“And [Andrew] brought [his own brother] to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.” (John 1:42; KJV)
AN AMAZING THING TO SAY
What an amazing thing for Jesus to say.
I mean, if anything, Peter surely wasn’t “A stone.”
Another way of putting it – Peter didn’t have a rock solid and steady personality.
Far from it!
Peter was wishy-washy – a man who couldn’t be relied upon (he would deny the Lord three times) and would often shoot first and ask questions later (he cut off a servant’s ear in the garden).
And yet Jesus could see beyond all that.
Jesus could see beyond the glaring weaknesses of Peter’s character.
Jesus could see beyond Peter’s faults and to the point of what Peter might become when God got a hold of him.
JESUS EYES
There’s a lesson here.
We need to see people like Jesus sees people.
Too many Christians write certain ones off because of their sinfulness.
Our Lord did nothing of the sort.
(Could it be one of the very reasons why so many hurting men and women reached out to Him?)
May God grant us His eyes that we might be used as instruments in His hands to help others become what He would have them become.
May God grant us Jesus eyes.
(Peter Cuts Off a Servant’s Ear and Jesus Heals Him picture file above is in the public domain: click here.)
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