The picture of his personality portrayed in the New Testament is rich and many sided. A more fitting appraisal of Peter is that he was a pioneer among the twelve apostles and the early Universal Church, breaking ground that the Church would later follow.
Peter's name given was Simon. His father's name was Jonah. - Matt. 16:17; John 1:42 - Simon's brother, Andrew also joined Jesus as a disciple. - Mark 1:16 - The family probably lived at Capernaum on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, although it is possible they lived in Bethsaida. - Mark 1:21,29; John 1:44 - Peter and Andrew were fishermen on the Sea of Galilee, and perhaps in partnership with James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Luke 5:10 - In the midst of his labour as a fisherman, Peter received a call from Jesus that changed his life.
The Gospel of John reports that Andrew and Peter were disciples of John the Baptist before they joined Jesus. John also reports that Peter was introduced to Jesus by his brother Andrew, who had already recognized Jesus to be the Messiah. - John 1:35-42 -
Jesus apparently gathered His followers in two stages: first as disciples [learners or apprentices] and later as apostles [commissioned representatives]
Peter was the first disciple to be called and the first to be named an apostle. His name heads every list of the Twelve in the New Testament. Peter was apparently the strongest individual in the band. He frequently served as a spokesman for the disciples, and he was their recognized leader. Typical of Peter's dominant personality was his readiness to walk to Jesus on the water and to ask Jesus the awkward question of how often he should forgive a sinning brother. - Mark 1:16-18, 36, 3:14-16; Luke 22:32; Matt. 14:28, 18:21 -
An inner circle of three apostles existed among the Twelve. Peter was also the leaders of this small group. The trio - Peter, James, and John - was present with Jesus on a number of occasions. They witnessed the raising of a young girl from the dead, they were present at Jesus' transfiguration, and they were present during Jesus' agony in Gethsemane. During Jesus' final week in Jerusalem, two of the three, Peter and John, were sent to make preparations for their last meal together. - Mark 5:37, 14:33; Luke 8:51, 22:8; Matt. 17:1-2, 26:37 -
The purpose of Jesus' existence in the flesh was that people would come to a true picture of who God is and what He has done for man's salvation. The first apostle to recognize that was Peter. He confessed Jesus as Lord. Jesus began the process which would lead to Peter's awareness by asking a non-threatening question, 'Who do people say the Son of Man is?' After the disciples voiced various rumors , Jesus put a more personal question to Peter, 'But you' Jesus said, 'who do you say I am?' Then Simon Peter spoke up, 'You are the Christ', he said, 'Son of the living God.'
Jesus replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.- Matt. 16:13-19
Peter probably broadened his ministry, once the mantle of leadership of the Jerusalem Church fell from his shoulders to those of James, the Lord's brother. Peter played a key role at the Council of Jerusalem which decided in favor of granting Church believers/membership to Gentiles without first requiring them to become Jews. - Acts 15; Gal. 2 -
Peter dropped into the background in the Book of Acts not because his ministry ended. St. Luke, the writer of the Acts of the Apostles, simply began to trace the course of the Gospel spread to Gentile Rome through the ministry of the apostle Paul.
According to early Christian tradition. [oral/written] Peter went to Rome, where he died. Only once in the New Testament do we hear of Peter's being in Rome. Even in this case, Rome referred to as 'Babylon'. - 1Peter 5:13 - Little is known of Peter's activities in Rome, although Papist, writing about A.D. 125, stated that Peter's preaching inspired the writing of the first Gospel, drafted by St. Mark, who was Peter's interpreter in Rome.
This early and generally reliable tradition supports the pioneer role played by Peter throughout his life and ministry, and Peter was the the first pope of the Roman Catholic/Universal Church. - Matt. 16:13-19 -
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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