Peter: the Apostle, the Church Leader, the Epistle Writer.
The Apostle Peter (also mentioned in the Holy Script as Saint Peter, Cephas or Simon Peter) was one of the 12 Saint Christian Apostles and is known for being the early Church leader. Simon Peter is often named the "the greatest Apostle" or "the Apostle of the Apostles", and considered to be the first Pope of the Christian Church. By the ancient churches he was viewed as the greatest Christian Saint.
He was among the earliest Christians and adherents of Christ. Being the sincere and devoted disciple, who even was a friend of the God`s Son, the Apostle Peter was depicted in the Bible as a mainstay of the Christian church (Galatians 2:9). He was genuine and decisive and the God who decided him to play such a big role helped him to become whom he should be.
Simon was born in the town of Bethsaida (John 1:44) and for many years lived in the town of Capernaum (Mark 1:29). He had a wife (1 Corinthians 9:5), and had a gainful fishing trade (Luke 5:10). He met Christ with the help of his brother and after meeting with Him, Simon was given a new name of Cephas (in the Aramaic language) or Peter (in the Greek language), literally meaning “rock” (John 1:40-42). After seeing a miraculous catch of fish (Luke 5:1-7) and Peter decided to follow Christ.
During next several years, Peter was the disciple of Christ and the advocate of the Apostles (Matthew 15:15, 18:21, 19:27; Mark 11:21; Luke 8:45, 12:41; John 6:68, 13:6-9, 36). He also was among closest disciples, as well as James and John. They were all present when Christ did miracles, as, for example, raising Jairus` daughter (Mark 5:37), transforming on the mountain (Matthew 17:1) and others.
Jesus promised Peter to become instrumental in the process of establishing Christian Church and after resurrection He said that Peter was one whom it was necessary to tell good news (Mark 16:7). And, apart from that, Christ had a specific forgiving for Peter (John 21:6, John 15-17).
In the first 12 chapters of Acts, Peter is clearly the leader of the church, the first preacher, the first apologist and the first healer.
♦ We observe him presiding over the appointment of Matthias (Acts, Chapter 1).
♦ He explains to the crowd the mystery of the Pentecost event and gives the first sermon (Acts, Chapter 2).
♦ He performs the first healing in the same manner as Christ (Acts, Chapter 3).
♦ Peter explains his and John`s actions, when they are seized, while John remains silent (Acts, Chapter 4).
♦ Peter speaks when he and John are confronted by Simon (Acts, Chapter 8).
♦ Peter heals Tabitha and Aeneas (Acts, Chapter 9).
♦ Peter is the first to reach out to the Gentiles (Acts, Chapter 10).
In their book Saint Peter: The Underestimated Apostle (2010) Martin Hengel, Thomas Trapp highlight the overarching importance of Peter for the early church during the entire time of the first three generations. They state that Peter`s functions as the ruling head of disciples and in the growing church were extremely important. He was conveying the traditions about Jesus and, by means of his confession that Christ is the Messiah and the God`s Son, he shows himself to be in a unique position as one who receives a revelation from the heavenly Father (Hengel et al.14).
Peter also appears as `the Rock`, that is, as the foundation upon which the Resurrected One will build his community for the end times. Peter is identified not only as “the first of the apostles,” “the first one to whom the Father revealed the Son,” and “the person who blessed the Jesus” as well as the one “who was determined to be the foundation stone of the church” and who “thus, from Jesus himself received the name Peter.” Peter is viewed to be `the most beloved of Christ`s disciples, standing closer to Him than did others” (Hengel et al. 15).
In his book The life of Peter the apostle (1836) William Andrus Alcott states that the history of Peter is one of the most interesting in the whole Bible. Peter was a man of feelings as well as passions; in his manners and habits he also perfectly simple and childlike. According to evidence Alcott examined, Peter was, the kind and faithful friend as well as one of the truest disciples of Jesus. Alcott states that some people cannot think of him without very great horror (Alcott 9).
In his book Simon Peter in Scripture and Memory: The New Testament Apostle in the Early Church (2012) Markus Bockmuehl stated that after studying the Bible one can assume that Peter was present on all the occasions when only a small inner circle of disciples was gathered, including episodes like the raising of Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5:37//Luke 8:51), the transfiguration (Mark 9:2-10//Matt. 17:1— 8//Luke 9:28-36), the eschatological discourse in Mark (Mark 13:3), and the agony in the garden (Mark 14:33-36//Matt. 26:37-39; cf. Luke 22:41-44), which shows that he was really important to Jesus. Bockmuehl also states that Peter was the only disciple whom Jesus addresses by name in all four Gospels. According to Luke 22:32, he is also the only individual Jesus is said to pray for—though, of course, in John 17 Jesus prays for all the disciples (just as in Luke 11 he also teaches them to pray). Peter evidently operates as a kind of spokesman for the disciples and he now takes on his title as a proper name (Bockmuehl).
Works Cited
Hengel, M., Trapp, T. Saint Peter: The Underestimated Apostle. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2010. Print.
Alcott, W. A. The life of Peter the apostle. Massachusetts Sabbath School Society, 1836. Print.
Bockmuehl, M. Simon Peter in Scripture and Memory: The New Testament Apostle in the Early Church. Baker Books, 2012. Print.
