May 19, 2023: 2 Peter 3:18 - Let Us Grow in Him and Give Him Glory
“…but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” - 2 Peter 3:18
The apostle Peter wrote this second epistle knowing that he would soon die, as he wrote about in 2 Peter 1:14. What an example we have in Peter of someone who grew in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Let us remember the moment when Peter, who was then called Simon, and his brother Andrew were fishermen in their boats, first saw Jesus, who told them, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:4) Simon told Jesus they had been fishing all night and had not caught any fish but he would do as Jesus said. When Simon and Andrew did as Jesus said, they caught so many fish that their net began to break. “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’ (Luke 5:8) “Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:18-20)
Peter was the first of the twelves apostles to acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ:
“When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, ‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’” (Matthew 16:13-20)
Peter was in the inner circle of Jesus’ apostles, along with James and John. They were present when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain (Matthew 17:1). Along with Peter’s fellow apostles, they saw Jesus perform many miracles. They walked and talked with Jesus, they ate with Him, shared the Passover meal with Him three times, including when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper the night before His death. Peter was in the boat with the other apostles during a severe storm when they saw Jesus walking on water toward them. Peter was the only one who took a leap of faith when encouraged by Jesus to come to Him, to walk on water, until fear filled him and he took his eyes off of Jesus and instead focused on the boisterous wind. As he began to sink, he cried out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” and Jesus did save him, asking Peter why he doubted. (Matthew 14:22-33) How many times have we doubted what Jesus can do in our lives? How many times have I doubted?
When Jesus told His apostles that He must “suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised the third day,” it was Peter who took Jesus aside and rebuked Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” (Matthew 16:21-23) Peter did not know the plan of God and that there was a purpose for the all the suffering that Jesus would go through and although Jesus would die, He would be resurrected and pay the price for redemption of sins for all who choose to believe in Him as the Christ.
Before Jesus was arrested, He told His disciples that each of them would be “made to stumble”:
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:
“I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’”
“‘But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.’ Peter answered and said to Him, ‘Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ Peter said to Him, ‘Even I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’ And so said all the disciples.” (Matthew 26:31-35)
Before Jesus was arrested, He was in the garden of Gethsemane with His disciples. Judas, Jesus’ betrayer, came with the chief priests and Pharisees and a detachment of troops seeking to arrest Jesus. Peter took his sword and then cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Jesus then said to Peter:
“Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup with My Father has given Me?” (John 18:11)
How many times have we taken manners into our own hands so that we could fix a situation according to how we believed it should be fixed rather than letting Jesus be in control of it? I have tried many, many times to fix a situation, only to make it worse.
Though Peter said he would absolutely never deny Jesus, he did, and he denied Him three times, exactly as Jesus said he would. Why? Peter feared for his life, perhaps fearing they would do to him what they were going to do to Jesus. After the third time Peter denied knowing Jesus, cursing and swearing, immediately a rooster crowed and Peter was filled with deep remorse for what he had done:
“And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ So he went out and wept bitterly.’’ (Matthew 26:75)
How many of us have made huge mistakes in our lives, doing things we ought not to do, because we feared what people might do to us instead of fearing God? Peter had just made a huge mistake in his life, and he likely felt like he had lost everything.
As Jesus foretold, He was crucified on a cross and He died. As prophesied approximately 700 years before it happened, His body was placed in a tomb of a rich man:
Prophecy: “And they made His grave with the wicked - but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.” (Isaiah 53:9)
Fulfillment: “Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.” (Matthew 27:57-60)
Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’ followers, and other women went to the tomb early on the third day to anoint Jesus’ body with spices. Mary saw that the large stone that had been placed in front of it had been taken away. She ran back to tell Simon Peter and John what had happened, saying, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” (John 20:2) Peter and John ran to the tomb, with John arriving first. John wrote about what they saw:
“And he [John], stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linens cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.” (John 20:5-10)
Notice above it says, “Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed.” This Scripture is referring to the apostle John. Notice that when Peter went into the tomb, though he looked and saw the same thing John subsequently had seen, it does not say that Peter believed. Peter was seeing with his own eyes that the tomb was empty and the burial cloths that once wrapped the body of Jesus, were lying on the floor, with Jesus’ body nowhere in sight. How many of us have doubted what we have seen with our own eyes, like Peter did? Did Peter not remember the three times that Jesus had predicted His own death and resurrection?
“From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” (Matthew 16:21)
“Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.’ And they were exceedingly sorrowful.” (Matthew 17:22-23)
“Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.” (Matthew 20:17-19)
As Jesus also prophesied, He did rise again on the third day. The Bible tells us that after Peter and John had left, Mary stayed outside the tomb and wept and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white who asked her why she was weeping. She told them it was because someone had taken Jesus’ body and she didn’t know where they had laid Him.
In the gospel of Mark, we have another account of Mary’s interaction with the angel at the tomb of Jesus, who told Mary and the women with her when they saw that the angel and that the tomb was empty:
“But he [the angel] said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples - and Peter - that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.’” Mark 16:6-7)
The angel specifically told them to go tell Peter. This is not coincidence. Also notice that it does not say, “Tell His disciples, including Peter.”
After speaking with the angles, Mary turned around and saw Jesus but didn’t realize that it was Him. Jesus asked her why she was weeping and whom was she seeking. Thinking He was a gardener, she asked Him where He had laid Jesus’ body:
“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to Him, ‘Rabboni!’ (which is to say, Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.” (John 20:16-18)
Through all of this, Jesus was teaching Peter a lesson: God has a plan, and His will, will be done. We may not like the plan, it may not be how we would do things, we may not even understand it, but we must trust in God not only with that plan but with everything in our lives.
After Jesus resurrected, His disciples were hiding from the Jews in a room for fear of them. Jesus appeared in the midst of His disciples in the room and said:
“‘Peace be with you.’ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’” (John 20:19-23)
The apostles of Jesus were now commissioned by Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit, ready to go and preach the good news of salvation of sins through belief in Jesus Christ. But there was a matter of the heart in Peter that still had to be dealt with. Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James and John, and two other disciples were at the Sea of Tiberias. Simon Peter said he wanted to go fishing and the other disciples went with him. They spent the entire night fishing and yet had not caught a single fish. The next morning, Jesus saw them from the shore and called out to them. But the disciples did not know it was Jesus. He asked if they had caught any fish and they told Him no. He told them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” (John 21:6) And so it happened again, the net was so full of fish that they could not bring it into the boat. John immediately then recognized that it was Jesus, and he told Peter, “It is the Lord!” Peter then put on his coat and plunged into the sea. He dragged the net, that had 153 fish in it, to the land and was able to keep the heavy net from breaking. Jesus then invited His disciples to come and eat breakfast with Him. This time, they knew it was the Lord.
Now, it was time for a restoration of Peter. Just as he had denied Jesus three times, Jesus would ask Peter three times if Peter loved Him, and each time, Peter responded affirmatively. Jesus told Him respectively after Peter answered, “Feed My lambs,” then “Tend My sheep,” and finally,”Feed My sheep.” For each former denial of Jesus, Peter confirmed that he did indeed love Jesus. The Bible tells us of the third time, “Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’” Jesus ended the conversation with how Jesus had first started it, when He had first seen Peter and his brother Andrew fishing that day, saying: “Follow Me.” (John 21:19)
Peter did follow Jesus, and he spread the good news of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. Peter preached boldly on the day of Pentecost when over 3,000 souls were saved. He wrote the two epistles that we have read and studied over the past weeks. Peter did in fact grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, giving Him glory. May we remember the words Peter spoke, through the power of the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost to the men of Judea and Israel:
“‘Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.’ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.’ And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying ‘Be saved from this perverse generation.’ Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” (Acts 2:36-41)
We have now come to the end of the second epistle of Peter. May we remember Peter’s words from his first epistle:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)
Finally, I ask you: Does the inheritance Peter spoke of above apply to you? Do you have the living hope of Jesus Christ? Are you kept by the power of God through faith for salvation? If not, what are you waiting for? ✝️