- Sonja Wetzel
Wait a Minute

Peter has always been my favorite disciple for a few reasons. He just somehow seemed more like a real person than the others. That could be partly because we hear so much from him during Jesus’ time on earth. Peter was pretty outspoken and seemed to do everything from his heart, not necessarily using his brain first in most situations. I can relate.
You would think that the more Peter got to know Jesus, the more he would stop and think before reacting, but his emotions were always right on the surface. If you look back on his story, you can see time and time again when he leaped before looking. Jesus actually had to rebuke him at one point because he wasn’t thinking before he spoke. (Matthew 16:23) Peter was the one who jumped out of the boat and walked on the water to Jesus. He didn’t want Jesus to wash his feet at the Last Supper, and then went overboard and said, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” (John 13:9). Oh, Peter. Then his crazy, drastic reaction of cutting off the high priest’s servant’s ear in the Garden of Gethsemane, and turning around and denying knowing Jesus THREE times in quick succession. All were immediate responses without stopping to think. Jesus had even warned him about the denials! Even after the resurrection, Peter is the one to jump out of the boat and swim to shore when Jesus calls to them. He didn’t even wait to help his friends pull in all the fish they caught. (John 21:7)
After Jesus ascends to heaven, Peter finally seems to be listening to the Holy Spirit more than his own heart and thoughts. He becomes outspoken for God instead of himself. He is bold to speak the Truth rather than what he feels or thinks in the moment. What a wonderful change. Not that Peter was suddenly perfect. It did take three times for the vision of eating “impure or unclean” animals to sink in. (Acts 10:9-16) There were an awful lot of “threes” for dear Peter.
