Summary: <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>One of the most common misconceptions most people have about God is that He relishes dishing out punishment.In fact, in the movie <i>Bruce Almighty</i>, the main protagonist in the story, Bruce, espouses this belief when he cries out to God saying: “Smite me, oh mighty Smiter”! </b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>The unfortunate truth is…this seems to be a common view of God. That not only does He relish the idea of punishment, but that He actually enjoys dispensing it. But to be honest, I just don’t see that in the Bible. Oh, I do see punishment, but I see divine judgment as a last resort for God, not an immediate knee-jerk reaction.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Even in the Old Testament, where much of God’s judgment is seen, I see a God slow to anger and long on patience. A God that continuously pleas for His people to listen to Him instead of their own desires. And a God that exemplifies patience by holding out on judgment for hundreds or even thousands of years. Leaving millions of people to lead lives and extend generations that would never feel God’s wrath. That’s the God I see.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>And in one of the most remarkable conversations to take place in the whole of the Bible, we see just how much God wants us to grow through our failures, instead of hammering us for them. And He does that in a conversation between His Son, Jesus, and the Apostle Peter.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>This extraordinary dialogue is so important that it is recorded in all four Gospels. And through all the Gospels catch the spirit of the conversation, only one, Luke, provides us with the depth to see this truth more clearly. This encounter is recorded in . And as always, it is best we set the scene of this interaction in order to see it in context.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>This conversation with Peter takes place in the Garden of Gethsemane just before Jesus is arrested…and hours before Jesus’ crucifixion. At this point in time, Jesus is giving His Disciples some final instructions and preparing them, as much as was possible, for the difficulties that were to come. At one point He turns to Peter and makes a very fascinating statement.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Jesus warns Peter that Satan desired to try to crush Peter’s faith. He then makes the extraordinary promise that He has prayed for Peter so that: “your faith should not fail” (a). Jesus knows that the Disciples would be facing tremendous demands upon their faith once they realized and saw that Jesus would be tortured and crucified. So He is trying to prepare Peter for this.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>But Jesus also adds in a caveat that most people miss in a cursory reading of this passage. Jesus goes on to say: “and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brothers” (b). Do you see what Jesus is saying here? He is telling Peter in no uncertain terms that he (Peter) was going to fall away. That he was going to fail.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>But notice, He doesn’t focus on the failure…Jesus instead focuses on Peter’s success <i>after</i> he comes back to Jesus. Jesus says: and when you have returned to Me. Meaning that in order for Peter to return back <i>to </i> Jesus, he has to first turn <i>away </i>from Him. But let’s look at Peter’s response.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Once Jesus prophesies Peter’s failure, Peter responds by saying: “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death” (). What, in essence, is Peter’s response to Jesus here? You’re wrong. Imagine telling the Messiah, which is Who Peter knew Jesus to be, that He is wrong about something. But that’s what he did. And Jesus’ response? Only after that denial did Jesus go into detail about Peter’s failure. </b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Remember, Jesus</b></span></p>
