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.
Most historians think St. Peter wrote this epistle in the 60 a.d. time frame...Nero was in charge of the Roman empire...He was notorious for persecuting Christians...St. Peter, the leading disciple, would have been one who was leading the Christians, or at least one of the leaders...He would have been one of the Christians the Roman leaders would be looking to persecute...And many think he was in Rome at this time (and maybe with St. Paul)...If this is indeed the correct time, St. Peter and St. Paul would be shortly persecuted and killed by Roman officials...In Peter's letter to us believers, it indeed seems he knows of his upcoming mortal death...Peter writes of the prophecy of Scripture and the importance of Scripture...He and the saints, and other believers know the truth, the importance, the inspiration, the miracles, and the authority of Scripture...It is one thing to read about the Scripture, it is another thing to experience it...
St. Peter tells us he wants to remind us of the things that have actually happened to him, some time ago...He was an uneducated fisherman who met Jesus around thirty years ago...He was a rough stone, a rough rock named Simon...Jesus would nickname him Cephas, or Peter...Cephas is Greek for rock...And on this stone and rock, Jesus would build His church (Matthew 16:18)...Peter refreshes our memories of the times and a specific time he was with the Master, with John and James on the sacred mountain, an event called the transfiguration (Matthew 17:5)...St. Peter tells us that he or the other apostles and followers of Jesus did not cleverly invent the stories about our LORD Jesus, but he and the other disciples and followers were eyewitnesses of Him and His teachings...St. Peter, St. John, and St. James heard God's voice come from the sacred mountain when He said "This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I AM well pleased."...The three saints heard the voice of God from heaven...How exciting that would have been to be so close to God, Jesus, Moses, and Elijah...What a party, a heavenly party, what a grand company to be with...If there is or was a heaven on earth, this would certainly have been it, or at least one of the few times there was a heaven on earth...
Peter, and the other followers of Jesus, would be without the physical Jesus, after His ascension...He and the others would be teaching others about the living, resurrected Jesus...St. Peter would be and has became a mature Christian ready to meet His Maker, and rejoin His Maker's Son, His Great Teacher...He has been one of the few on earth to be able to live Scripture, and is wrote about throughout the New Testament...Now when St. Peter reads the Scripture he understands it much better...The Bible is much about Jesus...He is the Messiah...He was and is the One the Prophets wrote about...Now the word of the Prophets are made more certain, because the Messiah, Jesus exists...He overcame death with His resurrection...The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead- whom the Sanhedrin had killed by hanging on a tree (Acts 5:30)... None of the prophecy of Scripture came about by the own interpretation of the Prophet...For 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 understands this about Scripture now and writes us about it...
Approximately thirty years earlier, when St. Peter and St. John are being persecuted by the Sanhedrin (he) was filled with the Holy Spirit, after he through Jesus had healed a crippled man...Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to the Sanhedrin, "Rulers and elders of the people!...If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed...'He is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone' (Psalm 118:22)...Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved...When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:8-13)...The Sanhedrin noted that Peter and John had been with Jesus...
St. Peter (and St. John) near the end of end of their lives still preached the gospel of Jesus...They now undoubtedly, more mature, more schooled through their experiences, still with the courage of the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and God...They were pillars of the Christian community...Jesus was still working through St. Peter and St. John...St. Peter and St. John were chosen by Jesus to be His disciples...Jesus continues to live...These truths about Jesus are not made up, Peter (and John, as well as His other disciples) was there with Him...Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)...Let us stay reminded...