Jesus Praises Peter for Hearing from God

Let’s continue our theme about Jesus finding things in imperfect people to praise and encourage! I wanted to turn to Peter for the next event because Peter has so many successes and so many failures! I want to highlight some of Peter’s failures so that everyone will know that our failures and sins do not set us outside the reach of Jesus. If anyone wants to come to Jesus and live life with Him, no failure or sin will separate them from Christ! Peter fails to understand Jesus on multiple occasions and is confused about what Jesus is saying (Mk 4:10, Matt 15:15, Matt 16:7-8).

Peter worries about his sacrifice to follow Jesus and wants to know what his reward will be (Matt 19:27)? Peter fails to keep walking on water and keep trusting Jesus (Matt 14:31). Peter draws all the attention to himself and interrupts a holy moment when Jesus is talking to Moses and Elijah about His death and departure (Matt 17:7). Peter and the other disciples sin in selfish ambition having serious conflict arguing about which one of them is the greatest. This occurs on at least 3 different occasions (Mk 9:33, Mk 10:35, Lk 22:24). Peter resists the core mission of Jesus to die on the cross (Matt 16:22). Peter falls asleep when Jesus needs Him most (Matt 26:40). Peter denies knowing Jesus with oaths and curses (Matt 26:72-74).Through all of Peter’s sins and failures, and there are more than these, Jesus is continually patience with Peter and forgives Him. And yes, there are times of correction and discipline as well, but never rejection!With that as a backdrop, let’s consider a time when Jesus praises Peter. Jesus takes the disciples way up north in Israel past the Sea of Galilee to Caesarea Philippi. He wants to talk to His disciples about His identity. There is wide spread questioning about who Jesus is. Remember there are crowds of 10,000 and 15,000 people following Him from time to time. (5,000 men could easily be 15,000 people when you also count women and children.) Jesus has been healing people one by one and also healing groups of people en masse (Lk 4:40). Beyond this, He is even delivering people of demonic spirits. He ends raising 3 people from the dead, Jarius’ daughter, the widow of Nain’s son and Lazarus. Then to top it all off, He is calming the storms on the sea, calling fish into Peter’s nets, walking on water and turning water into wine! With all of that in the backdrop, Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (Paraphrase Matt 16:13). They reply that some people say Jesus is John the Baptist come back to life or Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Then Jesus asks them the question He asks all of us, “But… who do YOU say I am?” (Matt 16:15)

Peter comes right out with it… “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus says, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” Jesus lays down a huge compliment to Peter! First He says, “Peter you are blessed!” And then Jesus goes on, “Peter, you heard directly from My Father on this critical point. You didn’t hear that from some person. You heard directly from God!”

It is a pretty huge praise coming from the mouth of Jesus regarding His own identity. There had been 6,000 years of prophetic declaration of the coming One, who would rule the entire earth. (Genesis 3:15 may be the first declaration.) Jesus interacted with many of the leaders, kings and prophets in the Old Testament. One day the mystery man of the Old Testament, the Angel of the Lord, is born as a human baby to Mary. He grows to about 30 years old. One day Peter puts his finger on Jesus’ ultimate identity and Jesus greatly praises him for it!

Jesus is the kind of person who can find things to praise in people who fail, sin and even deny Him. Peter did all of these and more. Jesus is the kind of person who doesn’t obsess on our failures and sins. Yes, He is God and is aware of them. But He is focused on calling us out and growing us up! He loves to create confident and passionate followers! He sees where we are trying to grow and obey what He says. He is not like Satan who only points out our failures and sins. He points out our successes and areas of growth even while we are struggling and failing.Peter was struggling and failing in many areas. This did NOT stop Jesus from praising him. And it does not stop Jesus from praising and encouraging us!

Take Away: 

God Is Just Like Jesus:
“He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God…” Colossians 1:15 It is very true that Jesus convicts us of our sins and failures so that we can change and grow. However, Jesus is also focused on the areas that we are growing in trust and obedience. He is praising us for this just as we praise our children for their accomplishments in love even as they struggle with whining and complaining! Since Jesus does this, it is clear that God is exactly the same!

1^st Commandment Prayer: (Worship)
Jesus, change my image of you and make it line up with the Bible! Cause me to hear your honest praise and encouragement. How radically I will grow if I am aware of your voice in this arena! Yes, I hear your conviction of sin but help me also to hear your encouragement! As I see You doing this to me, help me do this to my children, spouse, friends and co-workers! Praise the Lord!