Apostle st peter biography

Let us recall a few of the Biblical episodes in which Peter appears. We are told that after the miracle of the loaves and fishes, Jesus withdrew to the mountain to pray, and his disciples started to sail home across the Lake of Galilee. Suddenly they saw Him walking on the water, and, according to the account in Matthew, Jesus told them not to be afraid.

It was Peter who said, "Lord, if it is Thou, bid me come to Thee over the water. Jesus having asked the question, "Who do men say that I am? Then Jesus turned to Peter and said, "But who do you say that I am? Then Jesus told him that his name would henceforth be Peter. In the Aramaic tongue which Jesus and his disciples spoke, the word was kepha, meaning rock.

Jesus concluded with the prophetic words, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock shall be built My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He was selected, with James and John, to accompany Jesus to the mountain, the scene of the Transfiguration, to be given a glimpse of His glory, and there heard God pronounce the words, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

Peter chided Him and could not bring himself to believe that the end was near. When all were gathered for the Last Supper, Peter declared his loyalty and devotion in these words, "Lord, with Thee I am ready to go both to prison and to death. And as the tragic night unrolled, this prophecy came true. When Jesus was betrayed by Judas as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, and was taken by soldiers to the Jewish high priest, Peter followed far behind, and sat half hidden in the courtyard of the temple during the proceedings.

Pointed out as one of the disciples, Peter three times denied the accusation. Simon pursued in Capharnaum the profitable occupation of fisherman in Lake Genesarethpossessing his own boat Luke, v, 3. The Evangelists often combine the two names, while St. Paul uses the name Cephas. After the first meeting Peter with the other early disciples remained with Jesus for some time, accompanying Him to Galilee Marriage at CanaJudaea, and Jerusalemand through Samaria back to Galilee John, ii-iv.

Here Peter resumed his occupation of fisherman for a short time, but soon received the definitive call of the Savior to become one of His permanent disciples.

Apostle st peter biography

On the same occasion the sons of Zebedee were called Matt. Thenceforth Peter remained always in the immediate neighborhood of Our Lord. Among the Twelve Peter soon became conspicuous. Though of irresolute character, he clings with the greatest fidelity, firmness of faith, and inward love to the Savior; rash alike in word and act, he is full of zeal and enthusiasm, though momentarily easily accessible to external influences and intimidated by difficulties.

The more prominent the Apostles become in the Evangelical narrative, the more conspicuous does Peter appear as the first among them. In the list of the Twelve on the occasion of their solemn call to the Apostolate, not only does Peter stand always at their head, but the surname Petrus given him by Christ is especially emphasized Matt.

Frequently the Savior turns specially to Peter Matt. Very characteristic is the expression of true fidelity to Jesus, which Peter addressed to Him in the name of the other Apostles. Christ Himself unmistakably accords Peter a special precedence and the first place among the Apostlesand designates him for such on various occasions. Peter was one of the three Apostles with James and John who were with Christ on certain special occasions—the raising of the daughter of Jairus from the dead Mark, v, 37; Luke, viii, 51 ; the Transfiguration of Christ Matt.

Jesus was then dwelling with His Apostles in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippiengaged on His work of salvation. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter [Kipha, a rock]; and upon this rock [Kipha] I will build my church [ekklesian], and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Then he commanded his disciples, that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ Matt.

His statement then admits of but one explanation, namely, that He wishes to make Peter the head of the whole community of those who believed in Him as the true Messias ; that through this foundation Peter the Kingdom of Christ would be unconquerable; that the apostle st peter biography guidance of the faithful was placed in the hands of Peter, as the special representative of Christ.

It is also clear that the position of Peter among the other Apostles and in the Christian community was the basis for the Kingdom of God on earth, that is, the Church of Christ. Peter was personally installed as Head of the Apostles by Christ Himself. This foundation created for the Church by its Founder could not disappear with the person of Peter, but was intended to continue and did continue as actual history shows in the primacy of the Roman Church and its bishops.

Entirely inconsistent and in itself untenable is the position of Protestants who like Schnitzer in recent times assert that the primacy of the Roman bishops cannot be deduced from the precedence which Peter held among the Apostles. Just as the essential activity of the Twelve Apostles in building up and extending the Church did not entirely disappear with their deaths, so surely did the Apostolic Primacy of Peter not completely vanish.

As intended by Christ, it must have continued its existence and development in a form appropriate to the ecclesiastical organism, just as the office of the Apostles continued in an appropriate form. Objections have been raised against the genuineness of the wording of the passage, but the unanimous testimony of the manuscripts, the parallel passages in the other Gospels, and the fixed belief of pre-Constantine literature furnish the surest proofs of the genuineness and untampered state of the text of Matthew cf.

In spite of his firm faith in Jesus, Peter had so far no clear knowledge of the mission and work of the Savior. The sufferings of Christ especially, as contradictory to his worldly conception of the Messiaswere inconceivable to him, and his erroneous conception occasionally elicited a sharp reproof from Jesus Matt. The Savior had already told him that Satan had desired him that he might sift him as wheat.

But Christ had prayed for him that his faith fail not, and, being once converted, he confirms his brethren Luke, xxii, At the seizing of Jesus, Peter in an outburst of anger wished to defend his Master by force, but was forbidden to do so. He at first took to flight with the other Apostles John, xviii, ; Matt. This denial was of course due, not to a lapse of interior faith in Christ, but to exterior fear and cowardice.

His sorrow was thus so much the greater, when, after his Master had turned His gaze towards him, he clearly recognized what he had done. In spite of this apostle st peter biography, his position as head of the Apostles was later confirmed by Jesus, and his precedence was not less conspicuous after the Resurrection than before. But, most important of all, when He appeared at the Lake of GenesarethChrist renewed to Peter His special commission to feed and defend His flock, after Peter had thrice affirmed his special love for his Master John, xxi, In conclusion Christ foretold the violent death Peter would have to suffer, and thus invited him to follow Him in a special manner ibid.

Peter in JerusalemJudaea, and the districts stretching northwards as far as Syria is derived mainly from the first portion of the Acts of the Apostlesand is confirmed by parallel statements incidentally in the Epistles of St. He takes the initiative in the appointment to the Apostolic College of another witness of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ to replace Judas Acts, i, After the descent of the Holy Ghost on the feast of Pentecost, Peter standing at the head of the Apostles delivers the first public sermon to proclaim the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and wins a large number of Jews as converts to the Christian community ibid.

First of the Apostles he worked a public miracle, when with John he went up into the temple and cured the lame man at the Beautiful Gate. To the people crowding in amazement about the two Apostleshe preaches a long sermon in the Porch of Solomonand brings new increase to the flock of believers ibid. In the subsequent examinations of the two Apostles before the Jewish High Council, Peter defends in undismayed and impressive fashion the cause of Jesus and the obligation and liberty of the Apostles to preach the Gospel ibid.

When Ananias and Sapphira attempt to deceive the Apostles and the people, Peter appears as judge of their action, and God executes the sentence of punishment passed by the Apostle by causing the sudden death of the two guilty parties ibid. Not only in Jerusalem itself did Peter labor in fulfilling the mission entrusted to him by his Master.

He also retained connection with the other Christian communities in Palestine, and preached the Gospel both there and in the lands situated farther north. When Philip the Deacon had won a large number of believers in SamariaPeter and John were deputed to proceed thither from Jerusalem to organize the community and to invoke the Holy Ghost to descend upon the faithful.

Peter appears a second time as judge, in the case of the magician Simon, who had wished to purchase from the Apostles the power that he also could invoke the Holy Ghost ibid. On their way back to Jerusalemthe two Apostles preached the joyous tidings of the Kingdom of God. Peter now undertook an extensive missionary tour, which brought him to the maritime cities, Lyddacommunity, frequenting their houses and sharing Joppe, and Caesarea.

In Lydda he cured the palsied their meals. But when the Christianized Jews arrived Eneas; in Joppe he raised Tabitha Dorcas from the in JerusalemPeter, fearing lest these rigid observers dead; and at Caesareainstructed by a vision which he of the Jewish ceremonial law should be scandalized had in Joppe, he baptized and received into the thereat, and his influence with the Jewish Chris- Church the first non-Jewish Christians, the centurion tians be imperiled, avoided thenceforth eating with Cornelius and his kinsmen ibid.

Peter tells of his vision and defends his action, which was ratified by the Apostles and the faithful in Jerusalem ibid. A confirmation of the position accorded to Peter by Luke, in the Acts, is afforded by the testimony of St. Paul Gal. Here the Apostle of the Gentiles clearly designates Peter as the authorized head of the Apostles and of the early Christian Church.

Herod Agrippa I began A. Concerning St. Luke does not tell us whither Peter went after his liberation from the prison in Jerusalem. From incidental statements we know that he subsequently made extensive missionary tours in the East, although we are given no clue to the chronology of his journeys. There is little doubt that the work of Mark and his gospel is actually the story of Peter who retold the story and then was written down by John Mark.

Some of the events where Peter, John, and James who were often alone with Jesus, like the Transfiguration, are like a first-person retelling of the story. He was said to be crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to be crucified in the way that the Lord Jesus Christ had been. From an arrogant, cocky, man of thunder, he 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. This was a lifetime of 65 years — of which his last thirty-three would be devoted to proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, no one could even be a priest until they were thirty years of age. David became king at age thirty and this age is near the peak of mental and physical abilities.

Peter will be one of only 12 apostles that will rule with Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven. The lowly apostle st peter biography 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 gospel written by Markthe book of Acts, and through the epistles of 1 and II Peter.

Who is your favorite Bible character? AD records Clement of Alexandria c. AD as saying: For they say that Peter and James the Greater and John after the ascension of our Saviour, as if also preferred by our Lord, strove not after honor, but chose James the Just bishop of Jerusalem. James the brother of Jesus and Paul, the two other most prominent leading figures in first-century Christianity, were too much identified with their respective "brands" of Christianity, at least in the eyes of Christians at the opposite ends of this particular spectrum.

Some argue James the Just was bishop of Jerusalem whilst Peter was bishop of Rome and that this position at times gave James privilege in some but not all situations. When he asks, "Who do you say that I am? And I tell you that you are Cephas Peter Petrosand on this rock petra I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Harringtonwho suggests that Peter was an unlikely symbol of stability.