Who Was Simon Peter?When we first read about Peter in the gospel accounts, we notice right away that he was not a strong character. He seemed to be a weak, wishy-washy person by nature. But God has a plan to change his people, so when Peter was brought to the Lord Jesus Christ by his brother Andrew, Jesus told him, "’You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas’ (which, when translated, is Peter)," meaning he would become a rock--strong and mighty--through the work of Jesus Christ in his life (John 1:42).
We also know that Peter was a sinner, as he himself acknowledged. When he realized Jesus’ role in causing a miraculous number of fish to be caught, Peter told Jesus, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" Confronted by the glorious manifestation of the power of Jesus Christ, Peter was filled with a profound consciousness of his own sinfulness and of Jesus’ divinity. In essence, he was telling Jesus, "Lord, I am too unholy and sinful to be in your presence. Depart from me! I am just nothing." But Jesus didn’t leave Peter, because God had ordained that Peter would become a fisher of men, one who would lead many souls to Christ.
Peter also had the distinction of being the only apostle--indeed, the only human being, other than the Lord Jesus Christ--to ever walk on water, as we read in Matthew 14:25-31. And Peter was the apostle who made the good confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, when Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" in Caesarea Philippi. And in Matthew 16:18 Jesus told Peter, " You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church," meaning the church is built upon Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God.
Peter was the only disciple we read about who rebuked Jesus for saying he would be crucified, and who received a rebuke from Jesus in return. "Get behind me, Satan!" Jesus told him. It was Peter who also boldly asserted that he would never leave Jesus, even though later that same night he denied him three times. And it was Peter whom Satan wanted to sift like wheat, but we are told in the gospel of Luke that Jesus prayed for him that his faith not fail.
After he rose from the dead, Jesus singled out Peter and spoke to him when he met with the disciples by the Sea of Galilee. No doubt Peter was still remembering how he denied Jesus before his death on the cross. Jesus restored Peter, telling him his sins were forgiven, and then he recommissioned him as an apostle, saying, "Feed my sheep. . . . Feed my lambs."
Like the other apostles, Peter was baptized in the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, and as we read in Acts 1-8, he became a bold witness about the Lord Jesus Christ, especially about his resurrection from the dead. On several occasions Peter declared to the masses and to the Sanhedrin that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the only Lord and Christ, the Prince of life, the Holy One and the Righteous One. He also fearlessly told the Sanhedrin on two occasions, "We must obey God rather than men" when they told him to stop preaching the gospel.
By the time we catch up to Peter in Acts 9:32, we find that through God’s working in his life, he was now a true rock of a man. Enabled by the might of our Lord, Peter was now ready to be beaten and maltreated, to spend and be spent, to suffer and to be killed, all for the sake of his master, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus had commissioned Peter and the other apostles to go and preach the gospel beyond Jerusalem. So in Acts 9:32 we read, "As Peter traveled about the country," meaning he left Jerusalem and began to go about, preaching the gospel. In the Greek it says, "He was traveling through all," meaning through all the territories. Eventually, Peter came to Lydda, where he visited with the church there.
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=21667.0