#cephas

Однако, я жив.

Felt like drawing Cephas(the warden) the other day…so I did :D

References used↓↓↓

Cepha go :D

This man is one of the most well-known of Jesus’ disciples.  He went from a lowly fisherman to being one of the pillars of the early church.  Who are we talking about?

Let’s read together Matthew 20:2; Mark 3:13-16; and 1 Peter 1:1

Today we will study Peter.  

Let’s read together Matthew 15:15; Matthew 16:16; Mark 5:37; Mark 9:2; Luke 5:1-11; Luke 9:28-32; and John 13:3-11.

While Peter was only a fisherman, he quickly became a leader among the disciples.  Peter was willing to ask questions and speak his mind when the other disciples were silent.  Peter was one of the first disciples to proclaim aloud Jesus as the Son of God.  Peter even became part of Jesus’ inner circle, alongside James and John.

While there are many stories we pick from to discuss Peter, we will focus on two stories.  We will look at Peter at his best and Peter at his worst.

Let’s read together Matthew 14:25-33.

This passage tells the story of Jesus walking on the sea to meet his disciples.  When they saw Jesus, they were greatly afraid at first because they thought He was some sort of spirit.  However, Peter was the first one to realize it was Jesus walking on the water.  Peter asked Jesus to command him to walk on water also.

Jesus obliged and Peter got out of the boat in the middle of the sea to walk towards Jesus.  Peter took his eyes off Jesus momentarily and noticed the boisterous wind and turbulent waters around him.  Peter began to sink and cried for Jesus to save him.  Jesus picked Peter up out of the water and gently rebuked him for his lack of faith.

You may be tempted to think of this story as a lesson of failure.  However, of all the disciples, Peter was the only one with enough faith to ask Jesus to command him to walk on water.  No one else dared to get out of the boat.  In addition, when Peter realized he was sinking, he knew that only Jesus could help him.  This is the type of faith Jesus wants us to have, to step out of our comfort zone and go towards Him.

Let’s read together Matthew 26:34-35; Matthew 26:69-75; Mark 14:33-38; and Luke 22:54-62.

Jesus predicted Peter would deny Him three times.  Peter refuted Jesus’ statement, boldly proclaiming he would rather die for him first.  However, Jesus’ words came to pass and Peter denied Him three times.  Peter even cursed and swore to hide the fact he was a follower of Christ.

Why did Peter fail Jesus so spectacularly?  Peter made the same mistake as the children of Israel when they promised Moses they would obey God’s words (Exodus 19:8).  Peter tried to follow Jesus on his own strength.  If Peter had prayed with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, he would have been strengthened for the trial to come.  Let this be a lesson to us.  We must depend on Jesus for everything (Philippians 4:13).

Let’s read together John 18:15-19 and 1 John 1:9.

Jesus is so merciful.  He forgave Peter and restored his apostleship after Peter repented of his sin.  No matter how badly we fail Jesus, He is willing to forgive us our sins if we confess and repent of them.