Pride vs Discouragement in Simon Peter

Like Paul, Peter received a special revelation from God. Peter’s revelation, though different from Paul’s, was not only critically important, it had been missed by all the top theologians and spiritual leaders of the day.

It is possible, however, for divine revelations of profound significance to come so subtly that it seems like something the person worked out himself. This is presumably why Jesus had to tell Peter how blessed he was to have gained this understanding, and how supernatural it was:

Matthew 16:17  . . . Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

Jesus then gave Peter a personal prophecy:

Matthew 16:18-19  . . . you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven; and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.

We can be sure, of course, that Jesus did the right thing in telling Peter this. I can only speculate about why it was best. We know, however, that Peter later ended up on a serious downer after denying Jesus, and for Judas it was so bad that he killed himself over his role in Jesus’ betrayal. So maybe Peter was later to desperately need that prophecy.

Nevertheless, in the short-term, it seems to have gone to Peter’s head. I say this because the next thing we read is Peter overstepping the mark, and acting as if he were more spiritually attuned than his Lord:

Matthew 16:21-22 From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This will never be done to you.”

Just how soon after his ego boost Peter fell into this mistake, we cannot be certain. Under divine inspiration, however, Matthew’s account squeezes both these events tightly together, as if to emphasize the link. After being praised by Jesus for hearing from God, the next thing we read is Peter plunging into doing the devil’s work in trying to tempt our Savior to abandon the only course of events that can keep any of us out of hell.

Jesus was then forced to give Peter a stinging rebuke:

Matthew 16:23  . . . “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.”

That must have confused and hurt Peter almost as much as the ‘thorn’ distressed Paul, but it certainly would have whipped Peter’s pride into line. As with Paul’s ‘thorn,’ however, I wonder how many of us would have coped with that pride-deflater without going too far in the opposite direction, and such a rebuke sending us reeling so much as to adversely affect our relationship with God.

Here again we see the divine dilemma. Anyone who does not remain dead to self is so vulnerable to pride as to desperately need to be kept in line. Someone who is not dead to self, however, might be so offended by being told he is wrong as to angrily push out of his life anyone rebuking him. He could be so sure he is right, and so defensive that he cannot cope with what it takes to keep pride from harming him. He could be so keen to defend his ego that he not only rejects a rebuke but rejects the person delivering the rebuke – even if that person is God.

So what is God to do?

All Christians should be disciples (Scriptures). Disciples are students. To be a disciple, one must be teachable.