We last came across Peter in the book of Acts. In that book he had already begun the transition from fisherman, with a penchant for acting before thinking. But here he is with his very own letter, written to the church. It’s a change on the scale of Bowie going from Ziggy Stardust to a Young American. Once he denied Jesus but now he’s the Rock, can you smell what he’s cooking? Okay enough of the pop culture references Darren, what’s the letter about?
Anyone for fishing?
Life’s a pain, and then you live
The main thrust of the letter is about keeping going through suffering and hard times. He points out that yes there is a lot of pain at present but those who believe have something to look forward to; God’s return. And he’s not asking the followers of Jesus to do anything that Jesus wouldn’t do, in fact that’s point, suffer as Christ suffered – this isn’t for the sake of suffering, or to look for suffering, just that it can be endured. Weaved around this theme Peter also talks about orderly living, looking out for one another and not acting like those who don’t know Jesus.
A career change
Peter was originally a fisherman, and yet here he is some twenty or thirty years later writing an articulate letter to a church who see him as an authority figure. Admittedly the letter states that it is co-authored with Silvanus, so perhaps he is the literate one here, however there is still a huge change from who Peter was to who he is now. And perhaps that is something that struck me when reading through this letter. An encounter with Jesus had a big effect on Peter’s life. Can such an encounter have the same effect on us?
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