Occasionally, when someone has done something special for us, we find ourselves asking, "What can I do for so-and-so to show my appreciation?" It is a valid question and not always an easy one to answer. But think that if it is hard to know how to show appreciation to another human being, how much more difficult must it be to show appreciation to God? How should we show appreciation to God? We cannot thank God by giving him something. He needs nothing from us. What can we do? The opening verses suggest three things.

Now all of that would be a very sad story were it not for what we know from Scripture about Jesus' relationship to Peter. Peter's relationship to Jesus wasn't much; he is the one who denied Jesus. But Jesus' relationship to Peter was the great thing. Peter was denying the Lord, which was obviously a terrible sin. But, you see, at that very moment, the Lord Jesus Christ was in the process of going to the cross to die for that sin, and not only for that sin, but for all the sins of all His people.

The third point we need to make about Peter can be seen from Matthew 16, when Peter had given a great confession of his faith. Jesus had asked the disciples what the people of the day were saying about Him. They answered that some were saying Jesus was a prophet, or Elijah, or John the Baptist. He then asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" It was Peter who answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." What an amazing confession that was. He did not simply confess that Jesus was a great teacher, or even that he was Peter’s master. Instead, Peter declared that Jesus was the Messiah—that is, he was the anointed One of God, about whom all the Old Testament prophecies are speaking. But not only the Messiah. Peter also said that Jesus was the Son of God, meaning he was the divine Messiah.