Peter Stepped Forward

Peter Steps Forward

“Then Peter stepped forward…” Acts 2:14a. 

Yes, it was Peter who stepped forward at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down on the believers with tongues of fire and they began to praise God in the different languages of the people of the Mediterranean Rim.  Yes, it was the same Peter who told Jesus that he couldn’t wash his feet.  The same Peter whom Jesus told “Get behind me, Satan”, after telling Jesus that He couldn’t go to the cross and die.  It was the same Peter who tried to walk on the water to Jesus, but became afraid of the strong wind and waves and began to sink.  Yes, Peter would fall asleep with the others in the garden before Jesus was arrested.  He would even cut off the ear of the high priest’s slave with his sword when they came to take Jesus into custody.  Even more ominous, it was the same Peter who told Jesus that “I will never desert you”, yet would deny that he even knew Jesus before the cock crowed before dawn. 

There was something different about Peter as he steps forward at Pentecost, for this time, unlike the other times, he steps forward in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Up until this time, Peter has been operating under the strength of his own will and ego. Up to now, Peter has been filled with bravado and swagger.  Up until now, Peter has been hard headed and stubborn.  Peter now has been humbled because his own impetuous bluster has caused him to deny even knowing his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Yet Christ reached through Peter’s brokenness to forgive him as he tells Peter after the resurrection to “feed my sheep” (John 20:17).

Now the promised Holy Spirit has come and Peter steps forward infused with divine power.  He shouts to the crowd gathered in Jerusalem from all over the region and tells them the Good News about Jesus.  As the Holy Spirit moves in their hearts, many are pierced by this revelation about Jesus.  Peter has Good News for them. Acts 2:38; “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  Act 2:41; “Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day– about 3,000 in all.”

And that, my friends, was only the beginning for Peter…It can be a new beginning for you and me, too!