Peter

A Fisherman of Galilee

Peter’s name was Simon. He was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, and he and his brother Andrew were “casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen” (Matt 4:18). Andrew brought him to Jesus, and “Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas’ (which is by interpretation, Peter)” (John 1:42).

One day Jesus taught the crowds from Simon’s boat and then told him to put out into the deep water and let down the nets. They caught a great many fish, and Simon “fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord’” (Luke 5:8). Jesus said to him, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive” (Luke 5:10). “When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything, and followed him” (Luke 5:11).

One of the Twelve

In the list of the twelve apostles, “The first, Simon, who is called Peter” (Matt 10:2).

One night the disciples saw Jesus walking on the sea. Peter said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the waters” (Matt 14:28). He got out of the boat and walked on the water, “But when he saw that the wind was strong, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’” (Matt 14:30). “Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him” (Matt 14:31).

When many turned away from Jesus, Peter said, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

You Are the Christ

At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples who he was. Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:16). Jesus said, “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18).

When Jesus went on to speak of his suffering, death and rising on the third day, Peter “took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘Far be it from you, Lord!’” (Matt 16:22). Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me” (Matt 16:23).

Later, on the mountain, Peter saw Jesus transfigured, with Moses and Elijah talking with him, and Peter said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here” (Matt 17:4).

That Night

On the last evening, when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, Peter first said, “You will never wash my feet!” and then asked to be washed not only on his feet but on his hands and head as well (John 13:8–9). Peter said, “I will lay down my life for you” (John 13:37). Jesus told him, “but I prayed for you, that your faith wouldn’t fail” (Luke 22:32).

In Gethsemane, Jesus came back, found the disciples sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you watch one hour?” (Mark 14:37). When men came to arrest Jesus, “Simon Peter therefore, having a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear” (John 18:10). Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into its sheath” (John 18:11).

That night, in the high priest’s courtyard, Peter said three times that he did not know Jesus (Luke 22:54–60). The rooster crowed. “The Lord turned and looked at Peter” (Luke 22:61). “He went out, and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62).

After the Resurrection

On the morning of the resurrection, the young man at the tomb told the women, “But go, tell his disciples and Peter” (Mark 16:7). Peter “got up and ran to the tomb” (Luke 24:12). The disciples later said, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” (Luke 24:34); Paul also wrote that the Lord “appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve” (1 Cor 15:5).

By the Sea of Tiberias, Jesus asked him three times whether he loved him (John 21:15–17). The third time, “Peter was grieved because he asked him the third time, ‘Do you have affection for me?’ He said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything. You know that I have affection for you’” (John 21:17). Jesus said, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). Jesus also spoke of what lay ahead for him, and Scripture says, “Now he said this, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God” (John 21:19).

Jerusalem

After Jesus ascended, “Peter stood up in the middle of the disciples” (Acts 1:15). On the day of Pentecost, “Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and spoke out to them” (Acts 2:14), and said, “God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). “There were added that day about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41).

At the temple gate he said to a man lame from birth, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give you” (Acts 3:6). When the council “saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Peter said, “we can’t help telling the things which we saw and heard” (Acts 4:20), and, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

Cornelius’s House

In Joppa, Peter saw a vision and heard a voice telling him to eat what was unclean. He said, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean” (Acts 10:14). Later, in the house of the Gentile Cornelius, he said, “Truly I perceive that God doesn’t show favoritism” (Acts 10:34). Back in Jerusalem some argued with him; after hearing him, they said, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life!” (Acts 11:18).

Prison and Council

Herod put Peter in prison, “but constant prayer was made by the assembly to God for him” (Acts 12:5). In the night an angel of the Lord woke him, and “His chains fell off his hands” (Acts 12:7).

At the council in Jerusalem, Peter said, “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are” (Acts 15:11).

Antioch

Later Peter came to Antioch. Paul wrote, “I resisted him to his face, because he stood condemned” (Gal 2:11). The reason: “For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision” (Gal 2:12). Scripture records this as it happened.

The Letters

First Peter opens, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 1:1), and in it he calls himself “a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ” (1 Pet 5:1). Second Peter opens with the name “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 1:1), and says, “knowing that the putting off of my tent comes swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me” (2 Pet 1:14).

Scripture does not record how Peter died.