The Twelve: St. Peter

St. Peter

Meaning of his name: At his birth he got the name Shimon, which literally means “the one who was heard.” To some extend it is a reflection on the suffering of matriarch Leah who said “[God has] heard...” when she conceived and bore the second boy (Genesis 29:33). The apostle was named after the forefather – one of the sons of Jacob (which begs a question, maybe Andrew was the first and Simon – the second).

There is a famous passage (Matthew 16:18) that people identify as a moment when the apostle was renamed. (Close but no cigar). Actually, he was called Simon Peter prior to his confession, and after. But Jesus changed Simon's name – when the LORD called him as a disciple (John 1:41-42). Peter is a Greek word for “Rock” or a “jewel.”

Life story: The New Testament has many stories about St. Peter. I am not going to talk about his denial of Jesus, or cutting of an ear of the High priest servant, or multiple times in the prison, or conflict with St. Paul. We will pick a few of the most known ones to paint a picture of the apostle.

Let's begin with the family. Simon was born to a the family fisherman named Jonah. Just like a prophet and bird Noah sent from the Arc – dove (Genesis 8:10). So, he is the man whose voice is heard and he is a son of the Dove. He has the brother – Andrew (we talked about him the last time). He is married, though we never “meet” Simon's wife, yet St. Paul refers to her in 1 Corinthians 9:5. We know about his marital status from the story about his sick mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31). He cares about his mother-in-law so much invites Jesus, knowing that He can heal. He knows about it being an eyewitness of curing a man with demonic possession. What does it tell us? Loving son-in-law.

First lake meeting. Depending on the way one interprets John 1:41-42 the next story will be a full description of the call or his second meeting with the Messiah. Luke puts it this way – Jesus wanted to reach out the crowds on the shore. He asked one of the fisherman to put out the boat a little from the land. After the teaching he asked Simon (the owner of the boat) to paddle a little further for a big catch. Very large – everyone, Peter and his partners, were astonished. And when Simon Peter saw the catch, he responded in an unusual way: “depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord” (Luke 5:8). What unusual is here – he asked Jesus to leave in the middle of the lake... Why? The Lord is not a title for a master, not a respectful “sir” or even “sire.” He realized that he in the presence of the LORD. What does it tell us? A sinful man in the presence of the Creator.

Confession of Jesus. St. Matthew tells that at one time Jesus asked the disciples “who do people say the son of Man is?” And the disciples begin to throw the ideas – John the Baptizer, Elijah, Jeremiah, or a prophet. Then he turned to them, asking “who do you say I am?” And Simon Peter confessed: “You are the Christ, Son of God, the Living one” (Matthew 16:16). Three-fold answer has an amazing depth for a simple fisherman. He identifies Jesus's ministry, his status, and the fact of incarnation. It's all very deep... which tells us that he was well trained as a theologian.

Transfiguration. There are three elements of the story: time, place, and people or – technically persons. Yet, what is interesting for us is St. Peter's behavior. He sees the glory of Jesus, the amazing moment of conversation with two heroes of the Israel's past, and... and he couldn't stop himself – he was ready to build three chapels, for worship – one for Jesus, one for Moses, one for Elijah. The voice of the Father puts everything into right perspective – they should've listened to Jesus only (Mark 9:7). Yet, what we see here is a man ready to pray and encourage others to devote their attention to God.

Sermon on Pentecost. As I promised, we will skip the betrayal and restoration. We know that Jesus brought him back into the fold. What is important – his sermon on the Pentecost (Acts 2:1-41). We aren't going to discuss the content – deep and profound theology and pastoral care. We aren't going to talk about the outcome of the sermon – baptism of 3000 people. What we need to pay attention to is the fact that Peter (notice the complete name change) stands with the eleven (Acts 2:14). No-no, he delivered the message. But he did it accompanied by his “colleagues.” Which tells us that he is a great team player.

From this four stories we see St. Peter as a profound theologian, who understands who his sinfulness to a full extend. The man who is ready to pray and, being guided by the Holy Spirit, can preach the Word with a power to convert 3000 people.

Traditions: There are two traditions related to St. Peter. First, he was crucified upside down in Rome. The second one is that he was the first Pope. As you see, both of these traditions related to Rome. There is a problem with both of them – he never went to Rome.