“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven...
Matthew 16:15-17
In Matthew 16, Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was. Peter, ever the spokesman of the group, boldly proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah. This was a big step of faith for Peter. It seems to me that the disciples all hoped Jesus was the Messiah. They may have even believed that He might be the Messiah. But they seldom said it out loud. So, even though it may seem obvious to us now, at the time I believe Peter was taking a big step of faith to so boldly declare that Jesus was the Messiah. And Jesus responds to Peter's faith the way He always responds to faith, He blesses and affirms it.
But what I find interesting is that so very soon after Peter got it right he managed to get it really wrong. In verse 21 of the same chapter, we read that Jesus began explaining to His disciples that He would be rejected by the chief priests and would be killed and would rise on the third day. But Peter cannot imagine that the Messiah will suffer, so in verse twenty-two Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him saying, "Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” Continuing in verse 23 "Jesus turned and said...to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.'”
Peter went from bold faith to opposing God's plan in record time. This is instructive for us. If Peter can go from being so very right to being so very wrong in such a short span of time, then so can we. We must be careful!
If you are reading this, then chances are that you have spent a considerable amount of time in church. You probably think you are getting quite a bit about your faith right... and you very well may be. But don't think for a second that you can't be wrong. Don't think for a second that you can't fail spectacularly.
We need to understand that we can be very right about a lot of things in the faith, and still be terribly wrong about others. We see examples of this every time a pastor of note falls into doctrinal or moral error. They had so much right that we thought it couldn't happen to them. But it did. And it can happen to you as well. So be humble. Guard against thinking that you have everything figured out. Don't you dare believe you can't fall. Make time to sit at the feet of Jesus and His Word every day. And as you do, submit yourself to God's truth letting it guide you and keep you on the right path.
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