GPS Guide – June 11, 2019

LUKE: PART II – SIMON

Tuesday

Read: John 1:35-44

³⁵ The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.³⁸ Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” ³⁹ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). ⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. (NIV John 1:35-44)

Study: Enter Simon (his given name) Peter, perhaps the most colorful, outspoken, and brashly human of all Jesus’ first disciples. Spoiler alert: no other follower of Jesus except the apostle Paul (who at this point was either a boy in Tarsus or a rabbinical student with Gamaliel in Jerusalem) played as large a role in carrying on Jesus’ mission in the world as this man Simon. So why do we most commonly know him as “Peter”? John said Jesus promptly called Simon, not Peter, but Cephas. Cephas “means ‘rock’ in Aramaic, as ‘Peter’ does in Greek. Many people had nicknames, which usually communicated something about the person.” Jesus gave Simon a serious nickname, the main name by which we know him today, that meant “Rock,” promising stability and strength. In what ways have you grown stronger or more stable since you started to follow Jesus? What growth do you look forward to in the future?

Pray: Lord Jesus, help me to discover and live into both the joyful and the serious dimensions of meeting you as the Christ, God’s anointed king. Rule over my life every day. Amen.