AS HE ENDS his second letter, we perceive the Apostle Peter differently than his portrayals in the four Gospels and in the Book of Acts. In those earlier documents we saw him progress from a man of action into a man acting for God. Much like you or me, his dedication to following Jesus at the beginning was uneven at best, greatly conflicted at worst. His first reality encounter with Jesus was marked by his confession of an internal conflict— “he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’” (Luke 5:8) The same Peter that acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah— “the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:15)—denied him three times, with curses, at his trial: “I don’t know the man!” (Matt. 26:74)
And yet it is to Peter that the Lord, knowing his weaknesses, says beforehand, “And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:32), and afterwards, in another reality encounter, “Feed my lambs… take care of my sheep… feed my sheep… follow me!” (John 21:15-19) As the Book of Acts opened, Peter’s maturing character displayed a more consistent man. In front of the Sanhedrin court, those same men that condemned Jesus, he was bold: “Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) His journey of faith had become well-established, but was not finished.
Peter’s last letter is written late in his life. His precocious behavior from earlier times is now tempered by age and experience. A long obedience has both strengthened and matured his faith. This, in turn, has produced wisdom befitting of age. Says Proverbs, “Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness.” (Prov. 16:31) Peter writes “to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.” (2 Pet. 3:1) Approaching his own last days, he sees in them a type of journey that all should make. It is the journey of a temporary life set against the backdrop of eternity. It is a call to a very high form of objectivity, one with the possibility of setting the human mind free from the boundaries that have shaped all of its thinking.
“Above all,” Peter cautions, “you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come. They will say, ‘Where is this “coming” he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’” (2 Pet. 3:3-4) He goes on to describe God’s long-ago wondrous acts of creation, and the judgment that fell on a rebellious humanity at the time of Noah. And he then points to an as-yet unrealized future time when “the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire.” (2 Pet. 3:7) We struggle to understand that Peter is stretching our minds to encompass a cosmological view from a primordial beginning to an apocryphal ending in order to both enlighten us, and to make a point.
This enlightenment comes as a quickening of our minds to the vast scope of time and eternity, and the very small part we play in it as God works out mysteries of his purposes. This draws us to contemplate the vastness of God in respect to our infinitesimal time-boundaried inhabitation of creation; at the same time, we are overcome by the thought that we share in the infinite life of God. Against a backdrop of the coming Day of Judgment, Peter then says, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Pet. 3:8-9)
The point of Peter’s exhortation is that God is working out his purposes in a very long arc of time, and that our part in these purposes simply call us to be faithful and obedient in the time we have been given. Peter concludes, “since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” (2 Pet. 3:17-18)
As we observe Peter’s spiritual and physical journey from coarse fisherman to revered apostle, God’s patience with our own life begins to emerge more clearly. This is nothing more nor less than the journey God has called each life to embark upon. It is one fraught with the emotions and ignorance of youth encountering the perils of the circumstances of life, and which may become trapped in the wounds and sins of life’s university. It is one that may get caught up in the disappointment of dreams, or in settling for a banal existence of a day-to-day grind during adulthood. It is one that may end with a time of wondering what it was all about. Or, it can become one that hears the voice of Jesus calling, saying “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matt. 4:19) When that call initiates our response, everything about life changes as we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet. 3:18)
Q. Does God see me growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus?
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