|
Simon was a fisherman:
|
Matthew 4:18
And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon
called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea:
for they were fishers. |
|
Jesus nicknamed Simon, Peter:
Which also means rock
(Petros [rock] in Greek).
Jesus called Peter to be an Apostle ...
|
Matthew
4:18-19
And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon
called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea:
for they were fishers. And He saith unto them,
Follow me, and I will make you
fishers of men. |
|
Many
are familiar with the story of Jesus walking on water where Peter walked
on water for a moment, but began to sink when his faith weakened.
|
Matthew
14:29-31
And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he
walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind
boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying,
Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and
caught him, and said unto him,
O thou of little faith, wherefore
didst thou doubt? |
|
In
one conversation between Jesus and His disciples, Jesus asks, "Who do
people say that I am?" The disciples give several answers, but when He
asks, "Who do you say that I am?"
|
Matthew
16:16
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of
the living God. |
|
Jesus then says that Peter is blessed because he recognized Jesus' true
identity by divine providence and names Peter the "rock" upon which the
church would be built and the key holder to the kingdom of heaven.
To
give you an idea of how human Simon Peter was (just like us), shortly
after this honor was bestowed upon him by Jesus, he rebukes the Lord.
|
Matthew
16:21-23
From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto His disciples, how
that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders
and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again
the third day. Then Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him, saying,
Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
But He turned, and said unto
Peter,
Get
thee
behind
me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the
things that be of God, but those that be of men. |
|
Just as in our own lives, we say things we
don't mean, but rather it is Satan speaking through us. Jesus wasn't
calling Peter the devil, He was addressing the spirit of Satan who
influenced Peter to challenge the TRUTH that Jesus was telling them.
Jesus washed His Apostles' feet at the beginning of the Last Supper. At
first, Peter refused to let Jesus wash his feet, but when Jesus said:
|
John 13:8-9
If I wash thee not,
thou hast no part with me.
Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my
hands and my head. |
|
Also during the Last Supper, Jesus was
speaking of His destiny and Peter refused to accept the TRUTH.
|
Mark 14:27-30
And Jesus saith unto them,
All ye shall be offended because of
me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the
sheep shall be scattered. But after that I am risen, I will go
before you into Galilee.
But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will
not I. And Jesus saith unto
him,
Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before
the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. |
|
This
indeed came to pass. We
all unintentionally hurt the ones we love. At
the arrest of Jesus, Peter cut off the ear of the servant of the high
priest.
|
Luke 22:51
And Jesus answered and said,
Suffer ye thus far.
(Perhaps this means, excuse Peter) And He touched his ear, and
healed him. |
|
Though the women were the first to report the empty tomb, Peter was the
first to go check it out for himself. He actually runs to the tomb, and
John follows him and outruns him to the tomb site. Peter goes in and sees
the grave clothes that Jesus was buried in.
In
the last chapter of the Gospel according to John, after the resurrection
of Jesus, Peter affirms his love for Jesus three times, reconciling his
three denials of the Lord.
|
John 21:15-17
So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me
more than these?
He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He
saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
He saith to him again the second time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?
He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He
saith unto him,
Feed my sheep.
He saith unto him the third time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?
Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest
thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou
knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him,
Feed my sheep. |
|
After Jesus ascended, Peter had the
foremost role in the foundation of the early church, gave a moving speech
during Pentecost, he also lead in the selection of an apostle to replace
Judas Iscariot, twice was arrested with John before the high priests of
Israel, and defied them, took missionary journeys, and was rescued from
prison by an angel, to name a few events of his service.
Paul
relates to us that Peter had the special charge of being Apostle to the
Jews, just as he, Paul, was Apostle to the Gentiles.
These are just a few reflections about Simon Peter, who also wrote two
epistles of the New Testament.
|
