Who was Peter in the Bible?

The son of Jonas and one of the twelve apostles. His name was originally Simon, and apparently at his first interview with the Lord he received from Him the surname CEPHAS. This is an Aramaic word, the same as Peter in Greek, both signifying 'a stone.' John 1:42. (In Acts 10:5 he is called "Simon, whose surname is Peter.") The next notice of Peter is in Luke 5 when he was called to the apostleship. Overpowered at the draught of fishes, he exclaimed, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord;" but at the bidding of Christ he forsook all and followed Him. Matt. 4:18; Mark 1:16-17; Luke 5:3-11.

He had a sort of prominence among the apostles: when a few of them were selected for any special occasion, Peter was always one of them, and is named first. The three names 'Peter, James, and John' occur often together, still we do not read of Peter having any authority over the others: cf. Matt. 20:25-28. Peter was in character energetic and impulsive: he wanted to walk on the water to go to Christ, and his strong affection for the Lord led him to oppose when the Lord spoke of His coming sufferings, for which he was rebuked as presenting Satan's mind. His self-confidence led him into a path of temptation, in which he thrice denied his Lord. But the Lord had prayed for him that his faith should not fail, and his repentance was real and instant. He was fully restored by the Lord, who significantly demanded thrice if he loved Him, and then committed to him the care of His sheep and His lambs. John 21.

A brief review of the life and service of the Apostle Peter will be helpful in understanding his writings. He was born at Bethsaida in Galilee, from which Philip came also John 1:44, 45). His name was Simon (or Simeon, Acts 15:14) and his father's name was Jonas. He had a brother by name of Andrew, and the three, the father, Simon and Andrew were fishermen at Capernaum. There Simon Peter had his home, as he was a married man (Matthew 8:14; 1 Cor. 9:5). His brother Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist and when he pointed out the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God, Andrew followed Him. Andrew brought Peter to the Lord (John 1:35-43).

When the Lord beheld him He revealed His omniscience, for He said: "Thou art Simon the son of Jona, thou shalt be called Cephas," which is the Aramaic word for stone. When later Peter, in answer to the question "Whom say ye that I am?" said: "Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God," the Lord Jesus said to him, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:17-18). The Greek word petros means a small rock, or piece of a rock; the Greek for rock is petra, the word our Lord used when He designated the foundation of the Church. It is not Peter, but Christ Himself, who is the rock. In his Epistle Peter contradicts by the Spirit of God the miserable invention that he is the rock upon which the Church is built, as claimed by Rome and even by Protestant expositors. (See 1 Peter 2:4-8). The Gospel records, as well as the Epistle to the Galatians, give us a good description of his peculiar character. He was impulsive, forward and self confident, yet he was true, loving and faithful. Before he denied the Lord, the Lord Jesus announced Peter's great failure and assured His disciple of His prayer, when Satan would sift him as wheat. In connection with this our Lord gave him a commission. "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." His denial, his bitter repentance, his restoration at the lake of Tiberias, the still greater commission to shepherd the sheep and the lambs of the flock of God, are so well known, that we need not to enlarge on them.

A word or two may be first expended upon the actors in this striking scene. Peter had received a pre-eminent place amongst the twelve. To him the Father had revealed that Jesus was "the Christ, the Son of the living God," and to him the Lord had committed "the keys of the kingdom of heaven." Ardent in nature, a man of deep emotions, and consequently eager and impetuous, he was characterised by true affection and devotedness to his Lord and Master. But trusting his own heart, he was sifted by Satan, and fell into the awful sin of denying his Lord, as the Lord had forewarned him. Through the Lord's intercession His poor servant was rescued and finally restored; and in proof of his entire recovery the Lord committed to him, in the presence of other disciples, the care of His lambs and of His sheep. On the day of Pentecost, and onward till the call of Saul of Tarsus, Peter was the leading apostle, the prominent figure in the testimony of that day. Paul, as he himself has written, was "as one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God." Much the junior of Peter spiritually, and without the prestige attaching to one who had been a disciple when Christ was on earth, the companion of the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration, at the last supper, and in the garden of Gethsemane, it was a bold thing for Paul, and a thing demanding much courage and singleness of eye, to enter upon open conflict with Peter. What then was the cause of the conflict?

In this place, again (Mark 3:16), you get Simon's new name emphasised, and in all the Gospels it is so. His name always comes first on the list (see Matt. 10:2; Mark 3:16; Luke 6:14; John 21:2); not that he had any authority over his brethren, or was made a sort of primate, as Rome would fain teach us. It was his natural fervour, and warm-hearted impulsive earnestness, that put him always in the front rank. If there be a query, Peter most usually puts it; if it be a confession of who the Lord is, Peter is the spokesman. I grant you his very impulsiveness drew him ofttimes into danger, and ended in his denying his Lord at a later date; but still Peter's is a wonderful history of devotion to the Lord, and where he failed, the Lord, in infinite wisdom and faithfulness, tells us about it, and puts him too before us as another beacon light, lest our small barks should also be stranded on the selfsame rocks that damaged his.

A. Simon or Symeon (2 Peter 1:1) had the patronymic of Bar, that is, son of Jona or Jonas, (Matthew 16:17; John 20:15-17), and was given by the Lord the name of Kephas (Aramaic) or Petros (Greek) = Stone or Rockman (John 1:43, confirmed solemnly later in Matthew 16:18).

(1) Simon Peter. The name of this apostle is always placed first in the various lists of the twelve, and also when two or three or more are mentioned by name. Simon or Simeon (Symeon, Acts 15:14; 2 Peter 1:1) was the son of Jona or Jonas (John 1:42; John 21:15-17). Jonas, which is equivalent to John, is the Greek form of Jonah. And Bar-jona, or Bar-Jonah, means son of John (Matt. 16:17).

Simon received a new name from the Lord, signifying a stone or a rock. This name in the Aramaic, that is, the language usually spoken by the Lord, was Kephas, or, Cephas (John 1:42; 1 Cor. 1:12; Gal. 2:9), and in the Greek, Peter (Petros, Matt. 16:17). Peter, or Simon Peter, occurs most frequently by far in the New Testament. Besides in those references, made historically before his call and at his naming, Simon is used alone in the following passages: — (a) By the Lord (Matt, 17:25; Mark 14:37; Luke 22:31; John 21:15-17). (b) By the other apostles (Luke 24:34). (c) By James (Acts 15:14).

Perhaps it is not too much to say that of all the apostles of our Lord, Peter has been most prominently before the minds of men in Christendom from the beginning. With many, esteem for this devoted labourer has been suffered to run into the gravest superstition. Positions in the Church, and even in heaven, have been assigned to Peter in the minds of some, from the very idea of which he would have recoiled with trembling. But the career of so eminent a servant of the Lord Jesus cannot but be of the deepest interest to us all. His life story, moreover, contains within itself principles of the greatest possible value.

Peter, whose conversion is recorded in Luke 5; Chief of "the twelve," Matt. 10:2; Mark 3:16; Luke 6:14; martyred by crucifixion in Rome, A.D. 68 (?)

As Simon Bar-jona, a man among men, his character would be in many respects attractive. He valued their good opinion, and men are pleased with this. Outspoken and impulsive, of an ardent temperament, and at times very impetuous, we are startled by the contradictions of his course. Uncalculating as he was as to the results of his conduct, the flesh in him was not imperious and cruel, as in Saul of Tarsus; yet when conscience awoke, there was no difference: they alike judged themselves as sinners, though Saul might add — "of whom I am chief."

Furthermore, we learn something of the structure of the Church. It is to be built of living stones, Peter being viewed as one of the stones. On that eventful day when Andrew went forth and found his own brother Simon and "brought him to Jesus," the Lord announced that Simon should wear a new name, that he should be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, a stone. Christ as the Son of the living God was the Rock on which the Church is built; Peter was a stone, deriving his life from Christ, and destined to be built into this new Structure.