Peter has just begun his second letter, and in the first 11 verses he was discussing different aspects of salvation. He was explaining how a lot of different things worked. Through the righteousness of Jesus we received a faith. Through Knowledge of God and Jesus Christ we receive Grace and Peace. Through the Knowledge of the God who called us, we receive Divine Power that gives us everything we need for life and Godliness. Then Peter explains that it is God’s will for our lives to escape from the world’s corruption and participate in divine nature. We are not just saved, but we are saved and given power. We are supposed to use that power to grow in holiness. We should add goodness to our faith, knowledge to the goodness; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. We are supposed to make every effort to grow in those things, to add more and more to each thing. We should make every effort, but we are growing using the power that God gives to us. Our Christian growth should have a noticeable effect on our character and behavior. When we don’t grow Peter says then we forget that we’ve been cleansed from our past sins. That means that our spiritual growth is built on a foundation of the cleansing of our sins. Our growth isn’t necessarily built on the purification itself, but our mind’s remembering and recollection of that salvation and purification. If we aren’t remembering our cleansing, our purification, our salvation, we aren’t growing. Peter continued by saying God makes us stand firm in our faith and knowledge, and that God’s seal of ownership was placed on us, and his Spirit lives in our hearts as a guarantee of what is to come. In this letter, Peter writes a lot about knowledge of God and how we receive God’s grace and Peace and divine power through knowledge. Since Knowledge of God is so very important, we must acknowledge that forgetting is dangerous. We become nearsighted and blind when we forget about the cleansing of our past sins. Here’s how Peter continues.
12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body,
It only makes sense. If we receive gifts of God through Knowledge of God and we become ineffective when we forget, Peter’s goal in writing this part of the letter, and one of the main purposes of His existence is to remind the reader of these things. He reminds the reader, even though Peter assumes that the reader already knows them and is established in the truth that we now have. Sometimes as a pastor, I try to write a sermon that contains unique or fresh content. I try to transmit a message that gives the congregation the ability to say, “I learned something new”. The problem there is if you are a Christian, you should already know and believe the truth of the Gospel. The gospel Is this: We are humans, with a sinful and disobedient nature. Sin separates us from God and the wages of sin, the consequence of sin, the penalty of sin is death. We were dead in our sins. We were enslaved to our sin. We could not free ourselves. But God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so whoever believes will not die but have eternal life. Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins. We couldn’t do this on our own. We are saved by Grace, not works, through faith, and that faith isn’t from ourselves. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, nobody gets to the Father but through Him. Jesus didn’t stay dead, he rose from the dead, and we have the same promise that we will share in resurrection and eternal life with God. This is the gospel, the Word of God in a nutshell. Cliff’s notes version. Christians should not only know these things, but believe these things. Christians should be firmly established in this truth. Whenever we read and study the Bible, these things should all be reinforced. And yet Peter finds it necessary to Remind them of these things. Always. Peter says he thinks it is right to refresh their memory as long as he is in this tent of a body. The Bible teaches that we all have a God given purpose. We were placed on earth to do Good works which God has predestined for us. And Peter reminds us that as long as we are alive, it is right for us to remind each other, refresh each other’s memory. This is the goal of preaching the word of God. Sometimes Preaching is exhortation, where a pastor motivates, encourages the congregation to do something or avoid something else. Preaching is also Exposition, explaining what is written and why it is written, describing a theory or idea. Preaching is instruction in the word, helping the listener to be more familiar with how different parts of scripture connect or explaining how to apply the word to our lives. But reading what Peter says here, another aspect of preaching is Reminding the listener of things they already know, refreshing the memory of brothers and sisters. This Reminding might be the most important thing a Pastor can do! We are all humans who are naturally forgetful and easily distracted by the things of this world. There’s nothing wrong with a well timed reminder. Yes ideally we should be thinking of these things and meditating on the word always, and it would be nice to have a photographic memory, but realistically, we forget, we become derailed, we focus on trials and challenges, we run out of time to study the word, life gets in the way of living. So we stop and give ourselves an occasional reminder of the truth. This is why in the book of Hebrews it says we should hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, we should consider how to spur one another on toward love and good deeds, and we should not give up meeting together to encourage one another. Encouragement means reminding each other of the things we should already know. Even Jesus said this in John 14:26:
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
The task of reminding believers of things they already know may seem unimportant to us, but reminding us is also the responsibility of the Holy Spirit! A lot of churches will turn the Holy Spirit into some magic battery, when it gets filled with just enough Holy Spirit, it gets Spiritually charged enough then we can have enough energy to do miracles, speak in tongues, put on shows, handle poisonous snakes. Sounds exciting and a fun idea for science fiction, but what does the Bible say? What is the truth? The fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control. The Holy Spirit is a counselor, an advocate, a teacher, and a RemindER.
14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
As Peter writes this letter, he is thinking about his advancing age. He says in verse 13, as long as he is in the tent of a body, he will remind them the truth of scripture. Even just calling our earthly existence in the body as being in a tent acknowledges something about the nature of heaven and earth. We might be very comfortable in our bodies, living life on earth, but what we see here, what we experience, this is temporary. This tent of a body is our makeshift shelter for our eternal spirit. The flesh we live inside of is just a fragile construct. Something that is not intended to be the permanent home or dwelling, but a temporary solution that is good enough for now but not ideal. But in verse 14 he comes to terms with the fact that he will soon put aside the tent of his body. He said the Lord Jesus Christ has made it clear to him that his time of departure is soon. Peter is making every effort to give them the instruction he himself had been given by Jesus Christ before Jesus had made his departure. Shepherd the Flock, and remind them of the the truth of scripture. We are fortunate as Christians to have Peter’s letter as our reminder. Sometimes you watch a film and the character in his dying breath says one word, and it’s a big mystery or just enough to keep the plot going, but you ask yourself, Why couldnt’ he just have finished the sentence, or what did he mean? Peter had an opportunity to reflect on his life and his time with Jesus and put it in a well crafted letter, and we have this reminder.
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
We didn’t follow cleverly invented stories. Peter wants the reader to know that what he is saying is true. Nothing was invented by man about the gospel. Jesus did live, he did perform miracles, he died, he came back. He fulfilled all of the prophecies, the disciples didn’t need to add anything to the story to make it more believable or connect better with the old testament. Not only did Jesus comply with and follow the law, but he completed the law and was the culmination of all of the various ceremonies and festivals. All of the Scripture points us toward the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. Peter doesn’t need to cleverly invent stories or ways that make the person of Jesus puzzle piece fit with the rest of Scripture. Scripture is Him and has become him. Peter didn’t make this up, but saw it with his own eyes. If he had made up any of these things, the facts would have disagreed with other eyewitnesses. If Jesus really had ridden into town on a horse, but Peter later read a prophecy where the messiah was supposed to ride in on a donkey, and changed the details to build his case or later match a prophecy. If he had fabricated details, he would have had plenty of opportunities to fess up or come clean. Or be proven wrong by other eyewitnesses. But he stood by his story, despite every Earthly reason to disavow the entire thing. It would be safer from a worldly perspective to go back and say “I dont know the man” like he’d done three times when Jesus was on trial. It would have spared him hardship, torture, martyrdom. But Peter was prepared to suffer and put aside comfort and lay down his own life for the sake of the integrity of the message. As an admission of my own weakness, I don’t know if I would have the pain tolerance and constitution to go ahead and suffer and be martyred for the truth, but definitely would not endure that for a lie! But Peter is saying the most important thing was to keep intact The purity of the historical account and the things he had seen with his own eyes and newly understood from the Torah. There was one particular aspect of Jesus life which Peter is recalling here when he says we were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. Let’s read on to find out.
17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”[b] 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
In verses 17 and 18 Peter recounts the Transfiguration event when God himself spoke and said of Jesus, “this is my son whom I love, with him I am pleased.” If you just read verse 17 alone, you could imagine Peter might be talking about either the Baptism of Jesus or he Transfiguration, but verse 18 clarifies that when he mentions the sacred mountain. What’s the transfiguration? To read over this quickly, and not think about it, you might remember some weird incident where Jesus goes up a mountain and Peter, James, and John see Jesus look radiant along with Moses and Elijah. It kind of seems like a dream or a hallucination. But recall in the three Gospels where the Transfiguration is mentioned, this transfiguration happens a few days after Jesus asks his disciples Who do you say I Am? And Peter himself confesses, to Jesus “you are the Christ, the anointed, son of the Living God”. After that, Peter witnesses this transfiguration together with disciples James and John. and Elijah and Moses. Moses the bringer of the law, Elijah the prophet. Both of these two having been dead for hundreds of years, are now seen alive, showing Peter the truth of resurrection, a glimpse of the glorious eternal. When Jesus says he’s the God of the living, not the dead, we see a flash of what he’s talking about. The voice of God coming down, claiming Jesus as his own, reconfirming that voice that happened at the baptism. And we see Jesus bridging the gap between humankind and God (Important to note, he is bridging that gap for Both living humans and dead humans), Earth and Heaven, Mortality and Immortality, Temporary and Permanent. Of all the miracles Peter was an eyewitness to, and a participant in, When Peter says he was an eyewitness of Jesus Majesty in verse 16, he is thinking about this Transfiguration Event
19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Peter says in vs19 we have a prophetic message as something completely reliable. Another NIV translation says we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it! It sounds like a warning, but think about it. For the first time in History, Peter has seen all law and all prophecy come to life. What was a bunch of words, passed down with intent and care, has now become flesh. This is what we celebrated at Christmas. What sounded like a bunch of Oracle predictions and spiritual mystery is made more certain, because it has been seen heard and touched. The translation here says it’s completely reliable, but the other translation says it’s made more certain. Both can be right in their own sense. The prophecies are completely reliable, and yet in Jesus they are made more certain because they have come to life! We have this gift that people have had to believe on faith without seeing, and Peter says we would do well to pay attention. It’s a bit of a warning, but it’s also a great piece of advice.
The world can be a dark place, a murky mess, but we have a light, we have a compass we have a true north. While we are alive on earth, we should pay attention, always, until this morning star rises in our hearts, and the day dawns. Basically until the end of our earthly lives.
20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Peter reaffirms this, and in verse 20 after saying all of these important reminders, Peter says above all or most of all, we must understand that no prophecy of scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. Prophecy doesn’t originate from the will of man. Like the first part of the chapter, Peter explains beautifully how something seemingly mysterious works. How does prophecy work? Peter says here. Prophets, although they are merely men, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Prophecy is the word of God, delivered by man, but THROUGH or inspired by the Holy Spirit. This is confirmed in Hebrews 1, where scripture says In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways. Hebrews 1 doesn’t end on that thought. It continues , “but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.”. God now has spoken to us by his son. What does that mean for prophecies?
There is no place for a prophet’s interpretation or will. Why not? What does Elijah’s will matter?
What about Amos’s preference or Isaiah’s goals or Ezekiel’s interpretation of current events in his lifetime? We might think, “Isaiah had a great interpretation of the time he lived in. He was able to see Israel for what it was” or “Amos noticed everything wrong and gave a great message” but Each of them only spoke prophecy when the Holy Spirit gave them God’s words. And even if those words may have had multiple possible interpretations, they don’t any longer. Because we have Jesus now. And we know what those prophecies meant, we know who the prophets were talking about. If two people read an old prophecy, there may still be some uncertainty about which events various statements were referring to. There may be some disagreement on exactly how or when parts of the prophecies manifested themselves over different times throughout history. This is because many prophecies, like letters in scripture, were spoken and written or delivered to a certain group of people at that time, and had certain instructions or warnings that were intended for that group of people. Along with the instruction and warning for the immediate recipient (short term scope) there is a prediction or foretelling of something that will happen later (longer term), and sometimes a promise of God’s action (eternal scope, or instructing about God’s nature). Not living at the time that Peter wrote his letter, or Elijah gave his prophecy prevents us from understanding all of the short term context, but the Long Term will be pointing towards Jesus, and the Eternal term will still teach us about God’s nature. If we want to be prophets, we must speak to each other using God’s word, which means we must understand scripture, and train each other with scripture. All scripture is God-breathed and useful to train rebuke and correct.