Transforming more than the language

 

tran(t)sˈfôrmər/ noun

noun: transformer; plural noun: transformers

1. an apparatus for reducing or increasing the voltage of an alternating current.
2. a person or thing that transforms something

 Thank you, Google.  There is now, however, another somewhat more colloquial definition that most everyone under the age of 30 knows, that highly marketed and financially successful toy/movie/cartoon figure, Optimus Prime, and his many colleagues.  Still, the main idea exists of going from one reality to another—not a concept that originated in Hollywood, but nonetheless a very solid one.

Case in point, Simon Peter, whose life story I absolutely admire on several levels.  Blustery, prideful, self-sufficient Simon, whom Jesus—in a stoke of prophetic genius—renamed Peter (meaning “rock”).  Simon Peter, who declared that he would follow Jesus to the death.  Simon Peter, who then denied ever knowing Jesus in his Lord’s darkest hour, denied Him to a lowly servant girl in the courtyard as the trial was progressing.

Yeah, that Simon Peter.  Linked to a part of his past that he would never forget…

I think we all have that part of our past that lingers.  We are told to “live life so you have no regrets”; good advice, but if you’ve survived this life beyond, say, your grade school years, it’s already a little too late.

That’s just one of the reasons I love Simon Peter’s story. 

Simon Peter’s denial of Christ is recorded in all four Gospel accounts, but the one I’m most interested in is the one in the Gospel of Mark.  It is thought that Mark’s writing are the memoirs of Peter, due to historical connections.  If so, Peter could have easily deleted that part of his life (wouldn’t you???).  But no.  This is one of the most significant parts of the transformation of Simon into Peter, as Jesus so poignantly predicted.  Mark chapter 14 was the necessary antithesis to Acts chapter 2, where Peter, now empowered by the Holy Spirit of the Christ he denied, addresses a crowd of onlookers in the very city that crucified Jesus.  I can’t help but assume that some of the very same protagonists were present—the Pharisees, the Roman soldiers, maybe in the slave girl from the courtyard. The result of that first sermon: “his words pierced their hearts” and thousands were brought to believe in Jesus as the Son of God.  And the church was born. 

Just an encouragement, in case something thinks that their own transformation is beyond hope, just review Peter’s.  

And one more thought.   Even if my own transformation doesn’t appear quite as dramatic as Peter’s, God’s grace in my life is still just as amazing.

Thanks for readin’!  —dawnlizjones