Saint Peter

Saint Peter (Greek: Πετρος, Rock)[1] (c.1–64 AD) was one of the Twelve Apostles, chosen by Jesus as one of his first disciples. He is prominently featured in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Peter was a Galilean fisherman assigned a leadership role by Jesus. (Matthew 16:18) He was with Jesus during events witnessed by only a few apostles, such as the Transfiguration.[2] Early Christian writers provided more details about his life. Tradition describes him as the first bishop of Rome, author of two canonical epistles, and a martyr under Nero, crucified head down and buried in Rome.[2] His memoirs are traditionally cited as the source of the Gospel of Mark.

The Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Anglican Communion consider Simon Peter a saint. According to Catholic and Orthodox tradition, Peter was the first bishop of Rome and Catholics argue that the Pope is Peter's successor and therefore the rightful superior of all other bishops. Eastern and Oriental Orthodox also recognize the Bishop of Rome as the successor of Saint Peter and the Ecumenical Patriarch sends a delegation each year to Rome to participate in the celebration of his feast. In the "Ravenna Document" of 13 October 2007, the representatives of the Eastern Orthodox Church agreed that "Rome, as the Church that 'presides in love' according to the phrase of St Ignatius of Antioch (To the Romans, Prologue), occupied the first place in the taxis, and that the bishop of Rome was therefore the protos among the patriarchs. They disagree, however, on the interpretation of the historical evidence from this era regarding the prerogatives of the bishop of Rome as protos, a matter that was already understood in different ways in the first millennium."

In art, he is often depicted holding the keys to the kingdom of heaven (interpreted by Roman Catholics as the sign of his primacy over the Church), a reference to Matthew 16:19.

Peter was born in Bethsaida (John 1:44), named Simon, son of Jonah or John.[3] The synoptic gospels all recount how Peter's mother-in-law was healed by Jesus at their home in Capernaum (Matthew 8:14–17; Mark 1:29–31; Luke 4:38) which, coupled with 1 Corinthians 9:5, implies that Peter was married.

In the synoptics, Peter (then Simon) was a fisherman along with his brother Andrew. The Gospel of John also depicts Peter fishing, but only after the resurrection in the story of the Catch of 153 fish.


In Matthew and Mark, Jesus called Simon and his brother Andrew to be "fishers of men" (Matthew 4:18–19; Mark 1:16–17).

In Luke, Simon owns the boat that Jesus uses to preach to the multitudes who were pressing on him at the shore of Lake Gennesaret (Luke 5:3). Jesus then amazes Simon and his companions James and John (Andrew is not mentioned) by telling them to lower their nets, whereupon they catch a huge number of fish. Immediately after this, they follow him (Luke 5:4–11).

The Gospel of John gives a slightly different, though compatible account (John 1:35–42). Andrew, we are told, was originally a disciple of John the Baptist. Along with one other disciple, Andrew heard John the Baptist describe Jesus as the "Lamb of God," whereupon he followed Jesus. He then went and fetched his brother Simon, said, "We have found the Messiah," and brought him to Jesus. Jesus then gave Simon the name "Cephas," meaning 'rock', in Aramaic. 'Petros', a masculine form of the feminine 'petra' (rock) is the Greek equivalent of this. It had not previously been used as a name, but in the Greek-speaking world it became a popular Christian name after the tradition of Peter's prominence in the early Christian church had been established.


Peter is always mentioned first in the lists of the Twelve. He is also frequently mentioned in the Gospels as forming with James the Elder and John a special group within the Twelve Apostles, present at incidents to which the others were not party, such as at the Transfiguration of Jesus. He confesses his faith in Jesus as the Messiah.

Peter is also often depicted in the Gospels as spokesman of all the apostles. Catholics refer to him as chief of the Apostles,[4][5] as do the Eastern Orthodox[6] and the Oriental Orthodox.[7][8] (This is not the same as saying that the other Apostles were under Peter's orders.) In contrast, Jewish Christians are said to have argued that James the Just was the leader of the group.[9] Some argue James was the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and that this position at times gave him privilege in some (but not all) situations. The early Church historian Eusebius (c AD 325) records Clement of Alexandria (c AD 190) as saying,

"For they say that Peter and James 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."[10]

Paul affirms that Peter had the special charge of being apostle to the Jews, just as he, Paul, was apostle to the Gentiles.
Walking on water

All four canonical Gospels recount Jesus walking on the water. Matthew additionally describes Peter walking on the water, but sinking when he lost his faith and courage.(Matthew 14:28–31).

Washing of feet

John 13:2-11 recounts that at the beginning of the Last Supper Jesus washed his disciples' feet; Peter initially refused to let Jesus wash his feet, but when Jesus responded: "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me", Peter replied: "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head".

The washing of feet is often repeated at Mass on Holy Thursday in the Roman Catholic Church and at similar services by other groups.
Arrest of Jesus

Saint Peter striking Malchus

All four canonical Gospels mention that, when Jesus was arrested, someone cut off the ear of the high priest's slave, an action that Jesus rebuked. John names the slave as Malchus, and the man with the sword as Peter. Luke adds that Jesus touched the ear and healed it.

Denial of Jesus

All four canonical gospels recount that, during the Last Supper, Jesus foretold that Peter would deny association with him three times that same night. The three Synoptics describe the three denials as follows:
A denial when a female servant of the high priest spots Simon Peter, saying that he had been with Jesus.
A denial when Simon Peter had gone out to the gateway, away from the firelight, but the same servant girl or another told the bystanders he was a follower of Jesus.
A denial came when recognition of Peter as a Galilean was taken as proof that he was indeed a disciple of Jesus.

Matthew adds that it was his accent that gave him away as coming from Galilee. Luke deviates slightly from this by stating that, rather than a crowd accusing Simon Peter, it was a third individual.

St Peter Denying Christ, by Gustave Doré

The Gospel of John places the second denial while Peter was still warming himself at the fire, and gives as the occasion of the third denial a claim by someone to have seen him in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus' prediction of Peter's denial is coupled with a prediction that all the apostles ("you," plural) would be "sifted like wheat," but that it would be Peter's task ("you," singular), when he had turned again, to strengthen his brethren.

In a reminiscent[11] scene in John's epilogue, Peter affirms three times that he loves Jesus.

A most poignant literary "aftershock" of the story of Peter's denial may be found in Chekhov's tale, "The Student."

Empty tomb

In John's gospel, Peter is the first person to enter the empty tomb, although the women and the beloved disciple see it before him (John 20:1–9). In Luke's account, the women's report of the empty tomb is dismissed by the apostles and Peter is the only one who goes to check for himself. After seeing the graveclothes he goes home, apparently without informing the other disciples (Luke 24:1–12).

Church of the Primacy of St. Peter on the Sea of Galilee. Traditional site where Jesus Christ appeared to his disciples after his resurrection and, according to Catholic tradition, established Peter's supreme jurisdiction over the Christian church.


Resurrection appearances

Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, (chapter15), contains a list of resurrection appearances of Jesus, the first of which is an appearance to "Cephas" (Peter): 1 Corinthians 15:3–7. Here Paul follows a very early tradition that Peter was the first to see the risen Christ.[2] Luke 24:34 also mentions an appearance to "Simon" as the first in Jerusalem, more or less contemporaneous with the appearance to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus.

In the final chapter of the Gospel of John, Peter, in one of the resurrection appearances of Jesus, three times affirmed his love for Jesus, balancing his threefold denial, and Jesus reconfirmed Peter's position (John 21:15–17). Some scholars hypothesize that it was added later to bolster Peter's status.[12]

Statue of St. Peter on the south door of St Mary's Church in Aylesbury, United Kingdom


Role in the early church

The author of the Acts of the Apostles portrays Peter as an extremely important figure within the early Christian community, with Peter delivering a significant open-air sermon during Pentecost. According to the same book, Peter took the lead in selecting a replacement for Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:15). He was twice arraigned, with John, before the Sanhedrin and directly defied them (Acts 4:7–22, Acts 5:18–42). He undertook a missionary journey to Lydda, Joppa and Caesarea (Acts 9:32–10:2), becoming instrumental in the decision to evangelise the Gentiles (Acts 10).

About halfway through, the Acts of the Apostles turns its attention away from Peter and to the activities of Paul, and the Bible is fairly silent on what occurred to Peter afterwards.


Antioch and Corinth

A fleeting mention of Peter visiting Antioch is made in the Epistle to the Galatians (Galatians 2:11-14) where Paul rebuked him for treating Gentile converts as inferior to Jewish Christians.[1] The Liber Pontificalis (9th century) mentions Peter as having served as bishop of Antioch before his journey to Rome.[13] Historians have furnished other evidence of Peter's sojourn in Antioch.[14] Subsequent tradition held that Peter had been the first Patriarch of Antioch.


Epistles

Church tradition ascribes the epistles First and Second Peter to Saint Peter,[1] as does the text of 2 Peter itself. First Peter refers to the author being in Rome ("Babylon").[1] Most scholars regard First Peter as not authored by him,[1] and there is still considerable debate about the Petrine authorship of Second Peter. However the Greek in both books are similar, and the early Church was adamantly opposed to pseudographical authorship.[1]


Death

In the epilogue[1] of the Gospel of John, Jesus hints at the death by which Peter would glorify God (John 21:18–19), saying "'…when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and take you where you do not want to go.'" This is understood as a reference to Peter's crucifixion.[11] It is believed by a long tradition that Peter, after a ministry of about thirty years, traveled to Rome and met his martyrdom there. He was crucified upside down because he said that he was not worthy to die as Jesus did.