Hi, this is Nathan W Bingham and before we get to today's episode, I wanted to encourage you to download the free Ligonier app if you haven't already. You can easily get the app by searching for Ligonier in your app store of choice or by visiting ligonier.org slash app. As a Renewing Your Mind listener, you know that most days our resource offer has a digital component, something you can stream or read and you can access those resources in the app. The Ligonier app also makes it easy to listen to each day's edition of Renewing Your Mind, plus there's thousands of other free resources in the library that you can read, watch or listen to. And if you're a Ligonier ministry partner, when you log in, our complete teaching series library will be unlocked so you can study on the go.
So be sure to search for Ligonier in your app store and make the Ligonier app something that you use every day. Now onto today's episode. Jesus uses people who are not perfect. He uses somebody like Peter and he gives him another chance and another and that's really helpful to know that the Jesus I love is the Jesus who loved Peter. The Apostle Peter, he denied Jesus not once, not twice, but three times.
He seemed to find it easy to put his foot in his mouth, even once telling Jesus, far be it from you, after hearing that Jesus would be going to die and then rising again on the third day. Perhaps this is why many of us can relate more with Peter than with the Apostle Paul. We see our own weakness in Peter. Welcome to the Monday edition of Renewing Your Mind. I'm your host, Nathan W. Bingham. All week we'll be talking about the life of Peter as you hear messages from Derek Thomas' series The Life of Peter. And you'll be able to own this series, its study guide, and we'll send you the newly released companion hardcover book on the life of Peter when you give a donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org or when you call us at 800 435 4343. Derek Thomas is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow and Chancellor's Professor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary. I had the opportunity to sit down with him while we were both in Canada for a Ligonier conference to discuss his teaching on the life of Peter. Here's that conversation now. Well, Dr. Thomas, it's great to be able to sit down with you and talk about this new teaching series. We are here in Canada for our Ontario conference.
It's always a treat to be able to have these conversations at our conferences. But as we think about Peter, when we think about the New Testament, I think if you asked a Christian, what is the first name that comes to mind when you think of the New Testament, particularly a Protestant, they might say Jesus, the apostle Paul, but you selected the apostle Peter for this series. Why Peter? Well he is the chief apostle. Before there ever was a Paul, at Caesarea Philippi in Matthew 16, Jesus asked, you know, who do men say that I am?
And there were all kinds of answers, Elijah and John the Baptist returned from the dead and so on. And then he asked, Peter, what do you say that I am? And Peter said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus turns to him and he says that he will build his church. You are Peter and on this rock, I will build my church.
That's a very, very defining moment. Of course, historically, ecclesiastically and theologically, the verse has been taken to mean that Peter is the first Pope, but Jesus most definitely is saying that Peter is the number one apostle. Now some in reaction to the teaching of Rome, Protestants went in the opposite direction and said that this has nothing to do with Peter. What Jesus was saying was, on testimonies like yours, namely that Jesus was the Christ, the church would be built. But those testimonies didn't come out of nowhere, they came out of Peter.
It was his words, they were his words, his voice. And if you read the Acts of the Apostles, Pentecost, one of the most defining moments in redemptive history, the beginning of the last days. And who is preaching? It's Peter. Now occasionally it's Peter and John, but it's Peter. All the way up to chapter 12 of the Acts of the Apostles, the first half of the Acts of the Apostles, it's all about Peter because although Saul of Tarsus makes his appearance in chapter 7, he really doesn't figure in the life of the church, except by persecution initially, until the second half of Acts. So Peter is one of those characters, you know, I sometimes put it this way, it would be hard to work for the Apostle Paul because Paul was type A. I mean, he knew everything and he had an opinion about everything and he was strong. You know, you didn't want to cross the Apostle Paul.
We bless God for him. But when John Mark, the author of the Gospel, when John Mark failed on the first missionary journey and went home, Paul didn't want him a second time. And it was Barnabas that persuaded him to come. I mean, that's Paul, but the story of Peter is told, you know, warts and all. And Peter is more like us.
We want to say that he's more like us. You know, none of us would compare ourselves to the Apostle Paul, but you know, you might want to compare yourself to the Apostle Peter, and especially because of his failure. You know, he chided Jesus as Caesarea Philippi.
You know, Jesus began to teach that he must go to Jerusalem and there be handed over to the scribes and Pharisees and be crucified. And Peter says, Lord, this will never happen to you. I mean, he calls him Lord and then says, you're mistaken.
Those two things can come out of your mouth at the same time. But it's so Peter. Peter speaks before he thinks and a lot of us can recognize that.
You know, if we could undo something, we would pause and we'd say a little prayer and then we'd respond. But no, Peter just says it as he thinks it. So does he get a bad rap, like this caricature that he, as you just said, speaks before he thinks, puts his foot in his mouth? Is that a fair characterization of Peter?
Yes, I think so. I mean, on the plus side, Peter's an apostle. Peter did extraordinary things in the life of the early church. He was the one who spoke in the temple, performed miracles. He is responsible for the very initial stages of the early church in its tangent with the temple. And that's a very important aspect of the New Testament church. But Peter, I mean, we remember Peter because he denied the Lord three times. You know, and you say to yourself, how could you possibly do that? In his hour of need, on the eve of his crucifixion, when Jesus had predicted it—you know, if you knew that at six o'clock tomorrow morning you were going to sin, you'd probably at six o'clock tomorrow morning make sure that you didn't.
You'd have somebody with you to make sure that you didn't. But Peter just walks right into it. And not once, but three times.
Three times. And I guess, you know, I guess he remembered that for the rest of his life, just as Paul remembered the death of Stephen for the rest of his life, that he was complicit. They laid their garments at his feet, so he was complicit. I think that Peter—I suppose he went to bed every night thinking, Peter, how could I have done that?
Lord, how could I have possibly done that? And it was a revelation of just how certain besetting sins work. He was afraid. And in his epistles, in 1 Peter especially, several times he talks about fear.
I think it was something that he knew and wrestled with. In the Bible, John is described as the one whom Jesus loved. Did Peter have a similar close relationship with Jesus? Yes. It's very difficult for John to write that about himself.
I would feel a little self-conscious. But John is merely telling the story. I mean, he was Jesus' closest friend. But Peter was within that second circle of friends. And James and John and the sons of thunder and Peter—there are some disciples we know virtually nothing about.
And when you read books like John MacArthur's book on the 12 disciples, it was fascinating how much he managed to pull out on one or two of the lesser-known disciples, because there's not much in the Bible about them. But there's a whole lot about Peter. He's a fisherman, and I love that story about after the crucifixion and the sense of overwhelming shame that you had let Jesus down. And so what does Peter do?
He goes home. He goes back to fishing. And he's out all night, and he catches nothing, because I think he was reasoning that, well, I failed as a disciple, so let me go back to something that I know something about—his lucrative fishing business. And God humbling him again by ensuring providentially that he caught nothing, because he was to be a fisher of men, not a fisher of fish. There's a funny moment in John's gospel.
So I've already said that John has written that he's the one whom Jesus loves. Well, he also writes that he outran Peter. In John 20, it says, so Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. Now, I'm a runner, so I can understand some of the competitiveness there, and perhaps if I was writing Scripture and one of my running buddies, I'd beat them, maybe I'd put it in the Bible. I find that such an amusing line. Why do you think John felt the need to write that?
What was he trying to communicate? Well, John took his supplements. He may well have been fitter than Peter.
We don't have any description of what weight were they, did they work out. But I just think that John tells the story as it happened, and John was a better runner than Peter. I don't think I want to add anything more to that, but it is funny, funny that John would include that in his gospel. It shows, I think, that you can trust these gospels, because if you're writing a fake gospel, you probably wouldn't put little details like that in.
This is a detail that comes from an eyewitness, because he was there. When you talk about in the series the miraculous catching of the fish, you state that Peter's faith in Christ at that moment was weak, that he didn't want to obey, was slow to obey and throwing the nets over. What can we learn from that moment in Peter's life? Well, first of all, that Jesus hadn't given up on him, that he came and sought him out.
And it had to be a very personal and memorable meeting. It wasn't just a meeting in a back street in Jerusalem somewhere. It underlines the extent of Peter's sin, but it also underlines the extent of Jesus' love and forgiveness for him. Would we be shocked if Jesus said to him, you'll never be my disciple ever again?
No, I don't suppose we would. But not only is he a disciple, he is the number one apostle. The whole ministry of Pentecost onwards is given to Peter, Peter and John, but Peter first. And that says something to us about the wonderful heart of Jesus.
We let him down all the time. But his forgiveness is kind and gentle. And Peter needed to catch some fish for his family. And it underlined perhaps once again that Peter really does need to trust Jesus' word because it is always right.
It's always correct. You mentioned earlier that Peter tried to forbid Jesus from going and suffering and dying. And Jesus' response was very strong and stern.
Get behind me, Satan. Why was Jesus' language so strong? Because he had heard that voice before in the temptation narratives. Satan had promised him the kingdoms of the world without a cross, a crown without a cross.
And that's what he was hearing from Peter that he could get this crown, but he didn't have to die for it. And it was the voice of Satan as much as it was the voice of Peter, speaking through Peter. And I think that explains the almost violent reaction of Jesus. I mean, he doesn't speak like this to his disciples anywhere else.
Get behind me, Satan. It shows, I think, that in Jesus' ministry, there is a very profound sense, as the apostle John says, the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. And that Genesis 3.15, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, that Jesus' intent in coming into this world was to forgive our sin, but also to destroy the works of Satan. If I'm remembering correctly, Dr. Sproul said that one of the moments, one of the events that is recorded in the New Testament that he wished he could have seen was the transfiguration of Christ. And Peter did see that. How did that change his relationship with Jesus? Well, he also, you remember, enjoyed it a lot, because mountaintop experiences are way better than experiences down in the valley. So he wanted to build three tents.
I mean, how he was going to do that, I have no idea. But he was going to make three tents for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, saying in effect, you know, I want this to continue. It's like coming to a conference, and you get built up and excited, and then you have to go home, because ministry isn't always on the mountaintop. The transfiguration is one of those momentous events in the life of Christ, you know, like his birth and his baptism and Calvary and his burial and resurrection and ascension. The transfiguration, when Moses and Elijah appeared to him. And why did Jesus feel the need to take Peter, James, and John with him? Because he wanted witnesses. He wanted Peter to talk about it, and he does in his epistle. We were eyewitnesses of his majesty, he says. And then he goes on to say something quite remarkable, that we have a more sure word of prophecy. You know, if you were to ask me, and this is Peter speaking, if you were to ask me, which do you want, a ticket to the transfiguration or a Bible? You're thinking about it.
Yeah, I would think about it, because I would love to have seen the transfiguration. But Peter is saying, I was there. I saw it. But you have a more sure word of prophecy. What I saw was with my eyes, but what you have is written down in ink, given by the Holy Spirit.
Such an important reminder. Well, one final question for you. We've talked about this high point in the life of Peter, seeing the transfiguration. We mentioned earlier his denial of Christ, really a low point in his life. What are some other practical lessons that we can learn in seeing how Jesus related with Peter after denying him three times? I mean, one important lesson is that Jesus never gives up on you, that there is a way of forgiveness, that it's not just one chance and you're out. It also teaches us that Jesus uses people who are not perfect, and He uses what we might call failures.
He uses somebody like Peter, and He gives him another chance and another and another. And that's really helpful to know, that the Jesus I love is the Jesus who loved Peter. I mean, it would be far easier to love the Apostle Paul because he is so, so smart and knowledgeable. I mean, not that Peter's not smart and knowledgeable, though he was a fisherman. He would have had a wonderful rabbinic education in the synagogue.
But he hadn't gone to school like Saul of Tarsus had gone to school, and yet God used him mightily in His kingdom. I love that line, that the Jesus who loves me is the Jesus who loved Peter. Well, Dr. Thomas, very thankful for this series and book, and grateful that you could spend some time today on Renewing Your Mind. Thank you. That was Derek Thomas at a recent Ligonier Ministries conference discussing his new series and book on the life of Peter. Thank you for listening to the Monday edition of Renewing Your Mind.
I'm Nathan W. Bingham, and I'm glad you're with us. You'll hear select messages from this series this week, but you can own them all and the study guide when you give a donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org, or when you call us at 800-435-4343. And in addition to lifetime digital access, we'll send you the companion hardcover book by Dr. Thomas as well. So whether you prefer to watch, listen, or read, there is a resource here for you. Use the link in the podcast show notes or visit renewingyourmind.org to give your gift today. And as we approach the final weeks of 2024, any additional support is greatly appreciated to help us begin the new year with strength. Thank you.
Here's a preview of tomorrow's episode. The door has been officially opened to lead the Church of Christ into the whole world. It's why we know the Gospel, the reason the Gospel came to us and didn't just stay in Israel. It's because of what Peter did here. He was being obedient to the vision that he had received in Joppa. It's tomorrow here on Renewing Your Mind.
