001. Peter I - New Testament Account
Peter's life story relies on the New Testament, since there are few other first-century accounts of his life and death.
Background
According to the Gospel of John, Peter was born in Bethsaida (John 1:44). His father's name is given as 'Jonah' (John 1:42, Matthew 16:17)—although some manuscripts of John give his father's name as John. The synoptic gospels all recount how Peter's mother-in-law was healed by Jesus at their home in Capernaum (Matthew 8:14–17); Mark 1:29–31; Luke 4:38)—implying that Peter was married.
According to the synoptic gospels, before becoming a disciple of Jesus, Simon (that is, Peter whose name was in fact originally Simon) was a fisherman along with his brother Andrew. The Gospel of John also depicts Peter fishing, but only after the resurrection in the story of the Catch of 153 fish.
Calling by Jesus
Matthew and Mark report that while fishing in the Lake of Gennesaret, Simon and his brother Andrew were called by Jesus to be his followers, with the words, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:18–19; Mark 1:16–17).
In Luke's account Simon is the owner of a boat that Jesus uses to preach to the multitudes who were pressing on him at the shore of Lake Gennesaret (Luke 5:3). Jesus then amazes Simon and his companions James and John (Andrew is not mentioned) by telling them to lower their nets, whereupon they catch a huge number of fish. Immediately after this, they follow him (Luke 5:4–11).
The Gospel of John gives a slightly different account (John 1:35–42). Andrew, we are told, was originally a disciple of John the Baptist. Along with one other disciple, Andrew heard John the Baptist describe Jesus as the "Lamb of God," whereupon he followed Jesus. He then went and fetched his brother Simon, said, "We have found the Messiah," and brought him to Jesus. Jesus then gave Simon the name "Cephas," meaning 'rock', in Aramaic.
Position among the apostles
Peter is frequently mentioned in the Gospels as forming with James the Elder and John a special group within the Twelve Apostles, present at incidents, such as the Transfiguration of Jesus, that the others were not party to.
Peter is also often depicted in the Gospels as spokesman of all the apostles, and as one to whom Jesus gave special authority. In contrast, Jewish Christians are said to have argued that James the Just was the leader of the group.
Washing of feet
According to John, Peter initially refused to allow Jesus to wash his feet. When Jesus responded "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me," Peter replied "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head" (John 13:7–9).
Walking on water
According to the Gospel of Matthew, Peter (alone out of all the disciples) was able to walk on water after seeing Jesus do the same thing (Matthew 14:22–32). (Mark and John also mention Jesus walking on water, but do not mention Peter doing so).
Arrest of Jesus
According to John, Peter cut off the ear of a servant of the high priest with a sword at the time of the arrest of Jesus.(John 18:10) John names the servant as Malchus. The synoptic gospels also mention this incident, but do not specifically identify Peter as the swordsman or Malchus as the victim. According to Matthew, Luke and John, Jesus rebuked this act of violence, Luke adding the detail that Jesus touched the ear and healed it.
Denial of Jesus
All four canonical gospels recount that, during the Last Supper, Jesus foretold that Peter would deny association with him three times that same night. In Matthew's account, this is reported as:
and that Peter did in fact do so, while Jesus was on trial before the high priest. The three Synoptics describe the three denials as follows:
1. A denial when a female servant of the high priest spots Simon Peter, saying that he had been with Jesus.
2. A denial when Simon Peter had gone out to the gateway, away from the firelight, but the same servant girl or another told the bystanders he was a follower of Jesus.
3. A denial came when recognition of Peter as a Galilean was taken as proof that he was indeed a disciple of Jesus. Matthew adds that it was his accent that gave him away as coming from Galilee. Luke deviates slightly from this by stating that, rather than a crowd accusing Simon Peter, it was a third individual.
The Gospel of John places the second denial while Peter was still warming himself at the fire, and gives as the occasion of the third denial a claim by someone to have seen him in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested. Since Peter does not reappear in Matthew's gospel after his denial of Jesus, an extremely small number of scholars have suggested that Matthew viewed Peter as an apostate, and was actually criticising Peter and the groups that looked to him as founder. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus prediction of Peter's denial is coupled with a prediction that all the apostles ("you," plural) would be "sifted like wheat," but that it would be Peter's task ("you," singular), when he had turned again, to strengthen his brethren.
Empty tomb
In John's gospel, Peter is the first person to enter the empty tomb, although the women and the beloved disciple see it before him (John 20:1–9). In Luke's account, the women's report of the empty tomb is dismissed by the apostles and Peter is the only one who goes to check for himself. After seeing the graveclothes he goes home, apparently without informing the other disciples (Luke 24:1–12).
Resurrection appearances
Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians contains a list of resurrection appearances of Jesus, the first of which is an appearance to "Cephas" (Peter). An appearance to "Simon" is also reported in Luke 24:34. In the final chapter of the Gospel of John, Peter, in one of the resurrection appearances of Jesus, three times affirmed his love for Jesus, balancing his threefold denial, and Jesus reconfirmed Peter's position (John 21:15–17). Almost all Christians consider the final chapter of the Gospel of John to be canonical, though some scholars hypothesize that it was added later to bolster Peter's status.
Role in the early church
The author of the Acts of the Apostles portrays Peter as an extremely important figure within the early Christian community, with Peter delivering a significant speech during Pentecost. According to the same book, Peter took the lead in selecting a replacement for Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:15). He was twice arraigned, with John, before the Sanhedrin and directly defied them (Acts 4:7–22, Acts 5:18–42). He undertook a missionary journey to Lydda, Joppa and Caesarea (Acts 9:32–10:2), becoming instrumental in the decision to evangelise the Gentiles (Acts 10). He was present at the Council of Jerusalem, where Paul further argued the case for accepting Gentiles into the Christian community without circumcision.
About halfway through, the Acts of the Apostles turns its attention away from Peter and to the activities of Paul, and the Bible is fairly silent on what occurred to Peter afterwards. A fleeting mention of Peter being in Antioch is made in the Epistle to the Galatians (Galatians 2:11) where Paul confronted him, and historians have furnished other evidence of Peter's sojourn in Antioch. Subsequent tradition held that Peter had been the first Patriarch of Antioch. Some scholars also interpret Paul's brief mention of Peter in 1 Corinthians as evidence that Peter had visited Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:12). 1 Peter 5:13 may imply that he wrote that epistle in Babylon, Egypt, Rome or Jerusalem.
Death
Verses 18-19 in the last chapter of the Gospel of John have been interpreted as referring to Peter's martyrdom by crucifixion, though without reference to its location: "'…when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and take you where you do not want to go.' Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God" (John 21:18–19).
Other Sections
Introduction
Accounts Outside the New Testament
Religious Interpretations
Writings
Notes and Links
According to the Gospel of John, Peter was born in Bethsaida (John 1:44). His father's name is given as 'Jonah' (John 1:42, Matthew 16:17)—although some manuscripts of John give his father's name as John. The synoptic gospels all recount how Peter's mother-in-law was healed by Jesus at their home in Capernaum (Matthew 8:14–17); Mark 1:29–31; Luke 4:38)—implying that Peter was married.
According to the synoptic gospels, before becoming a disciple of Jesus, Simon (that is, Peter whose name was in fact originally Simon) was a fisherman along with his brother Andrew. The Gospel of John also depicts Peter fishing, but only after the resurrection in the story of the Catch of 153 fish.
Matthew and Mark report that while fishing in the Lake of Gennesaret, Simon and his brother Andrew were called by Jesus to be his followers, with the words, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:18–19; Mark 1:16–17).
In Luke's account Simon is the owner of a boat that Jesus uses to preach to the multitudes who were pressing on him at the shore of Lake Gennesaret (Luke 5:3). Jesus then amazes Simon and his companions James and John (Andrew is not mentioned) by telling them to lower their nets, whereupon they catch a huge number of fish. Immediately after this, they follow him (Luke 5:4–11).
The Gospel of John gives a slightly different account (John 1:35–42). Andrew, we are told, was originally a disciple of John the Baptist. Along with one other disciple, Andrew heard John the Baptist describe Jesus as the "Lamb of God," whereupon he followed Jesus. He then went and fetched his brother Simon, said, "We have found the Messiah," and brought him to Jesus. Jesus then gave Simon the name "Cephas," meaning 'rock', in Aramaic.
Peter is frequently mentioned in the Gospels as forming with James the Elder and John a special group within the Twelve Apostles, present at incidents, such as the Transfiguration of Jesus, that the others were not party to.
Peter is also often depicted in the Gospels as spokesman of all the apostles, and as one to whom Jesus gave special authority. In contrast, Jewish Christians are said to have argued that James the Just was the leader of the group.
According to John, Peter initially refused to allow Jesus to wash his feet. When Jesus responded "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me," Peter replied "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head" (John 13:7–9).
According to the Gospel of Matthew, Peter (alone out of all the disciples) was able to walk on water after seeing Jesus do the same thing (Matthew 14:22–32). (Mark and John also mention Jesus walking on water, but do not mention Peter doing so).
According to John, Peter cut off the ear of a servant of the high priest with a sword at the time of the arrest of Jesus.(John 18:10) John names the servant as Malchus. The synoptic gospels also mention this incident, but do not specifically identify Peter as the swordsman or Malchus as the victim. According to Matthew, Luke and John, Jesus rebuked this act of violence, Luke adding the detail that Jesus touched the ear and healed it.
All four canonical gospels recount that, during the Last Supper, Jesus foretold that Peter would deny association with him three times that same night. In Matthew's account, this is reported as:
Jesus said unto him, "Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice."
and that Peter did in fact do so, while Jesus was on trial before the high priest. The three Synoptics describe the three denials as follows:
1. A denial when a female servant of the high priest spots Simon Peter, saying that he had been with Jesus.
2. A denial when Simon Peter had gone out to the gateway, away from the firelight, but the same servant girl or another told the bystanders he was a follower of Jesus.
3. A denial came when recognition of Peter as a Galilean was taken as proof that he was indeed a disciple of Jesus. Matthew adds that it was his accent that gave him away as coming from Galilee. Luke deviates slightly from this by stating that, rather than a crowd accusing Simon Peter, it was a third individual.
The Gospel of John places the second denial while Peter was still warming himself at the fire, and gives as the occasion of the third denial a claim by someone to have seen him in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested. Since Peter does not reappear in Matthew's gospel after his denial of Jesus, an extremely small number of scholars have suggested that Matthew viewed Peter as an apostate, and was actually criticising Peter and the groups that looked to him as founder. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus prediction of Peter's denial is coupled with a prediction that all the apostles ("you," plural) would be "sifted like wheat," but that it would be Peter's task ("you," singular), when he had turned again, to strengthen his brethren.
In John's gospel, Peter is the first person to enter the empty tomb, although the women and the beloved disciple see it before him (John 20:1–9). In Luke's account, the women's report of the empty tomb is dismissed by the apostles and Peter is the only one who goes to check for himself. After seeing the graveclothes he goes home, apparently without informing the other disciples (Luke 24:1–12).
Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians contains a list of resurrection appearances of Jesus, the first of which is an appearance to "Cephas" (Peter). An appearance to "Simon" is also reported in Luke 24:34. In the final chapter of the Gospel of John, Peter, in one of the resurrection appearances of Jesus, three times affirmed his love for Jesus, balancing his threefold denial, and Jesus reconfirmed Peter's position (John 21:15–17). Almost all Christians consider the final chapter of the Gospel of John to be canonical, though some scholars hypothesize that it was added later to bolster Peter's status.
The author of the Acts of the Apostles portrays Peter as an extremely important figure within the early Christian community, with Peter delivering a significant speech during Pentecost. According to the same book, Peter took the lead in selecting a replacement for Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:15). He was twice arraigned, with John, before the Sanhedrin and directly defied them (Acts 4:7–22, Acts 5:18–42). He undertook a missionary journey to Lydda, Joppa and Caesarea (Acts 9:32–10:2), becoming instrumental in the decision to evangelise the Gentiles (Acts 10). He was present at the Council of Jerusalem, where Paul further argued the case for accepting Gentiles into the Christian community without circumcision.
About halfway through, the Acts of the Apostles turns its attention away from Peter and to the activities of Paul, and the Bible is fairly silent on what occurred to Peter afterwards. A fleeting mention of Peter being in Antioch is made in the Epistle to the Galatians (Galatians 2:11) where Paul confronted him, and historians have furnished other evidence of Peter's sojourn in Antioch. Subsequent tradition held that Peter had been the first Patriarch of Antioch. Some scholars also interpret Paul's brief mention of Peter in 1 Corinthians as evidence that Peter had visited Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:12). 1 Peter 5:13 may imply that he wrote that epistle in Babylon, Egypt, Rome or Jerusalem.
Verses 18-19 in the last chapter of the Gospel of John have been interpreted as referring to Peter's martyrdom by crucifixion, though without reference to its location: "'…when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and take you where you do not want to go.' Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God" (John 21:18–19).
Introduction
Accounts Outside the New Testament
Religious Interpretations
Writings
Notes and Links
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Saint Peter".
Labels: christianity, history, jesus, Papal, Peter I, Pope, religion, Roman Catholic, saint peter, Simon Peter
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