Why I Love the Disciples (And Jesus, Too)
Let me be the first to admit it: I mess up. A lot. Sometimes it's an easy mistake-I forgot my keys in my room, I took longer to finish a project than I told someone I would, I used all my football terminology incorrectly when (foolishly) attempting to discuss the last game. Other times, however, my mistakes have weightier consequences. Sometimes I don't love the people in my life the way I love myself. Sometimes I don't love God the way I know I should. It's easy in these moments to beat myself up and wonder how in the world God could ever use me.
This, my friends, is why I love the disciples. I don't know if there was ever such a band of merry misfits created. There's Matthew, a tax collector. If you think we don't like the tax guy now (case in point: Veggie Tales' Christmas Song), that was nothing compared to when Matthew was one. Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen-not exactly the most prestigious of careers. They were all just normal guys, with normal questions and normal doubts. What I especially love, though, is that even after they start following Jesus, they-just like me-still mess up.
These are the people that Jesus hand-picked! These are the men that He spent most of His time with! You'd think that He might have picked people more prestigious, or smarter, or just plain better, but no. They're simply normal. They have to ask Jesus what His parables mean. They don't understand everything He says. They fall asleep when He asks them to stay awake. They don't trust that He can keep them safe through a storm or if they're walking on water. They fight over who gets to sit at Jesus's right and left hand. They get called dull. They get told they have little faith. They are far from perfect.
Peter, I think, is my favorite-or at least the one I relate to the most. His mouth gets away with him at times. This is the Peter who told Jesus he would never deny Him, only to do it three times when Jesus was in a time of need. This is the Peter who walks out onto water with Jesus, freaks out, and starts to sink. A passage I found a bit ironic last week was in Matthew 16. Jesus is asking the disciples who they think He is, and Peter pipes up with, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (verse 16). Jesus replies with, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (verses 17-19 NIV). Peter's looking pretty good here. I'm sure he's feeling pretty good. What makes me shake my head at him (in sympathy and understanding) is what happens next. Jesus is talking about how He's going to be killed and then raised to life, and Peter freaks out. He has the nerve to tell Jesus that there's no way that's going to happen. And what does Jesus do? In Matthew 16:23, it says, "Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.'" Yeah. This is literally five verses after Jesus says He'll build His church on Peter.
The best part, though? Jesus still did use Peter to help build His church. Despite the fact that all the disciples at some point got confused, said the wrong thing, or just plain made mistakes, Jesus still used them, and in ways that they never could have imagined without Him. He didn't need them to make themselves better before He found a use for them. Jesus met them right where they were- as tax collectors, on a fishing boat, wherever- and He picked them. He said come with me, for I will make you fishers of men- and He did.
That, my friends, is why I love Jesus. Despite the fact that I have so, so much growth that I know I still need to go through, Jesus still wants to use me right where I am. He reaches out and He picks me. He uses me to further His plan for the world. It's humbling, and daunting, and often overwhelming, but man does it feel good to be loved so much that Jesus could find a way to work through my brokenness. And He can use you, too- if you let Him.
"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." -Ephesians 2:10
This, my friends, is why I love the disciples. I don't know if there was ever such a band of merry misfits created. There's Matthew, a tax collector. If you think we don't like the tax guy now (case in point: Veggie Tales' Christmas Song), that was nothing compared to when Matthew was one. Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen-not exactly the most prestigious of careers. They were all just normal guys, with normal questions and normal doubts. What I especially love, though, is that even after they start following Jesus, they-just like me-still mess up.
These are the people that Jesus hand-picked! These are the men that He spent most of His time with! You'd think that He might have picked people more prestigious, or smarter, or just plain better, but no. They're simply normal. They have to ask Jesus what His parables mean. They don't understand everything He says. They fall asleep when He asks them to stay awake. They don't trust that He can keep them safe through a storm or if they're walking on water. They fight over who gets to sit at Jesus's right and left hand. They get called dull. They get told they have little faith. They are far from perfect.
Peter, I think, is my favorite-or at least the one I relate to the most. His mouth gets away with him at times. This is the Peter who told Jesus he would never deny Him, only to do it three times when Jesus was in a time of need. This is the Peter who walks out onto water with Jesus, freaks out, and starts to sink. A passage I found a bit ironic last week was in Matthew 16. Jesus is asking the disciples who they think He is, and Peter pipes up with, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (verse 16). Jesus replies with, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (verses 17-19 NIV). Peter's looking pretty good here. I'm sure he's feeling pretty good. What makes me shake my head at him (in sympathy and understanding) is what happens next. Jesus is talking about how He's going to be killed and then raised to life, and Peter freaks out. He has the nerve to tell Jesus that there's no way that's going to happen. And what does Jesus do? In Matthew 16:23, it says, "Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.'" Yeah. This is literally five verses after Jesus says He'll build His church on Peter.
The best part, though? Jesus still did use Peter to help build His church. Despite the fact that all the disciples at some point got confused, said the wrong thing, or just plain made mistakes, Jesus still used them, and in ways that they never could have imagined without Him. He didn't need them to make themselves better before He found a use for them. Jesus met them right where they were- as tax collectors, on a fishing boat, wherever- and He picked them. He said come with me, for I will make you fishers of men- and He did.
That, my friends, is why I love Jesus. Despite the fact that I have so, so much growth that I know I still need to go through, Jesus still wants to use me right where I am. He reaches out and He picks me. He uses me to further His plan for the world. It's humbling, and daunting, and often overwhelming, but man does it feel good to be loved so much that Jesus could find a way to work through my brokenness. And He can use you, too- if you let Him.
"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." -Ephesians 2:10
Comments
Post a Comment