Mt 16:15-18 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Wow, Peter had this powerful revelation and this revelation was the Rock upon which Christ would build His church. Peter, the Apostle was definitely one of a kind. The 12 Apostles are listed four times in the New Testament and in every listing Peter is mentioned first. There is a clear leadership role he played and in many ways was the de facto spokesperson for the Apostles. He was probably the oldest of the Apostles based on his status as a married man. The Lord Jesus changed his name from Simon to Peter. In Greek the name Peter is Petros, meaning rock. In Aramaic this name is Cephas. Unlike Samuel, John and Jesus, we have no information with regards to Peter’s birth. We just know that he was a Galilean fisherman. We know from Mt 16:17 that his father was called Jonah.
We discover more things about Peter’s theology and thinking through his Epistles; 1st and 2nd Peter (written in AD 60s). We know that Peter was outspoken, excitable, impulsive at times, headstrong, all-or-nothing and extremely passionate. As a psychologist, I find Peter’s personality traits really fascinating and I think it gives encouragement to all of us who have certain proclivities that are sometimes seen as weaknesses but are really strengths overextended. He lived a radical Christian life right up to his martyrdom in about AD67. In this message, we will explore these characteristics of Peter and examine why he became such a great leader of the Early Church.
