Travelers Sunday School Class
About
During the Fall of 2024 and the Spring of 2025, 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.
The Feeding of the 5,000 and the Feeding of the 4,000 show us that if we as sheep must trust the Triune God as our Shepherd to provide for our needs, and that we as sheep are not tasked with solving the problems of life, only bringing to Him our resources and talents, so that He can use those resources and talents for the benefit of the Kingdom.
In this lesson, we explore the meaning of the events that followed the Feeding of the 5,000 in an attempt to answer the following questions. Why did Jesus send his disciples away in the boat across the Sea of Galilee? Why did Jesus go up the mountain to pray? Why did Jesus walk on water to rescue the disciples during the fourth watch? Why did Peter, upon seeing his Lord, jump out of the boat and walk on the water until distracted by the winds of life?
In this lesson, we explore the meaning of Peter's questions to Jesus found in Luke 12:41 and Matthew 18:21 and how Jesus' answer to those two questions assists us in our spiritual walk with our savior.
In this lesson, we explore the impact of God's words, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him" in connection with the Transfiguration; what both Peter and John learned from witnessing the experience (see 2 Peter 1:16-21, and John 1:1-4); and how Psalm 121 captures the essence of the message (see Hairston. 2006. Burdens).
In this lesson, we begin our lenten journey by looking at Matthew 16:22-23 and Mark 8:32-33 where Jesus tells Peter to "Get behind me Satan"
In this lesson, our lenten journey turns to Jesus washing the disciples' feet, Peter's initial rejection of this footwashing, and Jesus' proclamation of a new commandment (mandate) consistent with this action parable.
In this lesson, our lenten journey turns to Judas' betrayal of our lord and Peter's (and all the other disciples) assurance that they will never deny Jesus.
In this lesson, our Lenten journey transitions from the upper room to the garden of Gethsemane in the Mountain of Olives. During that transition, we experience what the disciples experienced as they walked along the Kidron Valley, which was soaked with the blood of the sacrificed passover lambs, while proclaiming the enduring steadfast love of God as proclaimed in Psalm 136. At Gethsemane, we watched Peter proclaim that he would never deny his Lord, fall asleep three times while Jesus was praying, and then take up the sword and cut off the ear of Malchus.