GETTING TO KNOW SIMON or Peter, or Cephas, or Stone Peter sometimes followed Jesus with all his heart. Other times he lived in the valleys of sin. Yet, Jesus chose him as the leader of the twelve. Among the very first disciples Jesus called to follow Him was Simon, Andrew s older brother. Jesus first called Andrew who went to find his brother and told him, We have found the Messiah and brought him to Jesus. (John 1:35-40) When Jesus first met Simon, the son of John (Simon bar Jonah Matt 16:17), He looked at him and said, You are Simon, the son of John. You shall be called Cephas (which means Peter). (John 1:42) The Greek word translated Peter is petros, meaning pebble or small stone, while the word rendered rock is petra, meaning big rock or huge boulder. Christ said He would build His church on the boulder, not on Peter the pebble. Christ is the Rock (1 Cor 10:4). He is also the chief cornerstone upon which the church is built (Eph 2:20). Simon was believed to be originally from Bethsaida (John 1:44). He journeyed into Gallilee where he was baptized. At one point, we find him living in Capernaum (Mark 1:29). He was a fisherman by trade (Luke 5:10). Fishermen at that time were gruff, unkempt, vile, shabbily dressed, and often used vulgar language. The fishermen of the first century were a man s man. They were full of vigor and had boisterous tempers. This is perhaps why James and his brother John were called the Sons of Thunder (Mark 3:17). Theirs was a rough life since fishing was a very physically demanding job. They must have been somewhat fearless too because some of the storms that came quickly upon the Sea of Galilee were fierce and furious. They often caught the fishermen by surprise and could easily capsize the 20 to 30 foot boats they used. 1
Simon recognized Jesus as the Messiah early on. Luke 5:1-8 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. And Simon answered, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Andrew and Simon Peter were the first disciples. It s interesting to note that whenever the 12 disciples are mentioned, Simon Peter is always the first one listed. This indicates he was a leader of leaders and entrusted with much by the Messiah. Yet, it s very evident in Scripture that Peter had many faults and shortcomings. Proof to us that God chose the weak to feed even the strong. After the resurrection, Jesus appeared first to Peter (Cephas), and then to the rest of the disciples. (1 Corinthians 15:4) Simon Peter was the earthly leader of the disciples which were also called apostles. Peter became the one to care for the flock when Jesus ascended. Even though Peter moved back and forth between his sinful character and the holy character he was trying to develop, Jesus still chose him. Jesus still used him. The call to holiness became huge to Peter as we ll learn in in our study. When we go back and forth between both our sinful nature and our desired holiness, the Holy Spirit calls us to repentance then freely works through us to serve in His Kingdom. 2
When we fall short of God s glory, we feel disqualified; we feel great shame. This is an excuse. If sinlessness were the criteria for serving God, then no human being would ever be qualified to serve in God s kingdom. As long as we have life on this earth; we will miss the mark again and again. If we say we have not sinned, we make him (God) a liar, and his Word / Truth is not in us. (1 John 1:10) Instead of using, I m human as an excuse to walk in the flesh, let us use I m saved as a reason to walk in the Spirit. As we go through 1 Peter, we re going to spend some time talking about submission. To effectively serve in God s Kingdom, Simon had to learn how to submit to the Lord and to those in authority over him. Though recognized as a Rabbi (which means Teacher), Jesus submitted to the authorities regarding the Temple Tax although Rabbis were officially exempt from paying it. Peter questioned whether it was right for Jesus to pay the Temple Tax. In essence, Jesus response was: I am more than willing to do so; I will submit to the authorities. So impressed by this, that Peter wrote in 1 Peter that we are to be bondservants to the Lord; we are to be willing to submit to every ordinance of man so they will be put to silence. (1 Peter 2:16) Peter instructs us to obey our authorities as long as the laws, rules and regulations don t go against God s Holy Word. Ultimately, this will keep us away from trouble and protect us so we can spend optimal time focusing and working on behalf of God s Kingdom. As long as their mandates or rules don t conflict with the Word of God. We are to submit to Christ first and then to our authorities. 3
We have a choice to obey the authorities in the land or not. if we don t obey, our lives will be consumed with fighting with them and, as you know, these fights are often futile. Instead, Peter said, obey them as long as the laws, rules and regulations don t go against God s holy Word. Obey them. Ultimately, that will keep them away from us so we can spend optimal time focusing and working inside of God s Kingdom. Restraint, self-control, discipline, moderation and reserve did not come naturally to Peter. Consider the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter didn t show self-restraint but lashed out, but THEN learned the purpose of God that Christ should die for the atonement of sins of all the people. Jesus said He came to die and He willingly surrendered to His accusers. Jesus, used this opportunity again to teach that we must be ready to die for the Kingdom of God. We re going to get rebuke in this world. There are people who are going to mock us, call us out, and even harm us because of our witness for Christ. Many will hate us as Christians. Jesus never asks us to suffer for the sake of suffering, but our suffering even in the form of persecution for our faith, should be something we willingly accept even if we face death. We should be that committed to serve Christ with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength. because even Christ Himself was persecuted and hated and mocked. Peter s pride problem surfaced in Luke 22:31-34. Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. Peter said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. Jesus said, I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me. One of the hardest things for us as humans to overcome is the sin of pride. It s easy to confuse strength with pride. When we have people telling us that we re good at something or thanking us for something, we feel a sense of being empowered. There s a good and a not-so- 4
good side to this. We need to learn/remember that our own efforts are not what lead to our success. Hold yourselves with humility toward one another because God opposes the proud and shows favor to the humble. (1 Pet 5:5) Success in service is dependent upon the Holy Spirit and not on our own efforts. Even though we are Ambassadors and Priests in God s kingdom does not mean we can lay claim to any power aside from that which the Holy Spirit grants us. Those who want to become first in the Kingdom of God must become a servant to everyone, valuing everyone better than themselves. Phil 2:3-4 Things to note: Jesus addressed him as Simon rather than Peter. Simon was the name given to him at birth by his parents it was his earthly family name it was used when he allowed his impetuous, brash emotions to take control of his life. (Example Luke 21:15-19) Then, Jesus addresses Peter when prophesying his response that carried potential eternal consequences. While reading through the Gospels, we will note that he was most often called Peter when he allowed his faith in Christ to control his life. He was acting like the man he was becoming. (Matt 16:17-18) The fear of not being worthy to serve is what keeps most people from serving. Not a single one of us IS worthy! Any gift we have to serve is a gift from God. The fact is, we mess up a lot. But that is never an excuse to not serve. Rather, it s an opportunity to ask forgiveness, be freed from guilt and shame, and go on to serve in whatever capacity you are called. When things are difficult and challenges come our way, will we remain silent? Or, will we strive to be like Peter (not Simon) and learn the lesson that God s forgiveness is perfect. Do we have the courage to go where our old self was unwilling to go? Are we willing and ready to fulfill the divine role that God has assigned us or are we so in love with ourselves that we 5
want to just keep on sinning and rejecting the call of God the role that He has assigned to us to serve in His Kingdom? From an arrogant, cocky, man of thunder, Peter became a humble, willing, obedient servant of the Lord even to death. He rejoiced in that day of his death, knowing that he would be reunited with his beloved Savior. The lowly fisherman became a mighty fisher of men and one that changed and shaped the world forever and is still proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ through his 1 and II Peter. We can stay like Simon, a messed up guy making mistakes and wrong assumptions, anxious, impetuous, and sometimes even prideful and arrogant. Or, we can choose to be a Peter and serve Jesus with all we have. The choice is all ours! 6