2 Peter 1:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

NIV: For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

NASB: For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

CSB: For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

NLT: For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes

KJV: For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

NKJV: For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

A great number of people believe the claims of Christianity are just fables, folk tales, and legends. Despite the evidence—often, without any at all—these same people are counting on the idea that the Bible is mostly invention with very little truth. Even in Peter's day, this was a counter to the preaching of the gospel. Arguments over the reliability of the message had already begun. Not only had some doubted what they'd been told, but others were trying to take advantage of the situation by making up their own stories. This is something Peter will deal with in the next chapter: clever lies being told about Jesus.

Peter writes that his personal case for Christ is simple: He saw Jesus' majesty with his own eyes. He is reporting as an eyewitness. When Peter preached about Jesus' power and impending return, he wasn't following someone else's script; he was speaking from his own experience.

Specifically, Peter will refer to seeing Christ's "majesty." Peter was present for an event we commonly call the "transfiguration" (Matthew 17:1–8). This is not the only miracle which Peter saw, nor the only piece of evidence he will use. But, for this event is the clearest example of how he knows—for sure—that what he is teaching is the truth.

2 Peter 1:16–21 focuses on fulfilled prophecies about Christ. Peter points to his eyewitness experience of the transfiguration as confirmation those prophecies are true. As a result, Peter knows that those prophecies yet to be fulfilled will happen one day. This includes predictions of the return of Christ as judge and king, a point Peter will support in the coming two chapters.

Peter begins this brief letter to Christians by reminding them they are not missing anything they need to lead the good and godly lives they are called to. They must work, then, to add to their faith the goodness and qualities of Jesus. This requires effort, unlike eternal salvation which is not based on our work. Those who lack these positive attributes will live as unproductive and ineffective servants of God, nearly as blind as unbelievers and forgetting that their sins are forgiven. Peter, near death, insists that his eyewitness testimony about the transfiguration confirms that the prophecies about the Messiah are true. Jesus is coming back.

Peter begins his letter by urging his Christian readers not to be unproductive in their knowledge of Jesus. Rather, they should work to add all of Christ’s qualities to their lives. Then Peter begins to lay a foundation to support his attack on the false teachers in the church. He also introduces ideas supporting his declaration that the Day of the Lord is coming. Later chapters will use the background of this first chapter to support those arguments.

Apparently written shortly before his death in the AD 60s, 2 Peter may have been written to the same audience as 1 Peter, which was Christians scattered by persecution. Peter writes this letter to encourage Christians to live out the purpose of their lives in Christ. He warns readers to beware of teachers who claim to be believers, but present a false version of Christianity. And, Peter calls on all Christians to eagerly watch and wait for the return of the Lord.