Psalms 126-128
1 Corinthians 10:19-33
“The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.’
But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish.
He went down to Joppa…” —Jonah 1:1-3
Peter grew up his whole life with a religious set of Jewish beliefs that were entrenched deep in his thinking, and God reshaped that set of beliefs through the events in Acts 10. God gave a vision to Peter not only to challenge his perspective towards Gentiles, but to reveal to him that the cross of Jesus Christ has removed the dividing wall of hostility that ceremonial divisions created. The Gentiles that were outside of the covenant relationship that Israel enjoyed had now been brought near through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
It is useful when we read through the Word to note locations where events take place and then to look at other parts of the Bible where those locations and names are also mentioned. When Peter received the vision from God, he was living in the city of Joppa. This city is also mentioned in the Old Testament story of Jonah. When we study the Gospels, we will find that Peter’s name is actually, “Simon son of Jonah.” Peter grew up as the son of a fisherman and was a fisherman by trade.
Could the story of Peter and Cornelius, and the story of Jonah and the big fish possibly be a beautiful parallel?
Many of us are familiar with the story of Jonah and the big fish. Jonah was called to go and preach to the Ninevites, a pagan people whom he viewed as unclean and undeserving of God’s grace and compassion. In his distaste for the Ninevites, Jonah went in the opposite direction, all the way to Joppa and got on a boat there. While on the boat, a huge storm broke out, and Jonah was thrown overboard and swallowed by a big fish.
For three days and three nights, Jonah was in the belly of a fish crying out to God. On the third day, the fish vomited Jonah on a beach. Afterwards, God told Jonah to go and preach to the Ninevites, and Jonah obeyed. Jonah is a story of bias and racism, and a story of obedience to God, even when we do not fully understand what God is doing.
What the story of Jonah reveals to us is that it was always in God’s heart to reconcile all people to Himself and to one another.
Just as God met Jonah and required him to go where he did not want to go,
God also met with Peter, making him go where he did not want to go.
When God changed a person’s name and gave him a new name,
it was usually to establish a new identity.
God changed Abram’s name, meaning "high father," to “Abraham,”
meaning "father of a multitude" (Genesis 17:5).
At the same time, God changed Abraham’s wife’s name from “Sarai,” meaning “my princess,” to “Sarah,” meaning “mother of nations” (Genesis 17:15). This name change took place when God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. God also reaffirmed His promise to give Abraham a son, specifically through Sarah, and told him to name his son Isaac, meaning "laughter." Abraham had another son, Ishmael, through Sarah’s handmaiden, Hagar. But God’s promise to bless the nations through Abraham was to be fulfilled through Isaac’s line, from whom Jesus descended (Matthew 1:1–17; Luke 3:23–38). Isaac was the father of Jacob, who became "Israel." His twelve sons formed the twelve tribes of Israel—the Jews. The physical descendants of Abraham and Sarah formed many nations. In a spiritual sense, their descendants are even more numerous. Galatians 3:29 says that all who belong to Jesus Christ—Jew, Gentile, male, or female—are "Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise."
God changed Jacob’s name, which meant “supplanter,” to “Israel,” meaning “having power with God” (Genesis 32:28). This happened after Jacob had taken Esau’s birthright (Genesis 25) and stolen Esau’s blessing (Genesis 27),
fled from his brother to his uncle Laban (Genesis 28), married Leah and Rachel (Genesis 29), fled from Laban (Genesis 31), and then wrestled with God as he prepared to meet Esau. Jacob had tricked his brother, been tricked by his uncle, tricked his uncle (Genesis 30), and was now going through his brother’s territory to escape his angry uncle. He’d heard that Esau was going to come out and meet him and feared for his life.
That night, Jacob wrestled with a man, who later identified Himself as God and is considered a theophany or perhaps a pre-incarnate Christ. Jacob held on to the man until he obtained a blessing. It was at this point that God changed his name. No longer would Jacob be a supplanter and trickster.
Rather, he would be identified as having
"struggled with God and with humans and . . . overcome"
(Genesis 32:28).
In the New Testament, Jesus changed Simon’s name, meaning “God has heard,” to “Peter,” meaning "rock" when He first called him as a disciple (John 1:42). It was Peter who declared that Jesus was "the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16).
Jesus replied to him as "Simon son of Jonah," saying that he was blessed because God revealed Jesus’ identity as Messiah to him.
He then referred to him as "Peter" and said that Peter’s declaration was the basis, or "rock," on which He would build His church (Matthew 16:17–18). Peter is also often seen as the leader of the apostles.
Jesus occasionally called Peter “Simon” at other times. Why?
Probably because Simon sometimes acted like his old self instead of the rock God called him to be.
The same is true for Jacob. God continued to call him “Jacob”
to remind him of his past and to remind him
to depend on God’s strength.
Why did God choose new names for some people? The Bible doesn’t give us His reasons, but perhaps it was to let them know they
were destined for a new mission in life.
The new name was a way to reveal the divine plan and also
to assure them that God’s plan would be fulfilled in them.
Simon Peter, also known as Cephas (John 1:42),
was one of the first followers of Jesus Christ. He was an outspoken and ardent disciple, one of Jesus’ closest friends, an apostle, and a “pillar” of the church (Galatians 2:9). Peter was enthusiastic, strong-willed, impulsive, and, at times, brash. But for all his strengths, Peter had several failings in his life. Still, the Lord who chose him continued to mold him into exactly who He intended Peter to be.
Simon was originally from Bethsaida (John 1:44) and lived in Capernaum (Mark 1:29), both cities on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. He was married (1 Corinthians 9:5), and he and James and John were partners in a profitable fishing business (Luke 5:10). Simon met Jesus through his brother Andrew, who had followed Jesus after hearing John the Baptist proclaim that Jesus was the Lamb of God (John 1:35-36). Andrew immediately went to find his brother to bring him to Jesus. Upon meeting Simon, Jesus gave him a new name: Cephas (Aramaic) or Peter (Greek), which means “rock” (John 1:40-42). Later, Jesus officially called Peter to follow Him, producing a miraculous catch of fish (Luke 5:1-7). Immediately, Peter left everything behind to follow the Lord (verse 11).
For the next three years, Peter lived as a disciple of the Lord Jesus. Being a natural-born leader, Peter became the de facto spokesman for the Twelve (Matthew 15:15, 18:21, 19:27; Mark 11:21; Luke 8:45, 12:41; John 6:68, 13:6-9, 36). More significantly, it was Peter who first confessed Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” a truth which Jesus said was divinely revealed to Peter (Matthew 16:16-17).
Peter was part of the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples, along with James and John. Only those three were present when Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:37) and when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain (Matthew 17:1). Peter and John were given the special task of preparing the final Passover meal (Luke 22:8).
In several instances, Peter showed himself to be impetuous to the point of rashness. For example, it was Peter who left the boat to walk on the water to Jesus (Matthew 14:28-29)—and promptly took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink (verse 30). It was Peter who took Jesus aside to rebuke Him for speaking of His death (Matthew 16:22)—and was swiftly corrected by the Lord (verse 23). It was Peter who suggested erecting three tabernacles to honor Moses, Elijah, and Jesus (Matthew 17:4)—and fell to the ground in fearful silence at God’s glory (verses 5-6). It was Peter who drew his sword and attacked the servant of the high priest (John 18:10)—and was immediately told to sheath his weapon (verse 11). It was Peter who boasted that he would never forsake the Lord, even if everyone else did (Matthew 26:33)—and later denied three times that he even knew the Lord (verses 70-74).
Through all of Peter’s ups and downs, the Lord Jesus remained his loving Lord and faithful Guide. Jesus reaffirmed Simon as Peter, the “Rock,” in Matthew 16:18-19, promising that he would be instrumental in establishing Jesus’ Church. After His resurrection, Jesus specifically named Peter as one who needed to hear the good news (Mark 16:7). And, repeating the miracle of the large catch of fish, Jesus made a special point of forgiving and restoring Peter and re-commissioning him as an apostle (John 21:6, 15-17).
On the day of Pentecost, Peter was the main speaker to the crowd in Jerusalem (Acts 2:14ff), and the Church began with an influx of about 3,000 new believers (verse 41). Later, Peter healed a lame beggar (Acts 3) and preached boldly before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4). Even arrest, beatings, and threats could not dampen Peter’s resolve to preach the risen Christ (Acts 5).
Jesus’ promise that Peter would be foundational in building the Church was fulfilled in three stages: Peter preached on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). Then, he was present when the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8). Finally, he was summoned to the home of the Roman centurion Cornelius, who also believed and received the Holy Spirit (Acts 10). In this way, Peter “unlocked” three different worlds and opened the door of the Church to Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles.
Even as an apostle, Peter experienced some growing pains. At first, he had resisted taking the gospel to Cornelius, a Gentile. However, when he saw the Romans receive the Holy Spirit in the same manner he had, Peter concluded that “God does not show favoritism” (Acts 10:34). After that, Peter strongly defended the Gentiles’ position as believers and was adamant that they did not need to conform to Jewish law (Acts 15:7-11).
Another episode of growth in Peter’s life concerns his visit to Antioch, where he enjoyed the fellowship of Gentile believers. However, when some legalistic Jews arrived in Antioch, Peter, to appease them, withdrew from the Gentile Christians. The Apostle Paul saw this as hypocrisy and called it such to Peter’s face (Galatians 2:11-14).
Later in life, Peter spent time with John Mark (1 Peter 5:13), who wrote the gospel of Mark based on Peter’s remembrances of his time with Jesus. Peter wrote two inspired epistles, 1 and 2 Peter, between A.D. 60 and 68. Jesus said that Peter would die a martyr’s death (John 21:18-19)—a prophecy fulfilled, presumably, during Nero’s reign. Tradition has it that Peter was crucified upside down in Rome, and, although such the story may be true, there is no scriptural or historical witness to the particulars of Peter’s death.
What can we learn from Peter’s life? Here are a few lessons:
Jesus overcomes fear. Whether stepping out of a boat onto a tossing sea or stepping across the threshold of a Gentile home for the first time, Peter found courage in following Christ. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18).
Jesus forgives unfaithfulness. After he had boasted of his fidelity, Peter fervently denied the Lord three times. It seemed that Peter had burned his bridges, but Jesus lovingly rebuilt them and restored Peter to service. Peter was a former failure, but, with Jesus, failure is not the end. “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).
Jesus patiently teaches. Over and over, Peter needed correction, and the Lord gave it with patience, firmness, and love. The Master Teacher looks for students willing to learn. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go” (Psalm 32:8).
Jesus sees us as He intends us to be. The very first time they met, Jesus called Simon “Peter.” The rough and reckless fisherman was, in Jesus’ eyes, a firm and faithful rock. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion” (Philippians 1:6).
Jesus uses unlikely heroes. Peter was a fisherman from Galilee, but Jesus called him to be a fisher of men (Luke 5:10). Because Peter was willing to leave all he had to follow Jesus, God used him in great ways. As Peter preached, people were amazed at his boldness because he was “unschooled” and “ordinary.” But then they took note that Peter “had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Being with Jesus makes all the difference.