Peter’s hills and valleys

Simon Peter lived in the Middle East between about 1 BC and AD 67. There is an account of his life in Matthew to John and Acts 1-15 of the Bible. Peter was the main preacher to the Jews in the early church. And he wrote the letters 1 Peter and 2 Peter in the New Testament. The major hills and valleys in his life are shown in the graph – the lower graph follows the upper one.

Before Christ’s ascension

Hill: After Andrew told his brother Peter “we have found the Messiah”, Peter believed that Jeus was the promised Jewish Messiah (Jn. 1:40-42NIV).

Hill: After a miraculous catch of fish, they both stopped fishing and followed Jesus (Lk. 5:1-11). They were the first of the 12 disciples to be chosen by Jesus.

Hill: Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever (Mt. 8:14-15).

Valley: Jesus empowered Peter to walk on the sea of Galilee during a storm (Mt. 14:22-36). But when he became afraid of the storm he started to sink. Jesus rescued him and when they climbed into the boat the storm died down.

Hill: On behalf of the disciples, Peter said that Jesus was “the Messiah, the son of the living God” (Mt. 16:16).

Valley: After Jesus predicted His death and resurrection, Peter said “Lord this shall never happened to you!” (Mt. 16:22). Then Peter was rebuked because he was opposing God’s plan and being a hindrance to Jesus. Discipleship involves denial of self, cross-bearing and following Jesus (16:24). It includes a willingness to suffer for the Lord’s sake.

Hill: Peter, James and John witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus (Mk. 9:2-4).

Valley: But Peter treated Jesus like a Jewish prophet of equal standing to Moses and Elijah (Mk. 9:5-7).

Valley: When Jesus began to wash the disciples’ feet during the Last Supper, Peter said “you shall never wash my feet” (Jn. 13:8). He didn’t understand this lesson in humility. But he changed his mind when he realized that the external washing was symbolic of cleansing from sin.

Valley: After Jesus predicted that all the disciples would desert Him because of fear of association with Him, Peter said “I will never desert you” (Mt. 26:31-35NLT). Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me”. Then Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you”. He was overconfident.

Valley: When Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane He told Peter, James and John to keep watch, but they fell asleep (Mt.26: 36-45). Then Jesus said, “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” (Mt. 26:41NLT).

Valley: When Jesus was betrayed by Judas and about to be arrested, Peter cut off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant (Lk. 22:50-51; Jn. 18:1-12). But Jesus healed the ear.

Valley: Before the religious trial of Jesus, Peter denied being His disciple (Jn. 18:15-18).

Valley: Before the civil trial of Jesus, twice Peter denied being His disciple (Jn. 18:25-27). And after this a rooster began to crow. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had predicted and he wept bitterly (Mt. 26:74-75). He was now humiliated. Conviction of sin is the first step towards restoration.

Hill: After Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to Peter on resurrection Sunday before He appeared to the other disciples (Lk. 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5).

Hill: When seven of the disciples were fishing on the sea of Galilee, Jesus provided breakfast and challenged Peter’s loyalty to Him (Jn. 21:1-17). Peter replied with three affirmations of his love for the Lord. Then Jesus restored him to ministry. He was reinstated to serve.

Hill: Peter and the rest of the disciples saw Jesus ascend back to heaven (Acts 1:9-11).

After Christ’s ascension

Hill: On the day of Pentecost, Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and when he preached about 3,000 people decided to follow Jesus (Acts 2).

Hill: Soon afterwards, Peter healed a lame beggar (Acts 3).

Hill: When Peter preached another 2,000 people decided to follow Jesus (Acts 3-4).

Valley: Peter and John were imprisoned and interrogated by the Jewish religious leaders (Acts 4).

Hill: Because of their courage and the healing, Peter and John were released and warned not to preach about Jesus (Acts 4).

Valley: There was great fear in the church after Ananias and Sapphira died after lying to the apostles (Acts 5: 1-11).

Hill: The apostles performed many miracles (Acts 5:12-16).

Valley: Because the religious leaders were jealous, the apostles were imprisoned and interrogated and flogged (Acts 5: 17-18, 27-28, 40).

Hill: An angel released the apostles and Gamaliel convinced the Jewish leaders to let them go after they were warned not to preach about Jesus (Acts 5:19-20, 34-40).

Valley: False accusations were made against Stephen, and he was killed by the Jewish religious leaders (Acts 6-7).

Valley: The church was persecuted and scattered (Acts 8-9).

Hill: Peter did miracles at Lydda and Joppa (Acts 9:32-42).

Hill: Some Gentiles decided to follow Jesus after Peter visited Cornelius at Caesarea (Acts 10).

Valley: Peter was criticized by some Jewish believers because he associated with Gentiles (Acts 11). But they praised God when Peter told them what had happened at Caesarea.

Valley: The church continued to be persecuted – some were imprisoned, and the apostle James was killed (Acts 12). Peter was one of those imprisoned. But the church was praying for him.

Hill: An angel helped Peter escape from the prison (Acts 12). Despite the persecution, “the word of God continued to spread and flourish” (12:24).

Valley: When Peter came to Antioch “he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy” (Gal. 2:11-13NLT). So, Paul “had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong” because Peter aligned himself with legalistic believers. This shows that sin can overtake anyone (even leaders like Peter and Barnabas) when they let their guard down. Fortunately, Peter took his rebuke from Paul with maturity.

Hill: The apostles and elders of the church met at Jerusalem to consider whether “Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses” (Acts 15NLT). Peter mentioned the conversion of Gentiles at Caesarea to support the truth that “we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus” (15:11NLT). After listening to Barnabas, Paul and James, they agreed that Gentile converts didn’t have to be circumcised or required to follow the law of Moses.

So, Peter also experienced hills and valleys.

Peter’s transformation

After Peter publicly denied knowing Jesus, he was convicted of his sin. Then he confessed to God and repented and was restored to fellowship with the Lord. This restoration was recognized publicly after Christ’s resurrection. Three times Peter answered Jesus, “Lord, you know that I love you” (Jn. 21:15-19). Jesus accepted this declaration, restored him to fellowship and commissioned him for service by saying “feed my sheep”. The three affirmations matched the three denials.

Peter learnt to be humble; he said “Lord, you know all things” (Jn. 21:17). And he told others to “clothe yourselves with humility” (1 Pt. 5:5) and endure suffering as a Christian (1 Pt. 3:13-18; 4:12-19). Through Jesus, Peter learnt resilience.

Peter served as an apostle and a church elder (1 Pt. 5:1-4). And when he was filled with the Holy Spirit he faithfully spread the good news about Jesus.

Lessons for us

Peter was a follower of Jesus who failed many times. It shows that anyone can fail. He was corrected by God, Jesus, and Paul!  But it didn’t stop him from being a leader in the early church. He was not rejected by Jesus. Peter was restored to service because of his conviction, confession and repentance. God used him mightily in the early church. His pride and self-confidence were replaced with humility and confidence in God and determination to serve Him.

Also see: Failure isn’t final