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Simon Peter
Matthew 16:16, 21-23 14:28-30, 26:69-74, Acts 2:14-41, 10:9-23, Galatians 2:11-15
Simon, originally a fisherman from Galilee, was not the first to follow Jesus, but he quickly became a leader among the disciples and is labeled a pillar of the early church by Paul. It may not have been lost on the early Christians either, that his name Simon was also sometimes spelled Simeon, which was the name of Jacob’s second son. In the new leaders of God’s People, the new 12, there is also continuity with the old. But Jesus also gave Simon a different name. That name was Cephas (כֵּיפָא) in Aramaic, Petrus (Πέτρος) in Greek, both of which mean the rock.
You couldn’t always depend on Peter to get it right, but you could depend on him to show up and take action. Peter is the one who gives us, at a poignant moment, the rousing confession about Jesus. You are the Christ, the son of the living God. (Matthew 16:16) Peter walks on water, (Matthew 14:28-30) speaks at Pentecost. (Acts 2:14-41) He sees a vision for a church that includes Gentiles as Gentiles in the book of Acts. (Acts 10:9-23) And yet it’s Peter who denied knowing Jesus during Jesus trial. (Matthew 26:69-74) Who before had shirked back and wanted Jesus to turn away from this plan of crucifixion as the way God’s mission would be fulfilled. (Matthew 16:21-23) Peter doubted on the water and began to sink. Peter, who could see this future, who was given so much instruction by God about how Gentiles could be incorporated into the church, failed to perfectly put it into practice. (Galatians 2:11-15) Peter was not infallible. He had to be rebuked by Jesus and Paul.
But Peter, especially in the epistles he wrote by inspiration first and second Peter that we have in the New Testament expresses a deep sense of humility that over time, through his instruction and as he grew in his faith, that assertive boldness in his personality was refined, was sanctified. He knew that not only were his excesses forgiven alone through this plan of crucifixion, which Jesus went through for him, but also that his personality was now at the disposal of God.
From a book outside of Scripture, we hear that Peter was crucified at the end of his life for his faith. But by that point, he who had repudiated the vision of crucifixion as the path of God now didn’t even consider himself worthy to be crucified the same way Jesus was, and he asked to be crucified upside down. You who come with your bold sins like Peter, take heart. Jesus boldly went to the cross to forgive all of those sins, to lay his life on the line and take the wrath of God for all the ways that our assertiveness can turn into violent aggression, into arrogance, into boasting, into recklessness.
But also you who share the personality traits of Peter take heart as God shaped him to be used powerfully for his kingdom, so he can also use you. And we all should be a bit more assertive like Peter, because in the many situations we find ourselves, when there is an opportunity for truth, a word fitly and maybe even boldly spoken in that moment off the cuff is worth far more than our perfectly worded response long after the opportunity has passed. The time is short dear friends, take hold of the opportunity, whichever is before you, to serve the Lord. And, like Simon, take hold of Christ.
