The Details
Read
John 21:1-19
Acts 3
Acts 10:1 - 11:18
Psalm 51
Notice
God restores
Look out for
Peter
Memorize
Acts 4:19-20: But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
Get Ready
The last time we saw Peter, he was weeping at the realization that he had just denied knowing Jesus – just hours after he promised he would stay by Jesus’ side to the end. While this might seem like a trivial denial (What could Peter have done anyway?), in Jesus’ most isolated hour, Peter did all he could to run away.
John 21 finds him back on the boat, trolling Galilee in the job he knew best. Jesus told him He’d make him a fisher of men. As dawn breaks, we find that he’s not even very good at fishing for fish…
A little more
A little background
Peter was a fisherman. He was probably around Jesus’ age – maybe a little younger. The Bible portrays him as an intense and occasionally rash man, but one who Jesus set aside specifically to lead His disciples. He was a committed Jew who wrestled with what Jesus meant.
When Jesus calls, Peter leaves his father’s work to follow Him, but returns after Jesus’ death. Jesus’ resurrected arrival stuns Peter; His forgiveness transforms Peter. His life is now defined as Jesus’ missionary; his boldness will now be unleashed on a new cause.
A little timeline
The events of the crucifixion and resurrection probably occur around A.D. 28-30. The John reading takes place during the forty days Jesus remained on earth after he rose. The miracle on the temple steps in chapter 3 could have happened soon after, but it could have been months or even a few years later.
Peter’s encouter with Cornelius in Acts 10 occurs after much has transpired: the Jesus’ movement has increased to such an extent that the Jerusalem authorities feel threatened, and the believers scatter. It is conceivable that five years or more has passed since the resurrection.
A little geography
In John 21 we find Peter back on the Sea of Galilee, in the northern region of the Jewish world. Acts 3 begins at the Temple in Jerusalem.
In Acts 10, we find Peter in Joppa, a coastal town northwest of Jerusalem. There’s fun irony here: when Jonah was told to go to foreigners and preach God’s word, he ran to Joppa and boarded a ship in the other direction. Where was Peter when he was told to preach God’s word to foreigners? Joppa. It seems this port is a point of decision for God’s people called to take His word to the world.
A little epilogue
The story of the early church focuses heavily on Peter through the first third of Acts. After about Acts 12, the camera shifts almost exclusively to Paul. Peter is known to have worked as far west as Rome, and tradition holds that he was martyred there by Emperor Nero. He is attributed as the author of two letters, and the Catholic church venerates him as the first “Bishop of Rome.”
Getting deeper into the weeds
What can you learn about God’s character, personality, or priorities here?
There are three distinct lessons about God in these readings, along with numerous others you can find. In the first reading, the Resurrected Jesus meets Peter on the shores of Galilee. Remember when Peter last saw Jesus: at Jesus’ trial, when Peter denied knowing Him. In chapter 20 Peter discovers the empty tomb: what was he thinking? Besides the confusion, did it dawn on him that the last time he saw Jesus, he was disappointing Him? I’ll bet it did. No wonder we next find Peter miles away. Yet Jesus restores him, and gives him a commission.
In Acts 3, we find Peter and John on the steps of the Temple. This is post-Pentecost, when Peter had seen tongues of fire on men who suddenly spoke in foreign languages. There is a brusque boldness to the exchange with the lame beggar: Peter is a man convinced. His sermon that follows proves it. He has seen God’s power through and because of Jesus, and this knowledge fills his being.
And in Acts 10, Peter has a dream about God declaring “clean” the things that had been “unclean.” This could have all been a fantasy, something from Peter’s imagination, except the closing command: A Gentile will send for you. Go to him. Good Jews didn’t enter Gentile houses – it would make them as unclean as eating pork. But then there was a knock on the door. Peter has been stretched, seemingly to the breaking point. God now tries to stretch him further. Will Peter yield? And has God really opened a new world?
How can parents help their kids through the readings?
Oh, there’s so much fun to the readings this week, and such stark differences between them. John 21 is a pastoral scene – the Good Shepherd forgiving the wayward sheep and inviting him back into the fold. Let your kids see this. Acts 3 is a vivid scene, no tension yet, with a bold believer trusting that Jesus’ name has power and acting out to trust it. Let your kids see this.
Acts 10 requires more contemplation; it’s a stretching scene. This may be hard for your kids to understand, but assure them – maybe use passages from Exodus and Leviticus to back it up – that what God asks Peter to do was expressly what He had told His people not to do. “Don’t defile yourselves.” In fact, a few months ago we read about how God honored Daniel’s devotion. Yet a new thing was happening, and God wanted Peter to push the door open. Let your kids see this.