Peter's Choice

Youth Sunday School Lesson - November 1, 2009

During this quarter, we have been studying about making important spiritual choices and how they can affect our lives. We have been using examples from the Bible of others who made choices and we have learned how doing so changed their lives. Some of the choices were good (Daniel), some were bad (Adam), and some were somewhere in between (Martha). We should understand by this point that choices will always need to be made in our lives and it is up to us to use the wisdom we can gain from studying God’s Word to make our decisions valid and our judgment sound.

This week, we will cover the story of Peter in our class, and boy did he make a lot of choices! In one eight-hour period of his life he made several choices that ranged from very bad to very good. This should prove to us that we will never know when we will be called upon to make a choice; therefore we should always be prepared spiritually when called upon to do so.

Our story begins in Matthew 26, though it is mentioned in the other gospels as well. Jesus and his disciples were having the Passover dinner and during the meal Jesus tells them that they will all abandon Him very soon. He says that they will be ‘offended’ by Him. Peter immediately makes a choice to speak up and say that it will never happen, that “Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.” I believe that Peter meant this in his heart when he said it, but we should always be careful of what we say. We may think we are strong and that we will never stray from God, yet Paul warns us, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” (I Corinthians 10:12) Peter thought he was strong – he had been following Jesus every day for three years! With his answer to Jesus, he is almost bragging about his spiritual courage and strength. To boast of your righteousness is never a wise choice, as we will find out later in the story.

During the night, Jesus is arrested and sure enough, the disciples all abandon Him - except for Peter. He makes a wise choice, sort of, because the Bible tells us that he followed them from ‘afar off’ to the place they were taking Jesus. Once there, while outside in a courtyard, we read that when asked about his relationship with Jesus, Peter denies that he knows Him three times. And the third time he begins cursing and swearing to those gathered around the fire. Obviously this is a bad choice. Peter could have fled with the other disciples. He could have remained silent when asked about his friendship with Jesus. The point is, he had other choices he could have made in this situation besides denying that he knew Jesus and swearing to prove his point. Would those choices have been better? We’ll talk about that in class on Sunday. In the meantime, please be thinking about it.

Just about the time Peter completes his outburst, he hears the rooster crow and sees Jesus looking at him as the soldiers are taking Jesus to the next court setting. Peter remembers bragging a few hours earlier and his heart breaks because he knows Jesus was right, but also because he is ashamed of how he has acted. The Bible says he left the courtyard, weeping (crying) bitterly. We read later that Peter repented and Jesus forgave him. Peter went on to work for the Lord and became a founder of the church, as Jesus also prophesied. The decision by Peter to repent is obviously a good choice. Sometimes we may fall in our Christian walk, but we should never give up. Jesus is ready to forgive us when we confess our failures to Him, and he will pick us up and put us back on the right path.

Peter made a lot of decisions during that night and early morning so very long ago. The Bible records these examples so that we can learn from them and possibly not make the same mistakes ourselves. We will always be called upon to make choices in our lives and some of those decisions will be spiritual choices. Sometimes we might have to make several decisions during a very short period of time. Using the examples provided to us by God’s Word will go along way towards preparing us to make the right choices when the time comes for us to do so.