How Peter Came to Know Jesus
During the time Peter spent with Jesus, he saw many lovable characteristics in Jesus, many aspects worthy of emulation, and many aspects which supplied him. Although Peter saw the being of God in Jesus in many ways, and saw many lovable qualities, he did not know Jesus at first. Peter began following Jesus when he was 20 years old, and he continued to follow Him for six years. During that time, he never came to know Jesus; Peter was willing to follow Jesus purely out of admiration for Him. When Jesus first called to him on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, He asked: “Simon Barjona, will you follow Me?” Peter said: “I must follow he who is sent by the heavenly Father. I must acknowledge he who is chosen by the Holy Spirit. I will follow You.” At the time, Peter had already heard of a man named Jesus—the greatest of the prophets and God’s beloved Son—and Peter had been constantly hoping to find Him and hoping for a chance to see Him (because that is how he was being led by the Holy Spirit). Although Peter had never seen Him and had only heard rumors about Him, gradually a yearning and adoration for Jesus grew in his heart, and he often yearned to one day look upon Jesus. And how did Jesus call upon Peter? He too had heard of a man called Peter, yet it was not the Holy Spirit who instructed Him: “Go to the Sea of Galilee, where there is one called Simon Barjona.” Jesus had heard someone say that there was one called Simon Barjona, and that people had heard his sermon, that he too preached the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, and that the people who heard him were all moved to tears. After hearing this, Jesus followed that person to the Sea of Galilee; when Peter accepted Jesus’ call, he followed Him. During his time following Jesus, Peter formed many opinions of Him and always judged Him from his own perspective. Although Peter had a certain degree of understanding of the Spirit, his understanding was somewhat unclear, which is why he said: “I must follow he who is sent by the heavenly Father. I must acknowledge he who is chosen by the Holy Spirit.” He did not understand the things Jesus did and lacked clarity about them. After following Him for some time, Peter grew interested in what He did and said, and in Jesus Himself. He came to feel that Jesus inspired both affection and respect; he liked to associate with Him and stay beside Him, and listening to Jesus’ words rendered him supply and aid. During the time he followed Jesus, Peter observed and took to heart everything about His life: His actions, words, movements, and expressions. He gained a deep understanding that Jesus was not like ordinary men. Although His human appearance was exceedingly normal, He was full of love, compassion, and tolerance for man. Everything He did or said was of great aid to others, and Peter saw and gained things he had never before seen nor possessed from Jesus. He saw that although Jesus had neither a grand stature nor any unusual humanity, He had a truly extraordinary and uncommon air about Him. Although Peter couldn’t fully explain it, he could see that Jesus acted differently from everyone else, for the things He did were very different from that of normal men. From his time in contact with Jesus, Peter also saw that His character was different from that of an ordinary man. He always acted steadily and never with haste, never exaggerated nor underplayed a subject, and He conducted His life in a way that revealed a character which was both normal and admirable. In conversation, Jesus spoke plainly and with grace, communicating always in a cheerful yet serene manner—and yet never did He lose His dignity while carrying out His work. Peter saw that Jesus was sometimes taciturn, while other times He spoke incessantly. Sometimes He was so happy that He appeared like a frisking and frolicking dove, and other times He was so sad that He did not talk at all, appearing laden with grief as though He were a worn and weary mother. At times He was filled with anger like a brave soldier charging off to kill an enemy or, on some occasions, He even resembled a roaring lion. Sometimes He laughed; other times He prayed and wept. No matter how Jesus acted, Peter grew to have boundless love and respect for Him. Jesus’ laughter filled him with happiness, His sorrow plunged him into grief, His anger frightened him, while His mercy, forgiveness, and the strict demands He made of people made him come to truly love Jesus and develop a true reverence and longing for Him. Of course, it was not until after Peter had lived alongside Jesus for a number of years that he gradually came to realize all of this. Peter was a particularly sensible man, born with natural intelligence, yet he did many foolish things when following Jesus. At the very start, he had some notions about Jesus. He asked: “People say You are a prophet, so when You were eight years old and started to understand things, did You know You were God? Did You know You were conceived by the Holy Spirit?” Jesus replied: “No, I didn’t. Don’t I seem just like a normal person to you? I am the same as anyone else. The person the Father sends is a normal person, not an extraordinary one. And, though the work I do represents My heavenly Father, My image, the person that I am, and this fleshly body cannot fully represent My heavenly Father—only one part of Him. Although I came from the Spirit, I am still a normal person, and My Father sent Me to this earth as a normal person, not an extraordinary one.” Only when Peter heard this did he…