Peter Was Human

or - What Simon Peter and Laura Ingalls Have In Common

St. Peter  - Guido Reni

I am currently studying about Peter in my morning Bible studies.

Yes, reader, THAT Peter who was a beloved friend and disciple of Jesus, who denied knowing Jesus when Jesus was taken prisoner, and yet still the ROCK to which the church is built.  The same Simon Peter who with his brother, Andrew, fished on the Sea of Galilee.  In Matthew Chapter 16, Jesus approaches Simon and asks what others are calling Jesus.  Simon tells Jesus he is the Messiah and the son of the living God.  Jesus renames Simon, Peter, because only God could have shared this information.  The name Peter means Rock.

There are so many "human" characters in the Bible.  Men and women who screw up, make mistakes, and seem an awful lot like us.  Even the most important characters were sinful in their nature, and many questioned God and His intentions.  I can relate to how Peter denied his his friend and teacher, his rabboni, and so can Laura Ingalls from the TV series Little House On the Prairie.

Last night, after I returned home from book club, I turned on the TV to look for something to watch until Grimm started at 10pm.  I noticed a Little House was on, so I clicked over.  The episode, called The Music Box, was a story about how Laura betrayed her friend, Anna, all over a stolen music box.  In the beginning of the story, we are introduced to a little girl, Anna, who has a lisp.  All the girls (headed by Nellie Olson, of course) make fun of her; all the girls that is except Laura.  However, when Nellie realizes Laura has stolen her music box (something she simply threw aside) she uses that knowledge to blackmail Laura into also making fun of little Anna.

I was bullied, but I do recall a couple of times I tried to tease another child hoping to get the heat off of me.  I ALWAYS felt uncomfortable when it happened, and I regretted behaving so horribly.  Laura also realizes her mistake and apologizes to Anna for her behavior.  I believe it is human behavior to survive in this world, and I believe that is exactly what Peter was doing when he betrayed Jesus.  He wanted to live.

As we know, Peter does not continue to deny Christ.  It is widely accepted that Peter was the first pope.  However, at this point I really don't care if he was the first pope or the first leader of the world-wide church. What one can gleam from the Bible is that Peter was loved by God and by Jesus.  Even though Peter denied knowing Jesus, he was still seen as the one to whom others could rely: the ROCK.

I certainly look forward to learning more about Peter in the days to come.