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He, full of the Holy Spirit,
gazed into heaven and saw the
glory of God, and Jesus standing
at the
right hand of God.
And he said, “Behold,
I see the heavens opened,
and the
Son of Man standing
at the
Right hand of God
The figure to the left
of
Saint Peter holds a key
a traditional symbol of this Saint. His execution
was ordered by the
Roman Emperor Nero, who blamed the city's Christians for a
terrible fire that had ravaged Rome.
Peter requested to be crucified upside down,
as he felt unworthy
to die in the same manner as
Christ
The Bible doesn’t tell us how the apostle Peter died.
The most commonly accepted church tradition is that
Peter was crucified "upside-down" in Rome.
Tradition says that, when Peter was put to death, he
requested to be crucified on an inverted cross.
The reason for his request was that,
because he had denied his Lord,
he did not
consider himself worthy
to
die as Jesus had
(see Matthew 26:33–35, 69–75)
Again, this is only a tradition, and the Bible doesn’t
confirm or deny the story.
What we do know for sure about
Peter’s death is Jesus’
prophecy
in John 21:18–19
“‘Very truly I tell you, when you were younger
you dressed yourself
and went where you wanted;
but when you are old you will
stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you and
lead you
where you do not want to go.’
Jesus said this to indicate
the kind of death
by which Peter would glorify God.”
Jesus foretold the manner of Peter’s death,
perhaps to prepare him
for the circumstances he would face now
that his Lord had been resurrected and would
no longer be with him physically.
Jesus reminded Peter that, in the past
(“when you were younger”),
Peter had a certain amount of freedom
to
come and go as he pleased.
The day was coming when that would no longer be the case.
“When you are old”
does not necessarily mean Peter would live to a ripe old age.
In fact, ancient writers say that
Peter was put to death about thirty-four years after
Jesus’ prophecy.
Peter’s precise age at that time is not known.
The means of death for Peter--crucifixion—was
also predicted by the Lord.
“Stretching out” his hands
could easily be interpreted as
Peter dying on a cross with his
arms outstretched.
Some historians point to the fact that the Romans
also used stocks as an instrument of torture;
in the stocks, a prisoner’s
hands were stretched on the crosspiece.
Whatever the manner of his execution, it is clear that
Peter was at the mercy
of others who in some way Tied him and
carried him to his death
In spite of the gruesome details
Peter heard about his death,
he must have taken comfort and
joy in hearing that
his death would
glorify God
Peter’s love for Jesus and his desire
to obey and glorify Him
were evident throughout the rest of
his life and ministry.
For Peter to die a martyr’s death
clinging to the hope of heaven
testifies
to the courage, faith, patience, and
perseverance
of this great man of God who rejoiced
to be counted
worthy to die for the
name of Jesus.
Not long after he had
risen from the dead,
Jesus asked Peter,
“Do you love me?”
Then he asked the same question again, “Do you love me?”
Then a third time he asked, “Do you love me?”
Each time Peter said, “
Yes, I love you, Lord.”
Now Peter and
Jesus were best friends.
Despite his flaws,
Peter was always trying
to do
whatever Jesus asked of him.
He was always hungering
after more of the
Lord
During the three years that
he spent with Jesus,
Peter was taught, tested, and sifted,
and through it all he became a
true
friend of the Lord.
Still, Jesus chose to question Peter’s love--
and three times!
Why?
Some say it was so that
Peter could undo
the three times he denied Jesus
on Holy Thursday.
Some say it was Jesus’ way of
reinstating Peter
as the head of the church
after Peter ran away.
But maybe there is another
reason as well.
Perhaps Jesus questioned Peter three times as a way of
bringing him to a greater humility
and showing him that
Jesus’ ways
are always better than
his ways.
You can imagine Jesus saying to Peter:
“I know life better than you do.
I know the human heart better
than you do. When I say that
you will deny me three times, believe it.”
At the Last Supper,
Peter announced that he was prepared
to die for Jesus
(Luke 22:33).
But only a few hours later,
he failed the test.
By denying
Jesus and abandoning him,
Peter
damaged his high
standing
among the apostles.
What’s more, he himself was
filled with guilt and shame.
Jesus was right,
and
Peter couldn’t see it.
But
now Jesus was bringing Peter
reconciliation, peace, and
renewed joy.
The point is, if we hunger and thirst for
Jesus,
he will tell us the same thing
he told Peter--that
'his' ways are superior
to
'OUR ways.
And he will tell us
this
over and over
again,
not just once. Just as he made this point to Peter
at
every opportunity,
he will also take advantage of every opportunity
to convince us that
he knows best
Some of these lessons may
hurt our pride.
But there is no other way to holiness.
As the psalmist wrote,
-Unless-
The Lord build the house,
they
labor inVain who build”
(Psalm 127:1).
Brothers and sisters,
we can be
Jesus’ friends
We can be a people that he can
call his own.
Yes,
it means that we
need to be taught and tested,
stretched and refined,
transformed and recreated.
But like any close friendship, the
rewards far outweigh
the
challenge.
Jesus wants to be with us
because he loves us so much.
He wants to tell
the saints and angels in heaven
that he has
formed us for himself:)
(Isaiah 43:21).
He also wants us to tell those six billion people
on earth that
we ARE his church,
his best friends. Jesus is alway
standing at the door
of our hearts,
always
asking us to open the door
and let him in
(Revelation 3:20).
He wants to bless us and fill us
with
“every spiritual blessing,”
including the
peace, confidence, and strength
we need to
proclaim his love to the world
(Ephesians 1:3).
He simply asks
us to come to him and say,
“Lord, I come to seek your face.
My heart is thirsting
for you,
as if in a dry and weary land where there is
no water
Jesus, I have seen you
in the
sanctuary of your altar;
I have witnessed your power
and
your love in my heart.
I know that your love is better than life,
so I want my lips to
glorify you.
Come, Lord, and show yourself
to me even more.
History depicts that Some fig trees
have no directional sense to carry the
Arc of the testimony
the
Word of God
and are recklessly Void
of the
Holy Spirit
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