Saturday, March 13th 2010

St. Peter the Apostle

Peter is often seen as "the most prominent of Jesus' disciples...(Who, 348)." However, he is also often described as "a somewhat impulsive figure who at times misunderstood the intention of Jesus (Anchor, 260)." His name was Simeon (frequently shortened to Simon) bar Jona (son of Jona) before becoming a disciple. He and his brother, Andrew, were fishermen and lived in the Galilean town of Capernaum (Who, 349). After being called by Jesus to leave to leave his fishing job and follow him, Jesus gave him the name Cephas (or Peter in Greek), meaning rock. From there the Gospels paint a colorful picture of Peter as an eager and energetic figure who had both notable successes and failures in his journey with Jesus. After Jesus' death Peter was the spokesman at the first Pentecost (Acts 2:17), and continued to be a strong leader in the church at Jerusalem after the resurrection. Because each book presents different nuances about Peters' life I will go through each book in which Peter is a major figure and highlight some important points brought out about Peter in that book.



Galatians

  • Many scholars hold this to be the earliest written New Testament book, and so it also provides us with the "earliest" glimpse of Peter.
  • Paul writes that Cephas, along with James and John "were acknowledged pillars" of the church (Gal. 2:9).
  • Paul goes on to say that when he came to Antioch he had to oppose Cephas "to his face (Gal. 2:11)," because of his inconsistency of saying he made no distinction between Jews and Gentiles, yet drawing back from them when pressured by the Judaizers.


Acts

  • "Peter is a preacher both within the Jerusalem church and as a missionary to those outside (Anchor, 253)."
  • Peter is a miracle worker, some of whose miracles resemble those Jesus did in the Gospels (Anchor, 253)."


Gospel of Mark

  • Papias' statement that Mark was "Peter's interpreter," or that much of his material came from Peter has been brought into question by contemporary scholarship (Anchor, 254).
  • In Mark 8:27-33 Peter pronounces that Jesus is the Messiah. However, he probably thought of the Messiah as one who would come and deliver Israel from its enemies, which helps explain why Peter was so adamant that his royal Messiah should not suffer (Anchor, 255).


Gospel of Matthew

  • Peter walks on water, and is subsequently rescued by Jesus (14:28-31). Here Peter is "portrayed as a disciple who has genuine love for Jesus...but also as one who an insufficient faith...(Anchor, 256)."
  • Peter confesses Jesus to be the "Son of the Living God" in 16:16, and is praised by Jesus who tells him "you are Peter (Greek: Petros), and on this rock (petra) I will build my church (16:17-18)." Jesus uses this "play on his name to link him to the very foundation of the church (Who, 350).
    • Peter and the Papacy
      • Catholics argue that Peter is "the first link in the chain of the papacy (Papacy, 1)."
      • In 16:19 Jesus tells Peter that "whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" They interpret this to mean that Peter was "singled out for the authority that provides for the forgiveness of sins and the making of disciplinary rules (Papacy, 1)." Though all the disciples receive this power later, they hold that Peter received it in a special sense.
        • That Jesus later tells Peter in 16:23 that he is a "stumbling block" must be reckoned with.
        • What it means to bind and loose is an issue of much debate (Anchor, 258).
        • It is not clear that Jesus is conferring a "special sense" of the power to bind and loose that is different from when he gives to all the disciples in 18:18 (Anchor, 258).
      • It is generally held that Peter went to Rome late in his career and was martyred and buried there (Anchor, 263). Catholics use this as support for the papacy being based in Rome, and that "the pope continued to serve Peter's function in subsequent generations of the Church (Successors, 1)."


Gospel of Luke

  • Luke is concerned with presenting a positive picture of Peter, and "effects several changes in his sources to achieve this purpose (Anchor, 258)."
    • Luke omits any reference to Peter refusing to accept the suffering Jesus must endure.
    • Peter's denials is prefaced by Jesus' prayer in 22:31-32 that Simon's faith may not fail.
    • Peter is not referred to by name when he falls asleep in the garden of Gethsemane.


Gospel of John

  • Because John is not one of the synoptic gospels he has several unique scenes involving Peter (Anchor, 260).
    • The scene of Jesus insisting he must wash Peter's feet (13:6-11).
    • Simon cutting off the ear of the servant of the high priest when Jesus is arrested (18:10-11).
  • There are some scenes which also appear in the synoptic Gospels as well, such as Peter's calling and denial of Jesus.


Petrine Epistles

  • Both epistles are considered to be written by someone other than Peter invoking his "name, authority, and memory (Anchor, 262)."
    • This does not lessen the importance of the book's relation to Peter, since it shows that 20 or 30 years after Peter's death his name still carried weight.


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