PASSOVER/EASTER STORIES: PETER & THOMAS FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE — FAITHFUL HEROES

Don’t believe everything the preacher tells you. The Bible knows more than (s)he does.

Brace yourself! It is the detail which makes me a boring person that brings the Bible alive for me. There may be more here than the normal, well adjusted person would care to know. The best result for me would be that you check me out to prove I am wrong.

There are two characters in the Gospels who get a bad press; Thomas and Peter. Are they really that bad. Let’s bypass the rumours and read the Word of God.

Thomas the doubter?

Notorious as “Doubting Thomas.” He picks up that reputation from the Gospel of John.

John 11:16, Then said Thomas (G2381), which is called Didymus (G1324), unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.

Meanings:

Thomas: G2381 — thōmas, “a twin,” from the Aramaic H8382 — tā’am, “twin.”

Didymus: G1324 — didymos , “twofold or twin,” from, G1364 — dis, “ twice,” from, G1417 — dyo, “the two,” a cardinal numeral, 2.

This describes Thomas as being a twin, nothing else. The term ‘double minded ‘(G1374 — dipsychos δίψυχος), meaning, “double minded, wavering, uncertain, doubting,” is used in the NT by only James in James 1:8 and 4:8. It is derived from G1364 δίς twice and G5590 ψυχή psychē from which we get psychology. It is true James is speaking about belief, and in John 20:25 Thomas said, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe,” but the context in each case is not exactly the same. The similarity in meaning is not crisp. The secret of fire for studying words in the Bible is provided by the professor of Greek at the Ezra Project (https://ezraproject.com/), Dr. John Bechtle.

• Words have more than one meaning.
• A word has only one meaning in a particular context.

The context here is set in the the warning given by Jesus in Luke 21:8 was dire, “Take heed (G991 — blepō) that you not be deceived (G4105 — planaō). For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them.”

Boring stuff, compounding the highlighted verbs: G991 — blepō and G4105 — planaō :-

Side Note:

After years of thinking that my rapier sharp wit was enough to get me through the Bible (after all, I can read and English is the language they speak in Heaven.) I decided to do a short course in Greek at the Ezra Project. At my age my short-term memory wasn’t up to actually learning Greek but I found a course in Greek Grammar so that I could make sense of the parsing of each word in Blue Letter Bible (https://www.blueletterbible.org/ ) paid huge dividends.

Back to the Bible

It is a stern warning from the Lord in the form of a commandment, “Always be on guard. Your enemy is always out to deceive you.” The flavour is that He could have added an extra sentence, “Disobedience will result in him killing you.”

“Deceived” (G4105 — planaō) is used 29 times in the New Testament in this context, so it is not unreasonable to deduce that Thomas was being obedient, not dithering. Add to this our Lord’s reaction when they finally met. There was no, “Oh, ye of little faith.” Just an affirmation that what had happened had happened. Also, there was a positive Prophecy concerning the blessing of future believers. In addition, Thomas’s response was correct — he worshipped. Only God is worthy of worship.

Thomas was a skeptic, someone who is not gullible to every proposition but can be convinced by credible evidence. The pews in the Church could do with more skeptics. The standard of preaching/teaching would improve and there would be less haemorrhaging from the Church into Cults and Islam, or away from God altogether. But that would require a Congregation which is more Biblically literate. Which would require more self-feeders in the pews because the literacy isn’t coming from the Pulpit. (Of course, there are exceptions.)

(A cynic, on the other hand, is someone who refuses to be convinced — regardless of the evidence. When atheist extraordinaire, Richard Dawkins, was asked, “What would you say to God if He existed and you met Him?” Richard replied, “You didn’t show me enough evidence.” )

Actually, I could do with more friends like Thomas. What happened in John 11:16? “Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.” That doesn’t seem like the utterance of a ditherer. I’d have him at my back, any day.

So were there more prepared to die, that day?

Peter the craven coward?

There are two main supporting roles that day — Peter and Judas Iscariot. I’m sure you have read the Scriptures to see that each one failed the Lord in a different way.

Judas failed by intention. Events showed that he knew what he was going to do early on.

Peter failed through human weakness. He may have been huffing-and-puffing but Matthew 26:75 and Luke 22:62 imply that he utterly believed what he said but refused the first three jumps and was devastated. It would not be difficult to believe that, for the rest of his life, whenever Peter heard a cock crow the pain of the memory would pierce his heart. That may be your logic but God has promised His ways are above our ways. Events show that, when Peter was reinstated, he was forgiven and cleansed of his sin to go on to bigger and better things — indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

The famous quote by Apostle Paul shows that God has a remedy for failure. 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” The précis being:-

° Doctrine (What is right-eous)
° Reproof (What is not right-eous)
° Correction (How to get it right-eous)

But was there a problem?

Not really. Has God ever been taken by surprise?

Zechariah 13:7 is a Messianic Text because Jesus repeats it.

“Awake, sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who is close to me!”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered,
and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

In Mark 14:27, Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:
‘I will strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep will be scattered.’

The same scene is recorded in Matthew 26:31.

Also, the Lord warned Peter what would happen in Luke 22:31–32, “And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

Since Genesis 3:15–16, the focus of the Prophesy of the Scarlet Thread has been the Messiah. The Shepherd, not the sheep.

Peter’s enthusiasm had to be quenched.

It is written in John 18:12 that a G4686 — speira of armed men came to arrest Jesus. It is not clear how many men (estimates range between 10 and 1000) and I’m not entering any arguments. Enough to say it was not just a few — and they were armed. Peter showed he was up to taking them all on and chopped the ear of one of them off (is it necessary to give the reference for this event?). Jesus sorted it out and told Peter to behave, and he did. But his blood was obviously boiling.

Rome had scheduled three men to die that day. Apparently, any three because the incident with Jesus was passing trade off the street. Pilate was not expecting him. Jesus, Himself, had forced the issue during the Last supper. Peter could easily had been one of the three in addition to the Christ. However, that would have burst the bubble of the Prophecies. (Check them out yourself in the Old Testament.) THAT COULD NOT HAPPEN!!!

But . . . then he had time to think that it all may have been a rush of blood to the head. The warning about Satan may have been brought to his memory and he started to have second thoughts. I don’t know, but he began to retreat from his former position. We know what happened. The late American Bible Teacher, Chuck Missler, often quoted, “The problem is not life after death. It is life after re-birth.” Many Christians would gladly die for Christ (there was the famous incident of the young girl in the Columbine High School Massacre on April 20, 1999. It is easily found on the Internet. But the question often asked seems to be, “Do you mean I have to live for Him, too?” The cold light of day is not a place for ‘pretend christians to flourish.” But Luke 22:31–32 is a wonderful verse to carve-up

• Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. The Accuser of the Brethren is after YOU unceasingly.
• But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail. Our Saviour is intercessing for YOU all the time the Accuser is accusing. In modern parlance, “Let the Troll troll.”
• and when you have returned to Me. It is written in Psalm 145:14, “The Lord upholds all who fall, And raises up all who are bowed down.” More evidence of Eternal Security.

So?

Was Peter a Craven Coward? There is much more evidence but, if this doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will. But it is up to you to decide. I have no Theological Qualifications to convince you. By the Grace of God, I could read when I left school.

Conclusion

There is so much L-O-R-E and so little L-A-W in my part of town.

I’m open to correction but, from the evidence presented:-

• There is nothing that points to Thomas deserving his nick-name. My reading is that he was being obedient to the Lord.
• Both Peter and Thomas were prepared to die that day (there may have been more) but they weren’t included in the Prophecies which were exclusively directed at the Christ.
• The Prophecy in Zechariah 13, and repeated in Mark 14:27 said ALL the sheep would scatter. Logically that means NONE would remain. (Admittedly, we know that John returned but that was after the heat had died down.)
• Peter was actually an annoyance who had to be managed so that he didn’t extinguish the Prophecies — which could not happen because the Written Word of the Lord is:-

Inspired: The Word of the Lord declares in Amos 3:7, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” Somehow He ‘breaths’ His intentions into the imaginations of His Prophets. They then describe what they see in their own vocabulary. That is why Isaiah, who has the most extensive vocabulary in the Scriptures relays the same message as Hosea (whom, we are told, was a very rustic person.)

Inerrant: He is the only One Who knows the End from the Beginning. It has nothing to do with spelling and human error. You have already found that the Bible is multifaceted. One of the facets is that it is a legal document (Satan is a legalist) where the Lord has written down His Redemption Plan and made promises for all Creation to see. He has shown He is prepared to Honour those Promises. It would do you well to find out something about the Plan.

Infallible: Is the Word of the Lord, Who created Creation with the Word of His Mouth, ever going to fail?

The forgoing evidence has not been presented to convince any reader but to allow a personal decision to be made. There is much more to know about this subject. Perhaps you’ll pay another visit, sometime.

All Glory to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

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