A) INTRODUCTION.

B) WHO WAS PETER.

C) PETER AFTER THE CRUCIFIXION.

 

 

A) INTRODUCTION

 

 

Peters first appearance in Gospel history is in John 1:35-42, when Andrew, his brother, having discovered Jesus to be the Messiah, “first findeth his own brother Simon,” and “brought him unto Jesus.”  It was on this occasion that our Lord, beholding him, said, “Thou shalt be called Cephas,” John 1:42, which is an Aramaic surname whose Greek synonym is “Petros,” or Peter, meaning “a [small] rock” or “pebble stone.”  The Aramaic name does not occur again, but the name Peter gradually displaces the old name of Simon, though our Lord Himself always uses the name Simon when addressing him (Mat. 17:25; Mark 14:37; Luke 22:31; compare with Luke 21:15-17).  Simon literally means, “hearer.”

 

It was at this time also that Peter received his first call to the discipleship of Jesus; although in common with that of others of the Twelve, this call was twice repeated.  This we know from looking at Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17; Luke 5:3 for the second call, and Matthew 10:2; Mark 3:14 & 16, and also Luke 6:13-14, for the third.  Some Bible commentators interpret the second as that when he was chosen to be a constant companion of Jesus, and the third when he was at length selected as an Apostle.

 

Peter is known as, and given the title of, “The Apostle of Hope;” just as Paul has been called, “The Apostle of Faith,” and John, “The Apostle of Love.”  Peter was the son of Jonas (Mat. 16:17; John 1:42; 21:16), with his mother being nowhere named in Scripture.  His father had probably died while he was still young, and he and his brother were brought up under the care of Zebedee and his wife Salome (Mat. 27:56; Mark 15:40; 16:1), who were fishermen by trade.

 

 

B) WHO WAS PETER

 

 

Simon Peter was a genuine Galilean.  The Galileans spoke a peculiar dialect of which betrayed Peter when he stood within the judgment-hall (Mark 14:70).  They had a difficulty with the guttural and other sounds; and their pronunciation was reckoned harsh in Judea.  The Galilean accent stuck to Simon all through his career.  It also betrayed his own nationality, and that of those conjoined with him on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:7).

 

At Peters first calling, we find him to be a humble man, stating, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”  We also find him to be ever talkative, speaking before evaluating, as at the Transfiguration (Mat. 17:4).  Before the crucifixion, we find him rashly bold (John 18:10), yet when challenged, defensive out of fear (John 18:27).  I will discuss Peter after the Crucifixion later.

 

Peter was evidently married before he began to follow Jesus, for both he and Andrew lived together in Peter’s house (Mat. 8:14) with Peter’s wife and mother-in-law.  Later his wife accompanied him on his apostolic journeys (1Co. 9:5).

 

The story of Peter’s fall is related by all the Evangelists, but, to quote the “International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,” “None have described it in a more heinous light, than Mark; and if, as is generally supposed, that Gospel was reviewed by Peter himself and even written under his direction this circumstance may be considered as an evidence of his integrity and sincere contrition.”  When Jesus began to speak of His sufferings, it was for this that Peter rebuked Him.  But our Lord in return rebuked Peter, speaking to him in sterner Words than He ever used to any other of His Disciples (see Mat. 16:21-23; Mark 8:31-33).

 

Upon our Lord’s return to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax (a didrachma, or half a sacred shekel, see Exo. 30:15), which every Israelite of twenty years old and upwards had to pay, came to Peter and reminded him that Jesus had not paid it (Mat. 17:24-27).  Our Lord instructed Peter to go and catch a fish in the lake and take from its mouth the exact amount needed for the tax, viz., a “stater,” or two half-shekels.  “That take,” said our Lord, “and give unto them for Me and thee.”  This discourse provides us proof that for sure Peter, and possibly even more of the Disciples of our Lord, were some over 20 years of age.  See my Bible Commentary on Matthew 17:24 & 17:25-26.

 

 

C) PETER AFTER THE CRUCIFIXION

 

 

The history of Peter after the ascension, of which Peter was doubtless a witness, he “stood up in the midst of the brethren,” in the upper room in Jerusalem to counsel the choice of a successor to Judas (Acts 1:15-26).  On the day of Pentecost, he preaches the first Gospel sermon (Acts, Chapter 2).  And later, in company with John, instrumentally healing the lame man, he addresses the people in the Temple and is arrested.  He then defends himself before the Sanhedrin and returns to his “own company” (Acts, Chapters 3 & 4).

 

He is again arrested and beaten (Acts, Chapter 5).  Then, after a certain time period, he is sent by the Church at Jerusalem to communicate the Holy Spirit to the disciples at Samaria (Acts, Chapter 8).  Returning to Jerusalem (where Paul visits him, Gal. 1:18), he afterward journeys “throughout all parts,” heals Aeneas at Lydda, raises Dorcas from the dead at Joppa, sees a vision upon the housetop which influences him to preach the Gospel to the Gentile centurion at Caesarea, and explains this action before “the Apostles and the brethren that were in Judea” (Acts 9:32-41; Chapter 11).

 

Something to take special note about Peter is not only his known boldness, but when coupled with the Holy Spirit, he becomes quite a force.  Notice Acts 2:23; 4:10; 5:30; 10:39.  Here we find Peter not only boldly preaching (even after he was told not to, Acts 5:40), but he even openly blames the Jewish leaders (or all the Jews in reality) of killing their Messiah.  If we compare this confidence to how Paul cautiously speaks of it (Acts 13:28), we can see the total change in Peter.

 

After a while another persecution arose against the Church, and Herod Agrippa, having put James to death, imprisons Peter with the thought of executing him also.  Prayer is made by the Church on his behalf however, and a miraculous deliverance is given him (Acts, Chapter 12).  The next time we see Peter upon the scene of public attention is when he once more comes before us in the Church council at Jerusalem, when the question is to be settled as to whether works (circumcision specifically) are needful to salvation.  He adds his testimony to that of Paul and Barnabas in favor of justification by faith (Acts, Chapter 15).

 

Subsequently, he is found at Antioch, and having fellowship with Gentile Christians, until, in an interesting aspect of the character of James, the leader of the council, “that certain came from James,” when “he [Peter] drew back and separated himself, fearing them that were of the circumcision,” for which dissembling Paul, “resisted him to the face, because he stood condemned” (Gal. 2:11-14).

 

Little more is authentically known of Peter, except that he traveled more or less extensively, being accompanied by his wife (see again 1Co. 9:5), and that he wrote two Epistles, the Second of which was penned as he approached the end of his life (2Pe. 1:12-15).

 

The tradition is that he died a martyr at Rome about 67 A.D., when about 75 years old.  His Lord and Master had predicted a violent death for him (John 21:18-19), which it is thought came to pass by crucifixion came to him (by his request) under Nero.  It is said that at his own desire he was crucified head downward, feeling himself unworthy to resemble his Master in his death.

 

Although Peter is named first in every list of the Apostles, we must take note that it is James, and not Peter (sorry my Roman Catholic friends) who appears to be in charge of the counsel at Jerusalem (see Acts 15:13-22).

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