His momma called him Simon. Jesus gave him a new name. “ ‘You will be called Cephas’ (which is translated ‘Peter’)” (John 1:42). Peter is Greek. Cephas is Aramaic. Both mean stone or rock. It wasn’t just a new name; it was a new identity.
In the beginning, he wasn’t much of a solid rock, but Jesus saw what Simon would become. For instance, when Jesus called him to step out of the boat on to the angry waves, Peter obeyed. But after taking a few steps, he noticed the fierce wind and stormy sea. Simon (not Peter) took his eyes off Jesus (Matthew 14:22-33). When he did, living up to his new name, he sank like a stone.
There are several examples of Simon being very un-Peter-like, un-rock-like. When Jesus told him to “put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4), Simon argued. He certainly knew more about fishing than Jesus, a carpenter. When his nets filled with fish, Peter “fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!’ ” (Luke 5:8).
On the Mount of Transfiguration, instead of concentrating on Jesus, Simon fell asleep (Luke 9:32). He fell asleep again in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:37).
Though Jesus warned him and even prayed for him (Luke 22:31-34), Simon denied Jesus three times. “I don’t know him.” … “I am not!” … “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” (Luke 22:57-58). That’s when the rooster crowed, “and he went outside and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62).
But God’s sanctifying grace was doing a great work in Peter’s life! Simon was changing, growing, being sanctified, becoming Peter, the Solid Rock. Certainly, after the Resurrected Jesus appeared to him (Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5), Simon became Peter. He was transformed. He became the Rock.
When God directed the church to seek an Apostle to replacement Judas, it was Peter that stepped forward to lead the one-hundred-twenty (Acts 1:15). And on the fiftieth day after Passover, Pentecost, it was Peter that raised his voice to proclaim the truth of the Resurrected Redeemer (Acts 2:14). Not Simon… but Peter!
We live on this side of Pentecost. Every believer has the benefits of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Our faith should be rock-solid because we “were washed… sanctified… justified in the name of the Lord and by the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
Peter closed his first epistle with a prayer for you and me. “The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while. To him be dominion forever. Amen” (1 Peter 5:10–11).
By God’s grace, we can become the men and women God created us to be.
“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).
Comments