Peter the Disciple

Since we are all about “Making Disciples and Creating Community” I thought we might look more closely at a disciple, the genuine article. In any list of the disciples in the Gospels, this man’s name comes first – he is, of course, Peter.

We pick up Peter’s story, not at the beginning, but much later, as he is leading the church and the mission of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. Peter’s path crosses the path of a Roman soldier named Cornelius. He is described as,

“a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave generously to others and prayed constantly to God.” Acts 10.2

God arranges for Peter to be summoned to this man’s house so they could meet. It was not a chance meeting. God wanted Peter to meet this man. God had plans for the both of them.

To understand what those plans were you need to know that were some disagreements and controversies swirling around the church in those days. What?!! I know. Apparently even the New Testament Church sometimes had disagreements. This one was a pretty big one. It revolved around the question of whether a non-Jewish convert to Christianity had to practice their faith according to Jewish law and customs. Mind you, most of the church thus far was made up of ethnic Jews, the people of the circumcision, the Torah, and kosher dietary laws. But there were also non-ethnic Jews converting to the Jesus Way and the Apostle Paul was telling them they didn’t have to be circumcised and follow Moses. In fact, Paul was telling them they shouldn’t do these things, that they were free of the law in Christ.

But the Jewish Christians, not to mention all other Jews, believed there was only one right way to follow God, and that was through the law of Moses and the prophets. Why did they believe the Law of Moses to be so important?

Because God told them it was important! God told them the choice between obeying or not obeying the Law was the choice between life and death (see Joshua and Deuteronomy). Paul knew all this but believed that God was speaking a new word on behalf of not just the Jews but for all peoples.

Have you ever been stuck in a rut in your knowledge and opinions? It’s amazing how we become conditioned to see only what we expect to see.

On a cold January morning in 2007, a young man named Joshua Bell took his violin and went to a Washington DC Metro Station to play. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately two thousand people went through that station, most of them on their way to work. The musician played and only six people stopped to listen. A few people dropped dollars into his case totaling $32. He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. No one knew that Joshua Bell is one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where seats averaged $100. This is a true story and it was part of a social experiment on perception. Do we only see and hear what we expect to? How many things are we missing?

The leaders of church in Jerusalem wanted to put a muzzle on Paul. Paul was not doing what they expected to be done. Peter was sympathetic to his spiritual brother, but he felt caught in the middle and he wavered and vacillated. But God was already working on that.

“Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about the sixth hour, and he became hungry and desired something to eat. While he waiting for the food to be prepared, he into a trance. . .”
Peter was observing one of the daily prayer times for a devout Jew, the sixth hour. He was very hungry and soon fell into a trance. I know what a hunger-induced trance is like. I get them. I start thinking Arby’s. Or I look at my wife with a wild look in my eyes – she knows that it’s not romance on my mind – it’s a juicy sirloin, it’s a big plate of pasta I lust for.

I don’t know that it was hunger that caused Peter’s vision. I think Peter the disciple knew that intentional prayer, times of solitude, meditation, and fasting could bring understanding and a word from God. Peter had been trained in these things by a pretty good teacher, in fact,, the best.

So Peter was able to hear what God wanted him to hear and see what God wanted him to see. This is what Peter saw:

A vision of something like a great sheet falling from heaven and the sheet was filled with all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds. All kinds, not just Jewish, kosher kinds. All kinds. And then Peter heard God say:

“Come on and eat, Peter.” Come on over to the all-you-can-eat ham and bacon buffet. Now to you and me, that sounds pretty good and pretty right. To me everything tastes better with bacon. In fact, just the other day I suggested bacon-flavored ice cream. You heard it here first.

But this word to Peter, a devout Jew, was shocking. It went against everything he had been taught to believe. In fact, Peter’s first words were, “No, Lord.” Peter thought God had slipped up, maybe had a moment of weakness Himself. God would come to his senses. Peter would hold the fort until God came to himself.

But God said, “What I have cleansed, you must not call unclean.” Acts 10.15

So why did God tell Peter this? Why was it wrong for Moses and the Israelites to eat the very animals that God was now telling Peter to dig into?

Jaroslav Pelikan calls this, “the divine nullification and repeal of the Mosaic Law.” That’s a fancy way of saying God changed His mind. Or if you prefer, God decided to do a new thing, reveal a new part of his plan of Salvation for all peoples.


When my boys were innocent toddlers, they spent whole days going around touching things and holding things and licking things and generally getting to know the world outside themselves. It’s how we learn. But with this wonderful curiosity, I had to caution them to be careful about certain things. Don’t touch that flame, it’s hot, it’s hot. Be careful of that bee “it will sting. It will bite you.” Stay away from the lawnmower. It’s dangerous. It can cut you.

That was good teaching for them then. But now, it’s not the teaching they need. Now I’m trying to teach them – boy, this is the lawnmower. This is how it works. It’s not just for dads. You too, can learn to use the lawnmower. To which they try to respond, “But dad, you told us to stay away from the lawnmower. Dad you said. . .”

God teaches new things so that we can believe and learn and grow.

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 43.18-19

Peter perceived that God was doing a new thing. It wasn’t just opening up the earthly buffet. Peter understood the implications of this for the Great Commission.

“Go and make disciples of all peoples teaching them the commandments” of God revealed in Jesus. Matthew 28.19-20

Peter said , “Truly I now see (perceive) that God shows no partiality but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Acts 10.34

Truly I now see. Disciples learn to see what God is doing now. Disciples learn to listen to the music, not just in the concert hall but in the metro station. A disciple can do this because a disciple is always following the Teacher. A disciple doesn’t stay put and pretend that they’ve heard enough. A disciple isn’t forever stuck on lesson one ten years ago. A disciple trains. She follows the Master Musician, the Lord of the Dance.

So let’s give praise to Peter, a true disciple. In the beginning he was thickheaded, loudmouthed, and cowardly. But he became thoughtful and wise, bold and gentle, a leader in tune with the workings of the Spirit of God. If God can grow Peter, maybe God can grow you and me. What is the Spirit speaking to you today?