Peter

Peter — born Simon, son of Jonah, and surnamed Cephas (Aramaic) or Peter (Greek), both meaning “rock” — was a fisherman of Bethsaida and Capernaum who became the foremost of the Twelve Apostles. Jesus called him and his brother Andrew from their nets with the promise, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:18-20), and gave him the new name at their first meeting (John 1:42). Bold, impulsive, and wholehearted, Peter became the spokesman and natural leader of the apostolic band.

At Caesarea Philippi Peter made the great confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and Jesus answered, “on this rock I will build my church,” entrusting to him the keys of the kingdom (Matthew 16:16-19). He belonged to the inner three at the Transfiguration and in Gethsemane, walked briefly on the water (Matthew 14:29), and protested undying loyalty — yet on the night of the arrest he denied his Lord three times and “wept bitterly” (Luke 22:60-62). The risen Christ sought him out and threefold restored him by the Sea of Galilee: “Do you love me?… Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17).

Filled with the Spirit at Pentecost, Peter preached the first apostolic sermon, and about three thousand were added to the church (Acts 2:14-41). He healed the lame man at the temple gate, testified before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:8-12), and was freed from prison by an angel (Acts 12:7). Through the vision at Joppa and the conversion of Cornelius, God used Peter to open the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10:34-48), a step he defended at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:7-11). Paul names him a “pillar,” entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised, though he once had to rebuke Peter for withdrawing from Gentile believers (Galatians 2:9; Galatians 2:11-14).

Peter wrote two New Testament epistles, encouraging suffering Christians to stand firm in living hope and to feed the flock as humble shepherds (1 Peter 1:3; 1 Peter 5:1-4). Tradition holds that he was martyred in Rome under Nero. His life — from faltering denial to steadfast witness — stands as the great biblical picture of a sinner restored and strengthened by grace, fulfilling Jesus’ charge: “when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32).