“And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.” (Matthew 10:1–4 ESV)
We begin our profile of the Twelve Apostles with Simon Peter. Our study of Peter will be the most extensive. Today, we examine his conversion and call to ministry.
Peter and Andrew, were disciples of John the Baptist (John 1:35–40). Andrew told Simon Peter, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41). Peter’s conversion is presupposed in John 1:42, where Andrew brought Simon to Jesus and there received a new name. There are three separate episodes in the Gospels in which Simon is called. These overlap with three episodes in which he is given the name “Cephas” (“Peter,” which means “rock”) by Jesus.
The Gospel of John places Peter’s call to serve in Judea where John the Baptist was baptizing. The synoptic Gospels have two different scenes. The first call takes place at the Sea of Galilee (Mark 1:16–20; Matt. 4:18–22). Jesus is walking along the shore and sees Peter and Andrew along with James and John casting their nets into the sea. At this time he calls them to become “fishers of men.”
Luke then expands this into a fishing scene (Luke 5:1–11), in which the disciples have fished all night and caught nothing. However, at Jesus’ command they lower their nets and catch a great catch of fish. The amount of fish is so great that the boat begins to sink. Jesus said that from now on they will “catch men.” As a result, they leave everything and follow him.
The second episode involving Peter’s call (and his new name) is Jesus’ choice of the Twelve upon the mountain (Mark 3:13–19). In the list, Simon is surnamed Peter. The last occurrence regarding Peter’s new name is found in Matthew 16:17–19, in connection with Peter’s confession of Christ at Caesarea Philippi.
“The word for “Peter,” Petros, means a small stone (John 1:42). Jesus used a play on words here with Petra, which means a foundation boulder (cf. Matt. 7:24–25). Since the NT makes it abundantly clear that Christ is both the foundation (Acts 4:11–12; 1 Cor. 3:11) and the head (Eph. 5:23) of the church, it is a mistake to think that here He is giving either of those roles to Peter. There is a sense in which the apostles played a foundational role in the building of the church (Eph. 2:20), but the role of primacy is reserved for Christ alone, not assigned to Peter. So Jesus’ words here are best interpreted as a simple play on words in that a boulder-like truth came from the mouth of one who was called a small stone. Peter himself explains the imagery in his first epistle: the church is built of “living stones” (1 Pet. 2:5) who, like Peter, confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Christ himself is the “cornerstone” (1 Pet. 2:6–7),” explains Dr. John MacArthur.
We will conclude our brief profile of Peter by examining his place among the Twelve Disciples/Apostles. Have a blessed day in the Lord.
Soli deo Gloria!
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