from the dead meant that strike me the most.

Peter really didn't understand Jesus for most of Jesus' life. Yet, he had a deep enough conviction to stay near Jesus. He might not have been able to write a systematic theology, but he understood that this man was special. Peter would go on to mess up even after Jesus was raised from the dead (in Galatians Paul talks about confronting him in his error). Yet the heart of the man was never in doubt.

If ever there was a person that Jesus (and God the father in this story) had reason to give up on or cast out for failure, it was Peter. Jesus' patience with him and even inclusion of him into the "inner circle" inspire me. Whenever I feel like I don't understand God or have just acted ignorantly or totally failed in my faith, I think of Jesus' patience with Peter.

If I had three years to save the world, Peter would not have been my first choice of followers. How grateful I am that God looks at the heart and not just the actions.
1 Samuel 16: 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Luke 22:54-62; Strong feelings

This section is filled with strong feelings; it is filled with powerful words, especially verbs. They did not escort Jesus but rather seized him. How do you seize God? You only do what he permits; the seizure action indicates a total lack of understanding of whom they are arresting.

Peter followed at a distance then sat down with the wrong crowd. When he made his final denial, Jesus turned and looked straight at him. I wonder what that look was like. I wonder what was going on when he turned. Was Pilot speaking to him? Maybe the soldiers were mocking him. Maybe the high priest was addressing him. Jesus broke from all the passion of the moment and turned to make eye contact with Peter. The result was Peter's brokenness.

I wonder how Jesus would look at me today? Am I close to him in what he is trying to accomplish or am I lagging behind, sitting with the wrong crowd? How would he look at me? What effect would it have on me?

Luke 22:47-53; Act or ask?

This little section seems so familiar to me; perhaps because I live it out so often.

The apostles ask a question of Jesus. "Lord, should we strike with our swords?" Then no one waited for the answer. They only had two swords among them and Peter used his to jump into action. They asked a question and then acted without waiting for the answer. It begs the question of "why bother asking if you don't really want to hear the response?"

Then I look at my life and wonder how often it looks the same. How often to I ask a heart felt question of God and them immediately jump into action. How hard it is to really listen. How hard it is to wait.