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Simon Peter seems to be the overwhelming choice of everyone's favorite disciple. After Jesus Christ, Peter joins with Paul as being one of the two most foremost characters of the New Testament. Because of these many glimpses of scripture, we know more about and have a better understanding of Simon Peter's nature than any other disciple. And what we find is that Peter was thoroughly human. Perhaps he is so popular because all of us in our attempts to serve the Lord find ourselves relating to his actions. We could easily derive an entire series of sermons from the life of Simon Peter, but in this lesson, I will try to recap his character and life and then draw some key points to learn from his example.

The famous disciple that would rise to the top of the twelve began life as Simon the son of Jonas, or as the Jews would say Simon bar-Jonas. Simon means "hearer" and Jonas means "grace of God." The Gospel of John tells us that immediately after Andrew found Jesus that he went to his brother Simon and brought him to Jesus, and that when Jesus looked at Simon, He immediately pronounced a name change that was both revelatory and prophetic:

Jesus spoke three languages as did most of the disciples: Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. Simon was the disciple's Hebrew name given by his parents, but Jesus pronounced over him an Aramaic name, "Cephas," which translated into Greek was petros or small stone or rock. In English petros translates to Peter which is the name the disciple is commonly called.

Simon Peter's father was a well known and prosperous fisherman. Peter and his brother, Andrew worked with their father in some sort of partnership with James and John and their father Zebedee. Simon Peter grew up in the area of Bethsaida, but later moved to Capernaum. The scriptures tell us that he was married, and his wife is the only spouse of the disciples mentioned in scripture. He was obviously married before Jesus called him, and later in the Early Apostolic Church, had the reputation of taking his wife with him wherever he traveled to minister or preach (1 Corinthians 9:5). Tradition records his wife's name as either Concordia or Perpetua and it is likely that both apply. Clement of Alexandria, the next generation of leaders of the Apostolic church and a very reliable source of information, wrote that "Peter and Philip had children, and that both took about their wives, who acted as their coadjutors in ministering to women at their own homes; by their means the doctrine of the Lord penetrated without scandal into the privacy of women's apartments" (Strom. 3, pg 448). So it seems that not only was Peter's wife supportive of his ministry but that she had a ministry of her own, particularly in teaching single women the gospel. Another early source gives the name Petronilla as being one of Simon Peter's daughters. We know from scripture that his mother-in-law lived with the family at Capernaum, and we know that the house must have been rather large to be able to hold Simon's family, Jesus, the other disciples, and still receive a great multitude of sick folks in the courtyard.

Most scholars believe from circumstantial evidence that Peter was in his mid to late thirties when Jesus called him, and so he would have most likely been a few years older than the Messiah. Most traditional sources present Simon Peter as a big, burly type; a man's man, so to speak. Such a mental image certainly works with the scriptures in the mind's eye and I always picture Simon in my mind as tall and brawny with a hefty build. He was very impetuous, or quick to jump to action, and Peter always had something to say. In fact, there are more recorded words of this disciple than all of the others combined. Not that the disciple was a “rattle trap,” but rather if Simon Peter was thinking something, then he was saying it; sometimes before he thought about it. Many times, the voice of Peter simply put out loud what the rest of the disciples were thinking. At other times, it was clearly the voice of Simon Peter's opinion only that came forth.

Even after answering the call of Jesus, Simon Peter never strayed far from the Sea of Galilee that he loved so much. It was his boat that Jesus used several times to teach from on the seaside. He continued to fish occasionally and seemed to always be involved if something was happening near the sea. From these seaside incidents, along with the occasions of him opening his mouth, we begin to see in scripture what a rough character was at first. It is probable that his economic success and his older age brought about a pride and an arrogance in Simon Peter, and indeed, he is the only disciple brash enough to attempt to correct Jesus. When the sea was stormy and Jesus was asleep in the bottom of the boat, it was Peter who roughly shook Jesus awake with the words "carest not that we perish?"

One can see the strong personality of the disciple in the incidence that we read as our text. Catching the disciples after a long frustrating night of fishing where they had caught nothing, Jesus used the boat to speak to the multitudes that morning and then after He finished speaking, turned to Simon Peter and said "go to the deep part of the lake and let down your nets for a catch." After which we have this exchange:

You can hear the exasperation in Simon's voice. He knows that as the sun is shining on the water that it is not favorable to catch fish. He has already pulled all of his nets up and probably began cleaning them. They fished all night long and he's tired and wants to go home and rest. And so he says "at your word I will." In other words, "this is your idea, Jesus, not mine, I'm only doing this because you want me to." Almost as if to say, "if nothing happens, then remember that it was your idea."

Simon Peter was about to learn a powerful lesson about God's power! When he led the nets down, they caught so many fish that they had to call some other boats for help and the fish almost sunk the boat! I doubt that Simon Peter had ever saw such a catch before in his entire life and the scriptures say:

Simon Peter knew that his heart had not believed and that he had not had the right attitude in obeying and so he begged for forgiveness. In a moment the brashness is gone replaced by humble awe. Such was a scene to be repeated over and over again Peter's life. Jesus then told them that "He would make them fishers of men." It was definitely an emphasis on the "make" process with Peter and one scholar writes that "Peter was the prime candidate to test Jesus' life changing ability upon." If Jesus could take this hard-headed, brash, arrogant, and strong personality and "make" him into something worthwhile for the kingdom of God, then it give all of us hope today. As one writer said "all roses have thorns, and Simon Peter had his fair share!" But among all of the thorns of his many faults and issues, no disciple bloomed brighter and bolder than Peter.

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We could spend several weeks detailing every recorded event in Simon Peter's life, but instead let's focus on what it was that caused him to -- despite his many imperfections -- become a great leader, man of God, and spokesperson for the Apostles. What was it that Jesus saw in Peter that caused Christ to choose Simon as "the rock" and see great potential in him? Obviously among the thorns, Jesus saw potential for blooming and so what was it that about Peter that caused him to eventually overcome his hangups and become a mighty Apostle of the Early Church? As I study the life of Simon Peter, there are three positive characteristics that jump out at me that enabled him to overcome the shortcomings in his life. To know and emulate these same things is important, because if they allowed Peter to grow beyond his issues, then certainly they will do the same thing for us!

Simon was not afraid of hitting rock bottom or if everyone saw him fall apart; he was always willing to step out in faith. Something about his personality did not mind what others thought and caused the fear of failure to be muted in his life.

Think of the call of Jesus that day on the seashore as the brothers mended their nets. The call of "follow me" was the change from casual commitment to one of a full-time ministry. Simon Peter was stable financially where he was in his fishing. He had a wife and kids to feed and take care of, and yet he immediately follows the call of the master who later told them that "He did not have a place to lay His head." Even today, many ministers are hesitant to leave a stable job or financial situation to pursue the call of God full-time. They are hesitant to trust God completely because of the unknown and fear of failure. But not Simon Peter, he became great because he was willing to trust God completely even if it went against normal logic.

We see this trait in Peter when Jesus came walking on the water that night on the Sea of Galilee. The disciples were all afraid, but only Peter -- when he realized that it was Jesus -- said, "If that is you, Lord, then bid me to come walk with you." The storm, you may remember, was still raging and the waves were still high. The other disciples were paralyzed with fear of getting out of the boat and were hanging on to it with white knuckles and ashen faces and yet Peter is climbing over the side and walking toward Jesus on the wave tops! He got his eyes off of Jesus for a moment and began to sink but when he cried out for help, Jesus grabbed him and then the two walked back to the boat! Simon was not afraid of taking a chance if that chance involved seeing God do great things.

After Jesus' resurrection, we find that Simon Peter and six other disciples went fishing. They fished all night long and caught nothing, and at day break we find that they were surprised to look up and see Jesus standing on the nearby shore. John recognized Jesus first, but it was Simon Peter who acted and put on his coat and jumped out of the boat. I find it highly interesting that Simon Peter first put on his coat and then jumped overboard: nobody puts on an outer garment before taking a long swim and I fully believe that Peter was determined that he was going to walk on the water just as he had before. But this time, Jesus had not bid him to do so, and so we find Peter in his overcoat having to swim all the way to shore. And yet, it does not faze Peter because his attitude was "I'd rather try and fail and have to swim, than to stay in the boat and never try." And either way, I got to Jesus first!"

So many Christians live in the boat, too scared to step out in the Spirit, and do something for God. They are paralyzed by the fear of failure. They are afraid that things may not go smoothly and rather than strutting to shore on the wave tops, they will get there only through hard labor and end up soggy having swum through the waves. They are so afraid of sinking, that they never bother to step out over the side for God and strike out towards the things that He has shown them.

But listen to this preacher: we need to get the courage and attitude of Simon Peter, because only through his attitude will we rise above our imperfections. We need to realize that having tried and failed trying is much better and more honorable than having never failed because you never tried. Failure is not the worse thing in the kingdom of God because it means that an attempt was being made to do something. Worse are those who sit paralyzed with fear in the boat and never even attempt to strike out for where God wants them to be. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Potential means nothing in the kingdom of God. Of the twelve, Judas Iscariot had the most potential to the natural mind because he came from the more educated area and had better connections and more refined speech and thought. But potential means nothing in the kingdom of God, but rather the willingness to step out in faith is what causes rough fisherman to become star soul winners and spokespersons for Christ!

You may remember the parable of the talents being handed out, and how that the man who received only one talent, buried it, did nothing with it, and then presented it to the master. That servant who did nothing was called a "wicked servant." The master would have rather that he tried and failed and lost the talent altogether than just to sit idly by and do nothing. Think of Noah, who after a lifetime of preaching only saved his immediate family. Think of Enoch who it is said preached but has no recorded converts at all!? What will God do to such men? Both of them are in the hall of fame of faith so probably the answer is "reward them." I am reminded of the story of the missionary that spent his entire life preaching in a country and retired and later sent word that he was returning to a visit and when he got to the airport, nobody even bothered to come pick him up. And as he sat there discouraged and despondent, he asked God, "is this the reward that I get for toiling away my entire life for your kingdom?" And God spoke to him and said, "what are you talking about? You have not yet received my reward. My reward to you will fill eternity!" Sometimes we get so caught up if whether or not we are looked upon as a success in man's eyes that we forget that the eyes of the only One who really matters is watching and sees our effort. If I step out in faith and try to walk on the water and yet have to swim my way to shore in full view of all my brothers and sisters, then if I get to Jesus, it does not matter, because better to try and fail, than to never try at all! That is the chief characteristic of Simon Peter, and it is a reason that he overcame many faults!

It's a good thing, too, because Jesus corrected Peter more than all of the other disciples combined. As a diamond in the rough, Peter needed a lot of polishing! Peter's corrections were varied in degrees. When the tax collectors came by and Peter stuck his foot in his mouth and got he and Jesus in a situation by saying the wrong thing, Jesus corrected him gently and then gave him a way out of the predicament. On the other hand, when Jesus began to tell the disciples about His upcoming crucifixion, and Peter rebuked Jesus, we find that Jesus turned and said:

Ouch! Being called the devil in front of all of the other believers is pretty extreme! But then so was Peter's presumption in rebuking the Master. Then there is the time that we find almost a sarcastic response when the woman with the issue of blood had touched Jesus and He stopped in the crowd and asked "who touched me?" It was Peter that said "um, there's hundred of people crowding around you, Lord, what do you mean asking such a dumb question?" Such was the tone of his response. And again, he had to be corrected because his sarcasm caused him to miss the meaning of Jesus' words.

And then we come to the Garden of Gethsemane and as the soldiers come to arrest Jesus, Simon whips out the sword and swings at the nearest head, cutting off the ear of one of the servants of the high priest. Jesus rebukes him and then heals the guy! And then comes the denial of Christ by Peter and the crowing of the rooster that signaled His conscience to what he had just done. As the condemnation filled his brain, Peter had a choice to make. He could respond to the condemnation and correction as Judas had done and abort the plan of God in his life, or he could repent and change some things in his heart and move on. Thankfully, Simon Peter chose the better way.

How many people in churches today would still come to church if the preacher called them Satan in front of the congregation? How many people fall away because the Word of God hits too close to home in something that they need to change? If you are going to make it living for God through your imperfections, then you will have to be like Simon and respond to correction in the right way. The scripture says that all of the Word of God is for correction and reproof and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). There is another scripture that we don't quote a whole lot:

That's in the Bible as instructions to pastors of how to conduct church! We try to be merciful and preach the Word of God so that we don't single one person out in such a manner and only have to use that scripture in extreme cases, but understand that correction is a part of living for God. In fact the scriptures say that God only corrects those whom He loves and that if we will not receive correction from the Word of God then we are truly sons of God. I have been corrected forcibly in front of my friends and church before. My father has publicly rebuked me from the pulpit before. I have had several college instructors tell me that I was wrong and correct me in front of other people. Bro. Wallace has rebuked me in staff meeting in front of all of the other department heads several times. And my wife too. In most of the cases, I needed to hear it. And I had to receive it. It made me mad in my flesh, but I held my tongue, and I went and prayed until my heart and attitude was different, and most of all I kept faithful to the house of God and the things of God and the man of God. I don't mind telling you that I have faults and yet God has exalted my ministry at a very young age primarily because of my willingness to take correction and respond to it with a positive attitude. The way I looked at it was if my pastor really loved me, then he would correct me when I needed it. If he did not care for me, then he would not correct me. Responding to correction the right way will help you overcome faults and advance in the kingdom of God. Respond by getting a bad attitude or quitting church or rebellion, and you, like Judas Iscariot, will self-destruct. The choice is yours. You are not perfect, and all of us need correction from the Word of God. The difference is how you respond to that correction.

Simon Peter became great because he continued to responded to correction even later in life. In Acts 10, God had to rebuke him for his Jewish prejudice to get him to go to Cornelius' house and preach to the Gentiles about the Holy Ghost. Peter took the correction and obeyed. Later on, we find that Peter gave into the pressure from some of his prejudiced Jewish brethren and was two-faced towards the Gentile believers and the Apostle Paul rebuked him and corrected him in front of the entire church and yet Peter accepted it and responded it even though the correction of God came through a preacher who was a peer (Galatians 2:11-14). Such a great attitude towards correction and reproof combined with a willingness to step out in faith for God resulted in Peter's exaltation into a great man of God and the same combination in our lives will be what helps us to rise above the issues and faults that plague every one of us and become all that we can be in the kingdom of God. If you want to be everything that you can be in the Spirit, then you must keep a right attitude and respond with a right heart to Godly correction! If we ever get to the place that we cannot receive instruction in righteousness, then we have stopped growing and begun to die spiritually!

Peter was bold and hard-headed, there is no doubt about that. If he beliseved something, then he believed it and it took great effort to change his mind. But God allowed that hardheadedness to become Peter's greatest strength. What was his primary weakness was transformed by allowing God to sanctify it and use it for his kingdom.

Think of Elijah. Think of Saul/Paul. Think of Simon Peters and you will realize that some of the hardest-headed people in scripture rose the highest in the kingdom of God. That is because if God can sanctify that trait and convince such people of the truth, then they will be stubborn for Him! If you are hard-headed for the things of God and truth, then being hard-headed is not a negative trait at all! Peter truly was the "rock." A rock is very stable once set, but it is also dense. It's very firmness and sureness that makes it prized for foundations also resists change

But there was a change brought about in Peter. If you read the recorded voicings of Peter, you will notice a change in the subject matter. At first Peter used the "I" quite a bit, as in "I will do it" or "I think." As one preacher said, "the center of SIN is I" and so Peter had to learn to be less self-centered and more Christ centered in his thinking. By the time you get to the day of Pentecost, you find Peter using the pronoun "He" in making Jesus the subject of his messages! There has been a definite change. In the many verses of his sermon in Acts chapter 2, the pronoun "I" is only used once in reference to himself and that it to say that he was an eyewitness of Jesus Christ. What a change the Holy Ghost had made in this disciple!

The key to this change lies in the meaning of Simon which means "a hearer." As Simon, the disciple was rough around the edges, but for him to become a "rock" of the church of Jesus Christ, he had to be a hearer of Jesus' teaching. He was hard-headed but he listened to Jesus' words and the Word of God changed Him! If you are hard-headed, then don't be so hard-headed that you refuse to listen to the truth of God's Word about your life, because your only hope for success in the kingdom of God comes from allowing God's Word to sanctify your personality and make you hard-headed for Him! The Words of Jesus brought about such a change in Peter's life that his faults became his strengths and his mouth became his most used possession for God! What a difference comes about when someone is willing to listen and learn from the Word of God and have their hard-headedness sanctified!

A writer named Alexander Whyte penned this about Peter, and I quote:

Hardheaded and hot hearted, Peter just needed the Word of God to reign in those traits and sanctify them and they became His greatest attributes. The primary force that reigned them in and made the biggest change was the infilling of the Holy Ghost. From the Day of Pentecost, onward, we see Simon Peter as a different man, full of faith and Jesus, and humble before men. But fiery in his preaching and reaching of the lost. The hard-headed and hot-hearted was sanctified into something God could use.

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The remainder of Simon Peter's life after the life of Christ is recorded in some detail in the book of Acts and then we must go to tradition and ancient writings for the details of his later life. After preaching the first sermon on the Day of Pentecost and seeing thousands receive the Holy Ghost and baptized in the name of Jesus, Peter became one of the leaders of the church and the most recognized spokesperson for the twelve. When Paul went to Jerusalem after his conversion he looked upon Peter, John, and James the half-brother of Jesus as the three primary leaders of the church. For the first part of Acts Peter and John are inseparable and seen together in getting arrested and healing the lame man. When James, the son of Zebedee was killed, Simon Peter was arrested to be the next in line, but a prayer meeting was made for him and God delivered him from prison through angelic intervention. He then traveled to towns surrounding Judea and raised Dorcas from the dead and preached to the Gentiles in Cornelius' household. After this, the Book of Acts becomes largely the record of the Apostle Paul and we must turn to the clues in the Epistles and history to tell us the remainder of the story.

We know that Peter became the primary Apostolic leader over the Jewish believers and Paul the primary leader over the Gentiles. We know from scripture that after Paul founded the church in Corinth that Peter visited and preached there helping to strengthen the church so his ministry was not Jewish only. We also know from Peter's epistles that he spent some time in Babylon ministering to the Jews there and establishing churches. During these later years, the scriptures say that John Mark became as a son to the Apostle and it is largely believed that the Gospel of Mark is a combination of Mark's research and memories and Peter's verbal account of Jesus' ministries. In other words, the majority of the Gospel of Mark is actually the Gospel of Peter as told to and recorded by John Mark.

The Catholic church has elevated Peter to being supposedly the first pope and put forth all sorts of unprovable claims such as Peter traveling from Jerusalem to Rome at an early date, and establishing the churches there and the foundation of the Catholic church. Such is a study for another place and time, and we have dealt with it before, so suffice it to say here that the Bible has no such information and that the book of Romans indicates to us that the church at Rome was started not by Peter or Paul, but by various Christians who moved there and who are named in chapter 16 of the book. Both Peter and Paul did eventually go to Rome, but much later than the Catholic church has supposed. In short, there is absolutely no historical evidence that Peter founded the churches in Rome other than some pope thousands of years later decided to say that he did. Jesus built the Apostolic church not upon the man, Simon Peter, but upon the revelation of who Jesus Christ is that Simon Peter declared.

We do know from reliable historical sources that Simon Peter did travel to Rome during the persecution of Nero which began in A.D. 64. He preached in the churches there with his wife and was arrested and held to face execution. There is a legend that says that Peter was arrested because of his opposition to a sorcerer named Simon Magus who was supposedly the same Simon mentioned in Acts chapter 8. After being exposed by Peter in Samaria, this trickster had supposedly fled to Rome where he so deceived the multitudes by his tricks into thinking that he was a god. When Peter arrived, he confronted Simon, and then raised a man from the dead in such a way that it killed the sorcerer and angered the Emperor into throwing the Apostle in jail. How much truth is in this legend is not known, but we do know that Simon Peter and his wife were both imprisoned there by the Roman government.

Tradition says that Simon Peter’s wife was martyred first and the tradition says that they brought Peter out of the cell to witness her death and that his final words were to call her name out and encourage her to “remember the Lord” and then as she died, he praised God that his wife was now on her way to “see the King in His beauty.”

There is a legend that during this time Simon Peter escaped from prison and as he was hurrying down the road away from the city, he met a stranger there, and looking upon the face of the stranger realized that it was Jesus. The legend says that Peter fell on his knees and asked “Lord, Lord, where are you going” and the answer was “I had a disciple who was imprisoned there, and was to be put to death. He is escaped, and is free. I go to die, a second time, for him.” And Peter in his anguish cried, “No, Lord, go not. I will return and die,” and Peter returned to the prison and the next day was martyred. Such a story will preach, but is probably just a legend.

Very reliable historical sources has that the day after his wife’s martyr, Peter was also killed in Rome in A.D 65. He would have been close to eighty years of age. Peter was led to a cross to hang upon and die, and when he saw it he exclaimed, “Not with my head up: My Master died that way! Crucify me head downward. I die for my Lord: but I am not worthy to die like Him.” With these final words, he was hung upside down on the cross and killed for his preaching of the name of Jesus.

The man with many faults and who was utterly human, became one of the greatest figures of the kingdom of God. And Simon Peter died as His Master had prophesied so many years ago, a martyr for the name of Jesus.

And yet his story is recorded for us to read and to learn and to hopefully become as he did great among the kingdom of God despite our faults. If we will be willing to step out in faith and not afraid to fail, respond to Godly correction and reproof with the right attitude, and allow the Word of God and Holy Ghost to sanctify our hardheadedness and hot-heartedness, then we can be transformed into a vessel of honor just as the big fisherman from Galilee was. May the lessons of Simon Peter and all of the disciples forever change us and challenge us to stay on the Master Potter’s wheel until we become what he desires for us to be! May we follow Christ as they followed Christ and become true disciples of Jesus!