2 Peter 1:12-21
Prophecy of Scripture
12So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
16We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17For 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." 18We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, 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. 20Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 21For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
St. Peter in verse sixteen writes about "we"...He is referring to Jesus' Twelve disciples and the believers who followed Him...The Twelve were with Jesus for three years listening and seeing Jesus teach and do many miraculous thing...They seen Him turn water into wine, walk on water, heal many, many people, feed a multitude with seven loaves of bread and two fish, and many other miracles...
The early apostles, including St. Peter, St. John, the Twelve, and St. Paul and his associates were instrumental in converting the entire Roman Empire to recognizing Christianity in 313 a.d...The early Christians were persecuted until this year and this edict...The Edict of Milan was written by the Emperor Constantine...He had to believe or at least have strong feelings that Jesus lived and resurrected to write this Edict...Why else write into law, if you are the emperor, the sole leader, the supreme lawmaker, the sovereign ruler over the entire Roman Empire to pass a law that is a lie?...It would not make sense...
For people who do not believe in our Savior, (they) have to believe in something else about the disciples and what they were thinking and doing when Jesus was teaching them...Non-believers must believe that the Twelve were either fooled by Jesus, or the Twelve were wicked men and wanted to deceive and continue to deceive others after Jesus death...Jesus was with His Twelve disciples for three years, so it would be hard to fool the Twelve everyday for three years until His death...Then they would have to be fooled again and again and again, by His resurrection...For (other non-believers) those who believe that Jesus is only a legend, why did the Twelve and others continue to follow Him after His death...The disciples did continue to follow Him, teach about Him and even write about Him after His death...St. Peter and St. John write about Jesus after His death...Both Peter and John (as did St. Paul) wrote their New Testament epistles after His death...For the non-believers who think Jesus is only a myth, why would we have the Peter and John epistle's?...Were they that wicked of men?...If Jesus is a myth, these writings would be a fake, a joke, and a deception...If the Twelve were wicked and wanted to deceive their friends and countrymen about Jesus after His death, this might have happened...But these writings and other followers like St. Paul's writings would be fraud...When you read their epistles, you do not think, you are reading fraud at all..In fact, you do not read or think of fraud, at all, or disbelief...These epistles are written sincerely...You think of something Higher, when you read these writings...The early Christians and followers of Jesus were persecuted...The Twelve would have had to have wanted to be persecuted in their deception and fraud, if this is what you believe...This does not make any sense that the Twelve wanted to deceive others, be jailed, crucified, and flogged with whips about a made up story about Jesus...They knew they could and would be persecuted for teaching about Christ...
The writings of the apostles are not fraud and deception...These writings did not even come from man's own interpretation...These writings never had there origin in man, but have came from God, as the authors were carried along by the Holy Spirit as they wrote...These stories of Jesus are not clever, invented, and made up...The reason the disciples believed that Jesus lived, died, and resurrected and were willing to be persecuted for it, is because they were eyewitnesses to His Majesty!!!...