Travelers Sunday School Class
About
During the Fall of 2024, the Travelers Sunday School Class at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church in Birmingham, Alabama, embarked on a pilgrimage exploring Saint Peter's spiritual development from a fisherman to a fisher of men and disciple of Christ. The following is a summary of our discussions (and the slide deck—accessible by clicking on the date—utilized during those discussions.
We began at the end as we looked at the central themes in both 1 Peter and 2 Peter, before turning to Peter's recognition of Jesus as the Messiah, and Jesus's proclamation that on the Rock of Peter His church would be built.
This week's discussion focuses on the call of Andrew and Peter, along with who were/are the hired hands (Jesus uses the term "hireling" in the Good Shepherd discourse) and their response to Jesus and His call.
Having been called, Peter, Andrew, James, and John head off to a wedding celebration in Cana, where Jesus turns the water into wine. What was Peter's reaction to this transformation, and did Peter, following Christ's resurrection, see its eschatological overtones?
Following the Wedding in Cana in John's Gospel, Jesus and His disciples (including Peter) head to Jerusalem, where Jesus cleanses the Temple. The class explored the differences between the Temple cleansing referred to in John 2 and the Temple cleansing in the Synoptic Gospels during Holy Week and Peter's (and the crowds') possible reaction to Jesus' actions.
Continuing in John's Gospel, during the night following the cleansing of the Temple, Nicodemus comes to Jesus and ponders how one can be born from above. Peter overhears this conversation and raises his own questions until he finally understands and pens 1 Peter 1:3-6
Following Nicodemus, a rich young ruler asks Jesus "what he can do to inherit eternal life," which, in essence, is, "Am I saved?" Following Jesus' answer that a camel needs to get through the eye of a needle, Peter inquires, what about me? I have given up everything to follow you, Jesus. Will I be saved? Jesus's response is in the affirmative, but that does not mean Peter will not experience suffering, which Peter again comes to understand when he pens 1 Peter 1:3-6
While Jesus walked this celestial ball, He healed time and time again (Peter's mother-in-law, lepers galore, Jarius' daughter, withered hands, an official's son, a Centurian's servant, a deaf-mute, and hemorrhagic woman). Jesus even healed a paralytic by forgiving his sins. Peter's (and our) reactions to these healings were pondered and explored.
Following up on November 3rd's healing stories, the class looked at Jesus restoring sight to the blind and casting out unclean spirits and demons, along with Peter's (and our) reactions to Jesus' power.
Jesus sent out both the twelve and the seventy-two to heal the sick, restore sight to the blind, and cast out demons and unclean spirits. They were sent out with instructions (which were adopted by the Franciscans) on how to accept the hospitality offered them and how to deal with rejection. Peter was among the twelve sent out, and later, he reflected that his journey showed him that he (and we) are members of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation.
To understand Jesus' statement that He was "sending [us] out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves," we focused on Arthur Gordon's short story "One Hour to War," along with the attributes of sheep (Psalm 23), wolves, serpents, and doves. This discussion led us to Peter's stair-step development of faith into love (2 Peter 1:3-10) and challenge to prepare our hearts for action (1 Peter 1:13-15)
Arthur Gordan's "The First Creche" showed us how blindness could be cured. This message was further illuminated with the stories of Zechariah in the Temple, the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary, Mary's visit to Elizabeth, Joseph's first dream, Joseph and Mary's wedding, and John the Baptist's birth.