Sermon Snippet –The Paradox of Power – Part III
INTRODUCTION – We have been considering the implications and applications of the principle of II Corinthians 12:10b: “When I am weak, then am I strong.” This paradoxical statement alone tells us that our human perspective on power does not agree with God’s and thus needs instruction and adjustment. The Apostle Peter is a helpful example of this Biblical truth.
1. PETER STRUGGLED WITH JESUS’ TEACHING ABOUT POWER
When Jesus began emphasizing the necessity of His substitutionary atonement, Peter immediately and incorrectly “began to rebuke Him” (Matthew 16:21-22). Jesus’ response to Peter’s presumption is startlingly strong: “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto Me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (verse 23). “Of God” or “of men” – these are our two choices. Later, Peter chose the path of physical violence rather than that of spiritual understanding (Matthew 26:47-54). Jesus rejected that form of power and healed the man that Peter had wounded (Luke 22:51). That same evening, Peter failed again – just as Jesus had predicted (Matthew 26:33-35, 69-75). Peter’s supposed strength turned out to be blather and bluster. His problem is ours: we view power wrongly. The power “of men” is not the power “of God.”
2. PETER LEARNED AND WAS FORGIVEN AND RESTORED
All of us should be deeply grateful for John 21:15-18. This passage applies to all of us. We also are recipients of God’s full, free, and forever forgiveness through faith in God the Son, Jesus Christ. These verses further instruct us in the power that Peter was to employ: he was to “feed” others the spiritual truth of the Word of God. The message remains the same today. Any other message is “of man” and not “of God.”
3. PETER TAUGHT EXTENSIVELY ABOUT SUFFERING
Peter wrote about the sufferings of Jesus (I Peter 2:21; 4:1). What he had initially refused to believe became a key theme in his writings and preaching. We should note that he then applies these sufferings as a working principle for Christians. He finally understood that such suffering is not weakness; rather, it is spiritual strength in action.
CONCLUSION – Peter ultimately suffered martyrdom, as Jesus had prophesied in John 21:18. The impulsive and impetuous Peter before the Cross would have rejected that outcome as a possibility, for it did not match his preconceived paradigm of power. The wiser Peter always came back to the Cross and the Gospel (I Peter 21:22-25). May we do the same.