I, Simon Peter II

I, Simon Peter, am a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ.

I write this to you whose experience with God is as life-changing 

as ours, all due to our God's straight dealing and the intervention

of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:1 [The Message]

One never quite knew what was going to come out of Simon Peter's mouth, or at what precise moment he was going to stick his big foot into it.  He seemed to excel in dramatic ups and downs.

He proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, but when Jesus began to explain to the disciples what the imminent future would hold for Him, including His suffering and death, Peter had the audacity to rebuke Christ for talking about it.  This action prompted Jesus to reprimand him in the strongest language He ever used with His followers, naming Peter as an instrument of Satan.

When Jesus came across the water toward the disciple's boat, Peter eagerly called out to Jesus asking to walk on the water as well.  After all, that was a pretty spectacular feat, and Peter clearly wanted in on the action.  His confident request quickly turned to pleadings of terror at the moment he took his eyes from the Savior's face.  Only the power/presence of the Almighty could keep Peter upright on the sea; breaking that connection instantly caused him to sink.

Peter left the last supper with the other disciples and Jesus, where he had requested for Christ to cleanse his heart and his actions. When his Master asked him to go apart from the others and pray for Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter [with James and John] could not stay awake long enough to utter a word. 

Without the strength and power of prayer, Peter was back to his old impetuous ways when the soldiers and a mob showed up in the garden with the intent of arresting Jesus.  Peter drew a sword and cut off the ear of Malchius, a servant of the High Priest, drawing another rebuke from Christ as the Savior reached out to heal the wound.

I sometimes wonder if Peter was like me at the times when my brain is so busy formulating a response or argument to a conversation that I don't actually fully hear what is being said to me. If he did have that habit, it set him up for the final tragic meltdown that completely transformed his life. [to be continued]