Peter and the rest of them thought they were on the verge of something huge. They thought they had beat the crowd to the next big thing. And they had. But not at all like what they'd anticipated. They imagined that their relationship to Jesus in the early, less glamorous days was earning them a spot in the inner circle of the government that would overthrow Rome. They figured that any day now Jesus would sit them down for a strategic battle plan meeting, assign positions of authority for as soon as the coup was complete, and send them out to rally the masses. Victory. Luxury. Ease.
Knowing how their stories actually ended, it's easy to think they were just ridiculous. I often take comfort in the fact that they could hear Jesus speak so plainly about the reality of the Kingdom of God and still miss Him so grossly. But really, their expectations were not that crazy. Israel's history was wrought with sin, captivity, restoration, prosperity. God had always sent a deliverer when the people were humbled, and they expected Jesus was the Great Deliverer. He would free them from Rome and establish His never-ending kingdom. The Jewish nation would thrive under their God-King, and the disciples would be there helping to make it happen. What they wanted Jesus to do was really not so outrageous, at least not humanly speaking.
Praise God that He does not need our interpretation of circumstances or our recommendations on the next best course of action! Can we even count the perspectives the disciples simply could not comprehend?
Rome and Israel alike were dominated by sin.
The Pharisees, the Jews and the Gentiles were all equally separated from God.
The animal sacrifices and the intercession of the high priest were not enough to atone for sin.
Jesus, the Son of God, had been pursuing all human hearts since Creation. He left a throne for that cause; He did not come to gain one.
Jesus' entire life was lived in total comprehension of the Father's eternal plan. No detail, no word, no action transpired apart from this knowledge.
What the disciples were looking for was not bad. It could have been a good thing, for Israel at least. Sure, some of their early motivations were questionable, but in their humanity, without the indwelling Holy Spirit, their ideas were not terrible. But compared to the Truth, compared to the greater reality than what they could see, compared to the holiness and magnificent love of God, they were totally lost, in the dark, clueless. And I am so grateful for that.
Thank you, Lord, that you do what you intend to do with or without my understanding or consent. No amount of objection from me can change Your heart, Your plan, Your story. Thank You for listening to me, for having compassion on me, for giving Your attention to the desires and distresses of my heart. But thank You for already having a perfect plan. A plan for Your glory. A plan for my good, for my conformity to the image of Your Son. A plan for salvation, for the redemption of all Your people. Thank You for involving me, but never depending on me. Thank you for letting me learn from You, from Your patient discipleship.
Let my time before You cause radical change in me as it did in Peter.
"And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him." Mark 8:31-32
"Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, '...This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.' Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus." Acts 4:8, 11-13
God is so far beyond peer pressure. There is hope for me.
