Simon Peter

In our last session we looked at the twelve apostles.

We learned that they were ordinary men just like us, called and trained to fulfill the mission of taking the Gospel to the world. We know they had faults and shortcomings but through the power of the Holy Spirit and time spent with Jesus became the founders of the church.

Handout:

If we were to search the Gospels we would find 4 lists naming the twelve apostles in the New Testament.

These are found in

·       Matthew 10:2-4,

·       Mark 3:16-19,

·       Luke 6:13-16,

·       Acts 1:13.

We must remember of course that Luke wrote both the book of Luke and Acts, so we should expect to find those lists in the same order.

Take a quick look at the lists, do you see a discrepancy between Luke and Acts? Why is that?

Because Judas wasn't around in the book of Acts. He went out and hung himself after he betrayed Jesus.

In all four accounts the Apostles can be divided into three distinct groups. In each group the apostles are ranked in order of importance. If you take a look at the handout you will see that the first name it all for lists is Peter.

Peter stands out as the leader and spokesman for all twelve. Notice that Peter heads the group that always includes Andrew, James, and John.

Group 2 always lists Phillip first, and always includes Bartholomew, Matthew, and Thomas.

Groups 3 is always led by James the son of Alpheaus, and includes Simon the Zealot, Judas the son of James (called Thaddeus in Mark and Lebbaeus whose surname was Thaddeus in Matthew) and finally Judas Iscariot. I want to point out that immediately following Judas's name in the Gospels there is some remark identifying him as a traitor.

The three groups always appear in the same order. First Peter's group, then Phillip's group, then James's group. This arrangement lists the apostles in descending order based on their level of intimacy with Jesus.

Among the twelve, Peter James and John form Jesus’ inner circle. They are with Jesus at all the major events in his ministry: on the mount of Transfiguration, and in the garden of Gethsemane.

Group 2 is mentioned in the Gospels a little less often. Groups 3 is rarely mentioned at all.

Who is the only member we know much about in groups 3?  Judas Iscariot.

Why? Only because he is the one who betrays Jesus.

Why do you think Jesus had different relationships with the 12? Why wouldn't he have an intimate relationship with all twelve apostles?

·       Think about it, how many friends do you have?

·       How many intimate friends do you have?

·       Are there people in your circle of friends whom you can tell certain things to and others you cannot?

·       Are there people you would not trust with intimate details of your personal life?

Scripture tells us that Jesus was a man like us in every way. They're just are certain people you can't share your deepest desires and secrets with. They just wouldn't get it, or they might I expressed a negativity attitude which would lead you to reconsider your dreams and visions.

Back to group 1: Peter, Andrew, James, and John were tied together by common denominator's.

·       They were all fishermen.

·       They were two sets of brothers.

·       They came from the same community.

·       And were probably friends for a very longtime.

By contrast the others don't really have much in common.

Today were going to spend some time looking at Simon Peter. In this study we will examine who Peter was, and what made him a great leader. Ready?

Simon was a very common name in Jesus day. In fact the gospel lists at least seven Simon's.

·       Among the twelve there were actually 2 named Simon -- Simon Peter and Simon the Zealot.

·       Jesus have a brother name Simon,

·       Judas Iscariot's father was Simon,

·       Jesus had a meal at the home of a man in Bethany name Simon the leper,

·       another Simon who was a Pharisee hosted a dinner for Jesus - this is were the woman came washed Jesus feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and anointed them with expensive perfume,

·       another Simon was forced to help Jesus carry his cross - Simon of Cyrene.

Simon Peter's full name was Simon-Bar-Jonah. That is translated Simon, son of Jonah. Jonah is an alternate form of the name John. So Simon-bar-Jonah is actually Simon son of John.

Jesus gave Simon a second name.

Turn with me to Luke 6:13 let's look at the list of apostles:

13When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:

14Simon (whom he also named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,

15Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot,

16Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Notice that it says "Simon, whom he also named Peter". Jesus didn't just give him a new name, he gave him an also name - or a second name. So sometimes he is called Simon, other times he is called Peter, and still other times he's called Simon Peter.

In this passage Jesus gives him a sort of nickname. It means "rock". The Greek word is petros, which is “a piece of the rock or a stone”. The Aramaic version is Cephas, which is also translated as “a stone”.

I want you to note that this happened the very first time Simon met Jesus.

John 1:41-42

41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ).

42And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter).

From then on "rock" was his nickname.

Let's take a little rabbit trail here to illustrate the point.

·       How many of you have nicknames?

·       Anybody like to share with their nickname is?

·       Where did you get their nickname?

·       And who gave it to you?

My mother tells the story of my father wanting boys and getting girls. To that end he nicknamed his daughters Jr. and Moose. Junior, because he expected his first born to be just like him and Moose because he expected his daughters to be able to do anything a man could do. Junior didn't stick. Moose did throughout my father's lifetime.

Back to Simon Peter: Why then if Jesus said that Simon should be called Cephas or Peter, do we find Jesus still calling him Simon? Well just like in my example earlier, Moose denoted the character trait of strength my father wanted for his baby girl. When she pleased him, she was Moose. When she was in trouble she became Lenore Josephine Bernadette.

When you see Jesus referred to Peter as Simon that should be a signal to you that he is in trouble and most likely is about to be rebuked.

by nature Simon was a brash, impetuous, undependable person. He made promises he couldn't follow through with. He would launch wholeheartedly into something and then bail out before it got finished.

Jesus changed his name as a reminder of who Peter could be. So when he called him Simon it was a reminder that he was acting like his old self and when he called him Rock he's affirming him for acting like he ought to.

Now we know that the Bible is the inspired word of God, but this is really pretty amazing. When the evangelists use the term Simon it's either in one of two ways:

1.      secular: Simons house, Simon's mother-in-law, Simon's boat.

2.      when Simon is doing something that is worldly: an example of this is the passage that we looked into in-depth the last time, after Jesus preached in Simon's boat he asked him to launch out into the deep and cast his nets?

Turn with me to Luke 5:5, can somebody read that?

5Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."

Who answered him? Simon answered him. Not strong, convinced Jesus is the Messiah, Peter. But skeptical, tired, and I'm a professional fishermen, Simon.

Now jump down to verse eight. Continue reading please,

8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"

Who said this? Simon Peter - a man in transition, a man recognizing the miracle, a man who knows he's in the presence of God and isn't quite sure what to do.

Let's look at a couple more examples,

Luke 22: we’re at the Last Supper, Jesus has just told the apostles that is going to be betrayed. This causes them to argue among themselves and led to a discussion about who was the greatest of all the apostles.

But not Peter, remember he's the group leader he's more concerned about who is going to betray Jesus.

Someone read vs. 31-34, and I want you to pay attention to When Jesus uses the names Simon and Peter.

31"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

33But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."

34Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."

Now how many times did he say Simon? In the Greek language when you repeat a word it’s for emphasis. We might underline it today or put it in bold letters. In this instance when Jesus calls him Simon he's reminding him that he's human, that there's still a lot of his old self in him.

Then in verse 33 we hear him answer and Jesus to respond in verse 34,

“I tell you Peter...”

Jesus is addressing the new and improved Peter, the man Jesus wanted him to be.

Yet later in the garden of Gethsemane Jesus goes off to pray and comes back and find his inner circle fast asleep and says,

"Simon are you sleeping? Could do not watched one hour?"

I would think after three years of Jesus talking to him this way, alternating between names, Peter must've cringed every time Jesus said "Simon".

One exception in the Gospels is John's use of Peter's name. John refers to him 15 times as Simon Peter probably because he knew the man for a long time and saw both sides of him.

It's also interesting how Peter refers to himself. Turn with me to 2 Peter 1:1, this should give us some insight into Peter's character.

1Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

So what kind of man was Peter?

Simon Peter was a fishermen by trade. He and his brother Andrew would have inherited their father's fishing business in Capernaum. They caught fish on the Sea of Galilee.

There are three types of fish in the sea.

1.  Small fish like those in the story of the five loaves and two fish are sardines. Not the type we see in cans but fresh fish about four to five inches long. The sardines and flatbread were the common meal.

2.  Barbels that were kind of carp; a bony fish with pouches on the sides of their mouths which can weigh up to about 15 pounds. This is probably the fish that Peter caught with the coin and its mouth.       

3.  Most common were a commercial finish called a musht. These range from 6 inches to 1.5 feet and are still served in restaurants near the Sea of Galilee today, they are known as St. Peter's fish.

We know from earlier studies and that Simon and Andrew spent their nights fishing. Scripture also tells us that Simon Peter had a wife because Jesus healed his mother-in-law. And 1 Cor. 9:5 tells us that Peter took his wife on his Apostolic Mission. We don't know if they had any children.

Before we look at the making of Peter the Leader, one more Greek lesson.

Matthew 10:2

2These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John;

Do you see where it says "first, Peter" while the Greek word for first there is protos. This is not the first in a list, but the first in importance. If we assigned a ranked to the apostles we might say Peter was the general, or the first in charge. The Peter is so important that his name is mentioned more than anyone else in the Gospels except Jesus.

What made Peter leadership material?

Peter had certain natural leadership qualities.

1.  Knowledge is power. People who don't care what's going on are not leadership material.

Peter was inquisitive, he asked a lot of questions.

·       It was Peter who asked the Lord to explain difficult sayings. Peter was the one who wanted to know how many times he had to forgive his brother?

·       Peter wanted to know what happened to the fig tree?

·       Peter wanted more understanding.

2.  Peter had initiative. He was the kind of person who made things happen.

·       When Jesus asked question to the group, it was Peter who answered.

·       Peter was bold and decisive. He was the one who said, "you are the Christ the son of the living God".

·       Now sometimes Peter put his foot in his mouth, but he was always willing to take a chance.

You can't get very far as a leader, if you're not willing to take a chance.

Let's take a look at an example of Peter taking a big risk.

Turn to John 18: we're in the garden Gethsemane and Judas is about to betray Jesus.

Let's start at verse 3

3So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

Now a detachment of soldiers for a generally consists of 600 soldiers. How many of those actually came into the garden is uncertain, but we can be sure that hundreds were within shouting range. Remember the accusations that the high priests had made cited Jesus as someone who would overthrow the government and establish his own kingdom.

Jump down to verse 10

10Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.)

11Jesus commanded Peter, "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?"

We can speculate that Peter actually wanted to take the man's head off. But we need to remember that he was a fishermen and not a swordsman. The servant ducked and his ear was severed. I don’t know what Peter was thinking, other than he had to do something. After all there were hundreds of trained Roman soldiers standing by. Peter obviously hadn’t calculated the big picture.

3. The third elements in making the leader is involvement. True leaders are always in the middle of the action. Remember when Jesus came to the apostles in the middle of the lake by walking on the water?

What did Peter do?

First he questioned, and then he took action he got out of the boat and walked on the water!

We know that when he took its guys off of Jesus and looked at the see he began to sink. We have to give him credit for having the faith to get out of the boat in the first place.

One more example of Peter's determination to remain involved can be seen in the high priest's courtyard. We know that this is the place where Peter denied Jesus three times what we fail to recognize in this passage is that Peter is one of two apostles who followed Jesus. One had betrayed him and 9 were in hiding. The one who accompanied Peter remained in the shadows, only Peter was close enough for Jesus to turn and looked him in the eyes when the rooster crowed. Peter was at the heart of the action.

Now natural ability can only take you so far. I believe had a the Lord not restrained Peter in the garden, the Roman soldiers might have killed him or at the very least throw him into jail.

Peter needed to learn to submit to the Lord's control before he could be a godly leader. His personality was marked by high highs and low lows. Peter needed to learn consistency. Unfortunately for Peter, those lessons came painfully.

Turn with me to Matthew 16:15-18

15"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.

18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it,

19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Peter looks pretty good here. I will bet that he was flying high emotionally. Now skipped down to verses 21-23

21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"

23Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Wow! From being handed the keys of the kingdom to be accused of being possessed by Satan all within minutes! Peter learned that Satan could fill his mouth just as easily as the Lord had. If he wasn't careful and then focus on the things of God he could be used by the enemy.

We must remember to that not all of Peter's learning experiences were painful. In fact some were downright glorious. Peter was there and saw Jesus on the Mount of transfiguration. I would call that won an awesome freebie!

When we combine natural talent with transforming life-experience we develop character. Peter's character was molded and shaped by what he had witnessed in Jesus.    His life experiences sharpened his leadership ability. The character qualities Peter developed through his intimate relationship with Jesus made him a great leader.

What were those qualities?

1.  Submission. A true leader doesn't just demand submission, he submits to the Lord and those in authority over him.

Matthew 17:24-27

24After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, "Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?"

25"Yes, he does," he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. "What do you think, Simon?" he asked. "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes--from their own sons or from others?"

26"From others," Peter answered.

27"Then the sons are exempt," Jesus said to him. "But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."

Let me give you a little background here, the annual 2 drachma or 1/2 sheckle tax was required from each person twenty years or older. It wasn't paid to Rome, it went for the upkeep of the temple. 2 drachma was equivalent to 2 day's pay, so we're not talking about a little bit of money here.

As the Son of God, Jesus had heavenly authority not to pay the tax. However, if he refused, he would be teaching his apostle that he was above earthly law. Jesus, in providing the fish with the coin, submit to the authority of the synagogue and pay the tax for both men.

Did Peter learn submission? Turn to 1 Peter 2:13-17

13Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority,

14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.

15For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.

16Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.

17Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

3.      A second character quality Peter learned was restraint. Natural leaders are not born with restraint. have you ever seen a ballplayer get called out and then jump in the umpires face and start yelling at him? Or hockey player get checked and turnaround and take a swing at his opponent?

Peter was hotheaded and could be violent. We've already looked at the incidence where he cut off the servants ear. Jesus rebuked him often for acting too hastily.

Did Peter learned restraint? 1 Peter 2:21-23

21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

22"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."

23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

3.  the third character quality Peter learned was humility. Leaders are often tempted by the sin of pride. Again we've already looked at the passage of Peter denying Jesus three times after he publicly swore he would go with an even to death. We know how humiliated he felt when Jesus looked at him and a cock crowed.

Did Peter learn humility? 1 Peter 5: 5-6

5Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

4.  The fourth character quality Peter learned was love. Leaders are usually task oriented rather than people oriented. The apostles needed to learn that true leadership was rooted and grounded in service to others.

Jesus and his apostles celebrated the Passover in a rented room. The observance was an extended meal lasting as long as 4-5 hours. People in that day usually reclined at low tables rather than sitting upright in chairs, that meant one person's head would be next to a person's feet. We know the roads were not paved and people were sandals. The custom was to have a servant wash the guests feet. This was the lowliest of all jobs. It was an affront to his guests for a host to neglected to arrange for his guests feet to be washed. Apparently on this busy night, in a rented room no provision had been made. The apostles were prepared to overlook this breach of etiquette rather than volunteering to do the task themselves.

We know what happens next. Jesus washes the apostles feet right in the middle of an argument over who was the greatest in the kingdom.

What did Peter do?

Turn to John 13:6-9

6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"

7Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

8"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." And Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."

9"Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"

Jesus wasn't talking about foot washing. He was speaking about cleansing from their sins. And good old Peter thought he was already fully justified.

Later that evening, after Judas left Jesus said to the others

"a new commandment I give to you that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love from one another."

Jesus demonstrated by washing bare feet that he love through humble service.

Did Peter learn the love lesson?

1 Peter 4:8

 8Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

In Greek, the word used for deeply or fervent as in the KJV literally means  "stretched to the limit" in other words Peter is urging us to love to with an agape love.

5.  The fifth character trait Peter learned was compassion. Despite his denial of Jesus three times, Jesus never stopped loving Peter. we've looked at the account resurrection in detail in previous teachings. We know that the angel at the tomb told the woman to tell the disciples and especially Peter that Jesus was waiting for them.

Jesus had already forgiven Peter, but his compassion for him is what motivated his desire to restore fellowship with him. By experiencing the compassion of Christ, Peter could strengthen the others when they hit the lowest of lows.

Did Peter learned compassion?

1 Peter 5: 8-10

8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

6.  Finally the last character trait Peter learned was courage. Not the false kind of courage that caused him to swing has sword at the servant in the garden but a mature, settled willingness to suffer for Christ sake.

We know that the price of preaching for Peter would be persecution, or progression, torture, and ultimately martyrdom.

In Acts 4 Peter and John are brought before the Sanhedrin and instructed not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. Peter's response was that he "had to obey God." Peter was secure in Christ and he knew it.

·       He preached on Pentacost and 3000 people were saved.

·       He was so powerful that people were healed when his shadow fell on them.

·       He raised Dorcas from the dead.

·       He introduced the gospel to the Gentiles.

·       And he wrote 2 Epistles teaching the very lessons he had learned from the Lord about character.

Was Peter perfect?

No, a remnant of Simon remained with him. In Galatians 2 Paul relates an incident which Peter compromised by stopping to fellowship with uncircumcised believers.

Paul rebuked Peter in front to everyone in Peter responded by humbling himself and defending Paul's ministry. They should encourage us, Peter screwed up, excepted correction, repented, and went on.

How did Peter's life end?

Jesus told Peter that he would die as a martyr but Scripture doesn't record his death. Early church records indicate that Peter was crucified. Citing the testimony of the early church historian Clement, it says that before he was crucified Peter was forced to watch the crucifixion of his wife. When it was Peter's turn to die he pleaded to be crucified upside down because he wasn't worthy to die as the Lord had died. he was nailed to the cross head downward.

Peter's life can be summed up in the final words of his second epistle. 2 Peter 3:18

18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever!

That’s exactly what Peter did, he became the rock.