Category Archives: Commentaries

Peter Knew Who Jesus Was

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Matthew 16:13-20 (also Mk. 8:27-30; Lk. 9:18-21)

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And 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.  19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”  20 Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.

It is interesting that most people identified Jesus with other great leaders like John the Baptist, Elijah, and Jeremiah. It seems that no one saw Him for who He really was. Only Peter knew that He was the Messiah— “the Christ.” And Jesus told him that he didn’t figure it out on his own; His Father revealed it to him.

This revelation is similar to what Jesus said in John 6:65, that no one can come to Him (and believe in Him) unless it has been granted him from the Father. At that time when everyone was rejecting Him because of the claims He was making about Himself, it seems that only Peter and the other apostles believed in Him. I think they at that time knew that He was the Messiah; but here in this statement Peter is confirming that he knew who He was.

Now starting in verse eighteen Jesus makes four statements about Peter and about his future.

  1. “You are Peter.” Peter’s name, Petros, means a small stone.
  2. “And upon this rock, I will build My church.” Rock here is Petra. It means a larger foundation stone. We know from Scripture that Christ is the head of the church (Eph. 5:23), and He is the cornerstone of the church (1 Pt. 2:6-7). But I think Jesus is telling Peter that, though he is a small stone, he will play a big part, in his leadership, in establishing the church—which is the larger stone.
  3. “And the gates of hades will not overpower it.” Hades (or death) will have no power over the church. This statement I think was meant to encourage Peter in his leadership role.
  4. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”  In this statement Jesus gives Peter great authority. But in John 20:23 we see that this authority is not given only to Peter, but will be extended to all the apostles. Later this authority will also be extended to church leaders, even now (Matt. 18:18-19); but it is given only according to the Word of God and according to His will. 

Peter Declares His Loyalty To Jesus

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John 6:66-69

66 As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”  68 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 69 “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”

The morning after Jesus walked on water, heading toward Capernaum, the crowd of people (the 5000 that Jesus fed) wondered where he was. Some of them took boats and went across the lake and found Him there. They wondered how He got there without a boat. Jesus knew that they came to Him to be fed by Him again. Then He began telling them that God would give them bread from heaven and satisfy them forever. He also told them that He was the bread of life from heaven and that if anyone partakes of Him will live forever. When Jesus was saying these things many of the people began to grumble. Some just plain did not believe Him. Others didn’t understand what He was saying; especially when He told them that in order to have eternal life they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood. And He told them that no one could come to Him (believe in Him) unless the Father allowed it. So, this is why so many deserted Him—even many of his disciples.

But, as our text indicates, when Jesus asked if His twelve would desert Him too, Peter spoke up for them and assure Him that they would remain with Him. Why? Peter gave these reasons:

  1. They knew of no one else to believe in.
  2. Because He has the words of eternal life.
  3. They have believed in Him.
  4. They have come to know that He is “the Holy One of God.”

These words of Peter’s were genuine and heartfelt. We can’t judge whether Peter or the others at this time were true believers or not—or whether they understood everything He said.  All we know is that they were compelled to stay with Him.

Peter Walks On Water

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Matthew 14:22-32 (also Mk. 6:45-56; Jn. 6:15-21)

22 Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. 23 After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. 24 But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

28 Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”  32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped.

This incident happened just after the feeding of the 5,000. We don’t know exactly why Peter wanted to walk on the water to Jesus, but we can make some possible guesses. 1) He wanted to make sure it was Jesus and not a ghost. 2) He wanted to experience the miraculous power of walking on the water as He saw Jesus doing; he wanted to be like Jesus; to share His power. 3) He wanted to test his own faith.

In this experiment that Peter put on himself, he found that his faith wasn’t as strong as was required. When he saw the wind he lost his faith and began to sink. Fortunately, he had enough faith to call out to Jesus for help. And then Jesus told him why he did not make it all the way to Him; because he doubted. When he saw the wind and the waves he lost his faith (read James 1:6-8).

We may notice that Jesus did not rebuke Peter for wanting to walk out to Him. In fact, I think Jesus welcomed his desire to want to do it. But it seems that Jesus was disappointed in his lack of faith. I think He wished that he would have made it all the way to Him—just as a father wants to see his child take his first steps toward him and walk all the way to him into his arms.

The Three Closest Disciples

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Luke 8:51

 51 When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl’s father and mother.

Here is when Jesus went to Jairus’ house (a synagogue ruler) to heal his twelve-year-old daughter; and only Peter, with James and John were allowed by Jesus to enter her room and witness the healing. This is an indication that these three were the closest disciples—those Jesus trusted most.

Peter Was the Spokesman

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Luke 8:43-46 (also Matt. 9:18-26; Mk. 5:21-24)

43 And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, 44 came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. 45 And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me.” 

This story is recorded in both Matthew’s gospel (Matt. 9:20-22) and Mark’s gospel (Mk. 5:25-34), but only here in Luke’s gospel was it indicated that Peter was the central person who said to Jesus, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.”

So, it seems that Peter was speaking for all the disciples. He was the spokesman. And also, when Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me,” He was speaking mainly, or more directly to Peter. Hence, I think Peter was getting Jesus’ response more than the others.

Jesus Chose His Disciples, Peter was First

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Luke 6:12-16 (also Mk. 3:13-19)

12 It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles: 14 Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; 15 and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; 16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Here we may note that Peter is named first. And in Matthew 10:2 it even says, “The first, Simon…” Moreover, in the list of apostles in Mark 3:16-19 and in Acts 1:13, Peter is listed first. Hence, not only does Peter always act as the leader, he is pointed out in Scripture (which is inspired by God) as the appointed leader.

Jesus Got Up Early To Pray

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This passage always reminds me of times I have been on camp outs and retreats. Usually, everyone sleeps in, and hardly anyone that I have found goes out in the wild to pray–like Jesus did.

Mark 1:35-39 (also Lu.4:42-44)

35 In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. 36 Simon and his companions searched for Him; 37 they found Him, and said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” 38 He said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.”

After Peter’s mother-in-law was healed “the whole city” came to see Jesus, and He healed many. Apparently, Jesus slept there in Peter’s home that night. Here in the text, we see that Jesus got up early to pray in a secluded place. And Peter gathered a search party of his companions to look for Him; it seems that Peter was the leader of this group (and he was the natural leader everywhere he went). And when they found him they were surprised saying, “Everyone is looking for you.” They were probably wondering why he got up so early to go to this secluded place. What was He doing? They didn’t understand the concept of prayer—of having an early morning quiet time. But here they got a first-hand knowledge of Jesus’ prayer habits. Soon Peter and his companions would learn more about a prayer life.

Jesus Comes to Heal Peter’s Mother-in-Law

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Mark 1:29-31 (also Matt.8:14-17; Lu. 4:38-39)

29 And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her. 31 And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them.

After Jesus called Peter and Andrew (and also James and John) to follow Him, they all went to Capernaum into the synagogue where Jesus taught the people. And while He was there, He also cast out a demon. And then they went to the house of Simon and Andrew.

 In this text (and also in Luke 4:38-39), we see that Peter’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. We can only surmise that Peter asked Jesus to come and help her. And when He did help her the fever left her. This interaction no doubt brought a great bonding to Peter and Jesus. Earlier Peter was amazed by the great catch of fish, then by the casting out of a demon, now by the healing of his mother-in-law. I imagine that Peter was thinking, who is this Jesus?

You Will Be Catching Men

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Luke 5:1-11

Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; 2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. 4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”  5 Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”  11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

This is Luke’s account of what happened when Jesus called Peter and Andrew to discipleship. This account is much more detailed than Matthew’s and Mark’s account (and John missed it altogether). I suppose that Luke took more detailed notes on what happened. Here is a tabulation of the things that were missing from the other gospels.

  • Jesus got into Peter’s boat and began teaching the people gathered from the boat.
  • When Jesus finished speaking He asked Peter to go out in deeper water and let down the fish nets to catch fish.
  • Peter protested, but nevertheless obeyed Jesus.
  • The result was that they caught so many fish that the nets began to break.
  • Peter was so amazed and ashamed of his disbelief that he asked Jesus to go away from him.
  • Jesus told Peter not to fear, that he would from then on not be fishing for fish, but for men.

In this account we get quite a bit of information on Peter. In verse 4, we see that Peter wasn’t afraid to confront Jesus on his opinion of going out deeper to fish. But he was humble enough to yield to what Jesus wanted, disregarding his own expert-fishing opinion. Again, in verse 8, we see the deep humility of Peter as he acknowledges his lack of faith. Hence, we see Peter’s strong personality as well as his deep humility.

The Calling of Peter

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I have been writing a commentary on the personality of Peter and his two Epistles for a couple months now, and I just decided to make some blogs out of it. The first two chapters will be on the person of Peter from the gospels (chapter 1), and from Acts (chapter 2). I am about half way through chapter two, so these blogs will be what I have written a while ago.

The way I will be writing it is to always put the text I will be covering first, and then to comment on that text. I basically get the text from anything I find in my reading that is about Peter (with the use of a concordance). Here below is my first entry from Matthew 4:18-20).

Matthew 4:18-20

18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

 When Jesus first called Peter into His ministry he was involved in the fishing business with his brother Andrew. But it seems here that Jesus ministry was much more appealing to him (and his brother).

Actually, we find in the gospel of John (Jn. 1:35-42) that Andrew was John the Baptist’s disciple; and when Andrew saw Jesus being baptized by John, he ran and found his brother Peter and said to him,

“We have found the Messiah.” So, Peter came to meet Jesus and He looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (translated Peter).

Hence, Peter (and his brother) had earlier met Jesus and they knew who he was—the Messiah. So, this knowledge of Jesus and the earlier impression that He made on them must have been the reason why they were so quick to leave their fishing business to follow Jesus. In fact, I think Jesus made such an impression on them that they couldn’t wait to be His disciple!

The gospel of Mark (in Mk. 1:16-20) reads the same as in Matthews gospel.