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Biblical Journeys

The biblical heroes

All of the heroes of Scripture are a mixture of human frailty and divine grace. They show us how we, as frail human beings, might also be used by God, for God’s purposes. There are biblical examples of all nine types – illustrating once again that God can use us all.

SIX – Peter

We first meet Simon Peter as a fisherman – working in partnership with his brother Andrew.

Fishing is a good classic family business. You learn the ways of the sea – here the Sea of Galilee: its seasons, the workings of the wind and the waves, and how these interact with the fish below the surface day by day and year by year. You learn how to use and preserve the boats and the nets. You are faithful to the life. It is a good classic family business.

It is a great place for SIX. For dependable fishing, you stick with what you know.

Jesus calls both Simon and Andrew – and further along the shoreline, the brothers James and John (Matthew 4:18‑22).

These four – and especially Peter, James, and John – become the small central group of Jesus’ disciples. They are together at the beginning – the first to be called and involved in Jesus’ ministry (Mark 1:29‑31) – and they are together near the end: according to Mark, it is to these four only that Jesus speaks, in the few days before the crucifixion, of the tribulations that lie ahead for the disciples (Mark 13:3‑13). Peter, James, and John are the chosen three who accompany Jesus at the transfiguration (Mark 9:2), at a controversial healing (Mark 5:35‑37), and in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:37). Peter is a loyal companion for Jesus, within this small group: all naturally SIX.

Jesus calls on the gifts of SIX – loyalty and faithfulness – when he grants to Simon Peter the name ‘the rock’: the rock on which Jesus will build the church, the solid rock unmoved even by death and the underworld (Matthew 16:18). And it is to faithful and loyal Simon Peter that Jesus grants ‘the keys of heaven’ and the task of ‘binding and loosing’ in the name of heaven (Matthew 16:19). These are tasks fitting to the best gifts of loyal and faithful SIX.

We see Jesus calling on the gifts of SIX in Peter – but SIX is often full of fear, caught between confidence and cowardice. The confidence is sometimes foolhardy – and sometimes truly faithful and truly courageous: emerging from cover, SIX may confront and overcome its fears by summoning up its confidence in something greater.

Peter steps out of the boat in the storm to walk toward Jesus on the water. It was even his own idea. Then at the sound of the wind he becomes fearful once again and begins to sink. And yet he still trusts in the one he knows – and calls on Jesus to save him (Matthew 14:28‑31). The whole episode is a study in the dynamics of SIX.

Peter at the transfiguration is ‘exceedingly afraid’ (Mark 9:6) – but true to SIX, from somewhere inside, Peter remembers some convention about hospitality, so he goes with what he knows – and offers to build booths (Mark 9:2‑8).

In the enthusiasm to walk on the water, and in the bizarre offer on the mountain top, we see Peter rising above tremendous fear, not only with faithfulness and loyalty and trust but also with hints of the SEVEN wing: the optimist, and the generalist, rushing in to the point of excess.

It is with more SIX loyalty and courage, and more SEVEN enthusiasm, that Peter alone declares to Jesus: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’ (Matthew 16:13‑16). Peter must have been thinking this through and wondering – making the connections between what he saw in Jesus and what he knew the Messiah was to be: aspects of the FIVE wing in SIX. This declaration also shows Peter thriving under pressure at SIX’s stress type THREE – taking an inspirational lead in the group – and yet only moments later Peter is gripped once again by SIX’s fear, as Jesus tells of what lies ahead in Jerusalem (Matthew 16:21‑22).

We also see the temptation of SIX’s stress type THREE when Peter is under pressure: challenged over the small matter of the temple tax, Peter nervously asserts that Jesus pays it – before actually checking with Jesus himself. Later, Jesus addresses the topic rather less conventionally: ‘the sons of kings do not pay tribute.’ The SIXish tension is resolved as the tax is paid – using a coin found in a fish (Matthew 17:24‑27).

And during the years of Jesus’ teaching it is often head type Peter who asks for a logical explanation of a parable or a saying (Matthew 15:15; 19:27) – once again showing the FIVE wing in SIX.

Through the distressing events of Maundy Thursday night – after the arrest of Jesus – Peter once again shows the gifts and temptations of SIX. He is loyal enough to follow Jesus at a distance – but he cowers in the shadows nearby (Matthew 26:58). His denial of Jesus is an act of fear – despite his earlier pledge of loyalty to the point of death (Matthew 26:33,35). As SIX he knows the gravity of what he has done (Matthew 26:69‑75). He is taken right back to the sense of utter unworthiness that he has at the beginning (‘Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man’ – Luke 5:8): Peter is painfully aware of his own transgression.

SIXes grow tall on affirmation and encouragement and attention – affirmation not so much of their individuality as of their membership, their belonging. They do not expect it – as they try to disappear into the crowd – but it makes them thrive when it comes from people they respect, as it helps them to know that they are valued for their contribution. Jesus knows this, continually drawing Peter into the inner group of disciples – and on resurrection morning, the angel by the garden tomb knows this, mentioning Peter by name: ‘Go, tell his disciples and Peter that he goes before you to Galilee’ (Mark 16:7). At the lakeside, the risen Jesus knows it too, and gives Peter the chance to declare his commitment not once but three times – even as Peter is in the middle of giving up on the whole project and returning to what he knows, which is fishing. When Peter sees the risen Jesus waiting for them, he switches his loyalty straight back, and leaps into the sea. In the three-fold declaration of commitment that follows, Peter uses the word for love in Greek, which is the committed, loyal, steadfast, and dependable love of SIX. There, Jesus affirms and commissions him once again: feed my sheep; follow me (John 21:1‑17).

Emerging as group leader THREE after the ascension – SIX thriving under pressure – Peter takes the lead in arranging for the appointment of a replacement twelfth apostle, Matthias – although they meekly use the casting of lots to make the final decision, and take corporate responsibility for it (Acts 1:15‑26).

Again, on the day of Pentecost, it is Peter who takes the lead – to stand up and speak to the crowds in Jerusalem – but even here he needs to know that the whole group is with him: Acts 2:14 tells us not that Peter stood up alone to address the crowd, but that he stood ‘with the eleven.’

And from that time onward Peter assumes the charge that he has been given – to be at the heart of the team. A confident team member who is a reluctant team leader may become the best team leader of all: thriving under pressure to lead and achieve – and remaining faithful and loyal.

Peter becomes the leader of the church in Rome, not just Jerusalem – but there is one more hurdle along the way. In the comfort of Jerusalem, Peter finds it too easy too often to forget the freedom of the gospel and slip back into the habits of the law. This is SIX, for comfort, clinging to what SIX knows – and also SIX’s comfortable security type NINE, taking the path of least resistance for the sake of an easy life. The clash with Paul on this issue is recorded by Paul himself (Galatians 2:11‑16) and by Luke – in an account rather more favorable to Peter and James (Acts 15:1‑35).

In Peter we see the gifts of SIX well used, the temptations of SIX confronted, the hints of the wings at SEVEN and FIVE, and the stress and security types visited at THREE and at NINE.

And Peter’s journey to redemption is SIX’s journey, before and after the resurrection: learning to trust God and self a little instead of just those dry old rules; questioning and dismantling some of the old boundaries; learning to trust more, and to fear less. In his early years as the leader of the church in Jerusalem, it could have served Peter well to remember more often the Jesus who was like a perfect loyal friend – who could have fun, laugh a little, and enjoy the richness of life.

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