{"id":22219,"date":"2010-03-17T21:30:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-18T02:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=22219"},"modified":"2020-05-05T21:41:46","modified_gmt":"2020-05-06T02:41:46","slug":"why-did-peter-follow-jesus-in-matthew-2628","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-peter-follow-jesus-in-matthew-2628\/","title":{"rendered":"Why did Peter follow Jesus in Matthew 26:28?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Why did Peter follow Jesus in Matthew 26:28?<\/p>\n<p>Is your understanding that the &#8220;reason&#8221; that he&nbsp;followed Jesus was only because he wanted to see what was going to happen?&nbsp; Not to stand up for Jesus?<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps I&nbsp;should have explained that I&nbsp;am working on a lesson for Sunday morning and the point that I want to make is that we should&nbsp;not make the mistake that Peter made by being too overconfident.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t know that we are given an insight into Peter&#8217;s mind that it can be said that he followed Jesus only because he wanted to see what was going to happen and that he did not intend to stand up for Jesus because:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Earlier Peter was ready to defend Jesus with two swords.<\/li>\n<li>Peter declared that he would never leave or forsake Jesus.<\/li>\n<li>Later he denied Jesus 3 times.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It seems to me that, at the time, Peter was ready to stand with Jesus. But as the night went on and the situation became tenser, Peter&#8217;s fear took over. (Remember his walking and water and then began to sink.) This is what I think happened. He was ready to stand with Jesus; fear took over; Peter was hunting a way to escape with his life.<\/p>\n<p>He claimed that he would &#8220;never leave or forsake Jesus&#8221;, but he did!&nbsp; We might &#8220;want&#8221; to make the same claim but at the same time, we must realize that like Peter, because of our weakness of the flesh, fear, weak faith, etc. can result in us being unable to do what we might really want to.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>To guess about the details of Peter (or any man&#8217;s motivations) is difficult. Peter&#8217;s behavior that morning was like a person who wanted to know what was happening to his best friend, and yet fearful in regards to his own life. He doesn&#8217;t act like a man who was going to stand up for his friend. The fear started with Jesus&#8217; arrest, &#8220;<em>Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled<\/em>&#8221; (Matthew 26:56). Peter always struck me as a man who was bold until he had a chance to think about what he was doing. His boldness stemmed from his rashness. It was after Jesus&#8217; resurrection that Peter drastically changed and became truly bold.<\/p>\n<p>It might be possible that he had an unreasonable hope that something might happen which would allow him to rescue Jesus, but that seems unlikely.<\/p>\n<p>See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-gospel-accounts-a-chronological-harmony\/trial-before-annas\/\">Trial Before Annas<\/a>&nbsp;for my notes on what happened at Annas&#8217; house.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Why did Peter follow Jesus in Matthew 26:28? Is your understanding that the &#8220;reason&#8221; that he&nbsp;followed Jesus was only because he wanted to see what was going to happen?&nbsp; Not to stand up for Jesus? Perhaps I&nbsp;should have explained that I&nbsp;am working on a lesson for Sunday morning and the point that I want&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[228,352,708,559],"class_list":["post-22219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-crucifixion","tag-fear","tag-matthew","tag-peter"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54455,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-peter-follow-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":22219,"position":0},"title":"Why did Peter follow Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did Peter follow Jesus? Answer: Peter followed Jesus first because his brother, Andrew, told him that he and John, Peter's fellow fisherman, had found the Messiah (John 1:41-42), so initially, he went out of curiosity. When he met Jesus, he was given a nickname, which indicated what kind\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31673,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/in-the-hour-of-trial\/","url_meta":{"origin":22219,"position":1},"title":"In the Hour of Trial","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Luke 22:54-62 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Without a doubt, Peter loved Jesus \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When others sat in the boat in fear, it was Peter who wanted to go out to meet Jesus - Matthew 14:28-31 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When Jesus spoke of his abandonment on the Mount of Olives - Matthew 26:31-32\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12176,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-only-followed-judaism-because-he-was-born-in-it-doesnt-jesus-want-his-followers-to-remain-in-whatever-religion-they-were-born-into\/","url_meta":{"origin":22219,"position":2},"title":"Jesus only followed Judaism because he was born in it. Doesn&#8217;t Jesus want his followers to remain in whatever religion they were born into?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Jesus was born a Jew and he followed the rites of the Jewish community. Had he been born in a Brahmin family he would have worn a sacred thread and follow all their rites to the letter and spirit. He would also have reprimanded their priests for hypocrisy. He\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62638,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/he-got-up-and-followed-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":22219,"position":3},"title":"He Got Up and Followed Him","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Think about this for a moment. Jesus passed by \"Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, 'Follow Me!' And he got up and followed Him\" (Mark 2:14). What an impression Jesus must have already made on Levi (Matthew) to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41435,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-poor-have-the-gospel-preached-to-them\/","url_meta":{"origin":22219,"position":4},"title":"The Poor Have the Gospel Preached to Them","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor The common perception by people - both within and outside of the religious world - is that churches are charitable organizations designed to help the poor. Denominational churches spend much time, energy, and money helping the poor. Those who are in need (or claim to be in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53607,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/take-up-your-cross\/","url_meta":{"origin":22219,"position":5},"title":"Take Up Your Cross","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Luke 14:25-32 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many people see religion as something done out of convenience. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They attend when there isn\u2019t something important going on \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They select a church to attend because it is close, or because of the events going on, or if there are kids for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22219\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}