Matthew 16:21-23 (also Mk. 8:31-9:1; Lk. 9:22-27)

21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. 22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

When Peter revealed who Jesus was—that He was the Messiah, Jesus was quick to warn Peter and the disciples not to tell this to anyone (v. 20). He wanted them to know that it was not His time to be exalted, but rather to suffer and die. It appeared that Peter didn’t like this at all; and he didn’t like that Jesus was saying it. In fact, Peter thought that Jesus was misguided in thinking it, that He ought to think more positively—kinglier, or more like “the Son of the living God” (v. 16).

But Jesus knew immediately that Peter was being influenced by Satan. And He, even for His own sake, had to cut off these wrong, Satanic ideas. It was soon time for Him to suffer and die; and he had to be prepared for it. And Peter and the disciples had to be prepared for it too.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?