Who was Peter?

Bible People & HistoryIn theological review

The short answer

Peter, first called Simon, was a Galilean fisherman whom Jesus called to follow him, and he became the most prominent of the twelve apostles. He confessed Jesus as the Christ, walked briefly on water, denied Jesus three times on the night of the trial, was restored by the risen Jesus, preached at Pentecost and led the early church in Jerusalem, while still being a man who could fail publicly and be corrected.

The fuller answer

Simon Peter was a fisherman from Bethsaida who worked on the Sea of Galilee with his brother Andrew and their partners James and John. Andrew, who had heard John the Baptist point to Jesus, brought Simon to him first, and Jesus gave him a new name, Cephas in Aramaic, Peter in Greek, meaning rock. Peter left his nets and followed. He was married, since Jesus healed his mother in law in Capernaum, and his home there became a base for Jesus's Galilean ministry. Peter usually speaks first, acts first and is named first in every list of the apostles.

Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.

John 6:68 (BSB)

At Caesarea Philippi, Peter made the confession on which the Gospels turn. Asked who he said Jesus was, Peter answered that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus blessed him, said this had been revealed by the Father, and declared that on this rock he would build his church. Christians differ on whether the rock is Peter himself, his confession, or Christ, but the scene marks Peter out as the first to name Jesus plainly. Minutes later Peter rebuked Jesus for predicting the cross and was himself rebuked as a stumbling block, a swing that sums up his character.

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Matthew 16:16 (BSB)

Peter's lowest point came on the night Jesus was arrested. He had sworn he would die rather than disown his Lord, yet in the high priest's courtyard he denied three times that he even knew Jesus, and wept bitterly when the rooster crowed. After the resurrection, Jesus restored him beside the Sea of Galilee in John 21, asking three times whether Peter loved him and entrusting him with feeding his sheep. Restored, Peter preached the Pentecost sermon in Acts 2, when about three thousand people were baptised, defended the apostles before the Sanhedrin, and received the vision that opened the gospel to Gentile households such as Cornelius.

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

Matthew 16:18 (BSB)

Peter's failures did not end at Pentecost, and Scripture keeps them on record. In Galatians 2, Paul describes how Peter ate freely with Gentile believers in Antioch, then withdrew from them when certain men arrived from Jerusalem, out of fear. Paul opposed him to his face, publicly, because his conduct contradicted the truth of the gospel, and Peter's story is told honestly enough to include that rebuke. Tradition holds that Peter later ministered in Rome and was crucified there under Nero. His two letters close the New Testament picture of a bold, flawed, restored man used greatly by God.

Sources

Berean Standard Bible (BSB)

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Who was Paul?Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles: a Pharisee who persecuted the church, met the risen Jesus on the Damascus road, and spent the rest of his life planting churches around the Roman world and writing the letters that fill much of the New Testament. No other figure explains how a crucified Jewish Messiah came to be worshipped from Jerusalem to Rome within one generation.Who was Judas Iscariot?Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve apostles, the group's treasurer, who betrayed Jesus to the chief priests for thirty pieces of silver and then died in remorse. Matthew and Acts give two accounts of his death that differ in detail: Matthew says he hanged himself, and Acts says he fell and his body burst open in a field bought with the betrayal money.Who was John the Baptist?John the Baptist was the prophet sent to prepare the way for Jesus, the son of the priest Zechariah and Elizabeth, born shortly before Jesus and related to him through their mothers. He preached repentance at the Jordan, baptised those who confessed their sins, baptised Jesus himself, pointed his own disciples to Jesus as the Lamb of God, and was beheaded by Herod Antipas.Who was Mary Magdalene?Mary Magdalene was a follower of Jesus from Magdala in Galilee, delivered by him from seven demons, who supported his ministry, watched his crucifixion and became the first witness of the empty tomb and the risen Jesus. The Bible never calls her a prostitute: that identification came centuries later from a sermon tradition in the Western church, not from the text.Bible Character: PeterThe Galilean fisherman who confessed Jesus as the Christ, denied him three times on the night he was betrayed, was restored by the risen Lord, and preached at Pentecost.Bible Character: AndrewPeter's brother, first a disciple of John the Baptist, who brought his brother to Jesus, and later the boy with the loaves and the Greeks who wanted to see him.Bible Character: JesusThe Son of God, born of Mary in Bethlehem, who preached the kingdom of God, was crucified for our sins according to the Scriptures, and was raised on the third day.Bible Character: PaulThe Pharisee who persecuted the church until the risen Jesus stopped him on the Damascus road, and who became his apostle to the Gentiles, travelling the Roman world and writing many of the New Testament letters.On the map: BethsaidaFind it in the Lands of the Bible, with the verses that place it there.On the map: CapernaumFind it in the Lands of the Bible, with the verses that place it there.On the map: JerusalemFind it in the Lands of the Bible, with the verses that place it there.