The example set before us of St. Peter is one which we do well to consider regularly. Peter was a man of great faith. Usually, he was the boldest and first to speak up. Yet he also suffered some of the greatest falls. As we will see this Sunday, Peter was the one who confessed for the rest of the apostles very correctly that Jesus is the Christ. And in Matthew’s account of Peter’s confession, Jesus proclaims Peter to be blessed because this saving truth had been revealed to Him by the Father. And there is no doubt that Peter believed that confession full-heartedly. And then, only moments later, Jesus had to rebuke Peter as he did the demons because Peter would stand in the way of Jesus suffering death. Faithful Peter was now serving as Satan’s mouthpiece to keep Jesus away from the cross, away from the very death He had come to die as the Christ. How often we find this to be true of ourselves! We boldly and joyfully confess Christ and shortly thereafter our flesh and our reason dupe us into speaking and living in a way which directly contradicts our confession. Thanks be to God for His great patience and mercy with Peter and with us. While He rebukes the evil, He is even quicker to forgive and restore. This is what Jesus has come to do for us. He sees how easily our flesh betrays and leads us into all kinds of false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. This is why our gracious Lord still comes to us as we gather in His Name around His Word and at the feast of Holy Communion – to forgive us and restore us. We daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment. Like Peter we should be mortified when Christ comes in His Word to rebuke us. But rather than turning away in pride or despair, we should fall at Jesus’ feet because He is the Christ who has come to have mercy upon us. I look forward to seeing all of you this coming Lord’s Day.
Pastor Ulmer