1 Peter 1:1a

In 1 Peter 1:1a Peter declares himself to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ. But he was more than that, and there is a sense that he was the leader of the group of Apostles. Peter was an important and influential man in the early church. Considering the author, the first Christians would receive this letter with a sense of importance. “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ….”. Peter’s name is mentioned in the gospels more than anyone except the name of Jesus. No one speaks in the gospels as often as Peter did. Grudem wrote “The supreme importance of the apostles is suggested by the fact that the phrase of Jesus Christ is attached to no other New Testament office: we do not read of teachers of Jesus Christ or prophets of Jesus Christ or evangelists of Jesus Christ, only of apostles of Jesus Christ.”

And Jesus spoke more to Peter than to any other individual. Guzik notes:

• “Jesus rebuked Peter more than any other disciple.
• Peter was the only disciple who dared to rebuke Jesus.
• Peter confessed Jesus more boldly and accurately than any other disciple.
• Peter denied Jesus more forcefully and publicly than any other disciple.
• Jesus praised Peter more than any other disciple.
• Jesus addressed Peter as Satan alone among the disciples.”

Since Peter is so prominent in the gospel records, it is worthwhile to remind ourselves of some of the important mentions of Peter in the record of Biblical history. Guzik provides this summary of the important events Peter was part of:

• “When Jesus woke up early in the morning to pray before the sun came up, Simon Peter led the other disciples on a hunt to find Jesus and tell Him what He should do (Mark 1:35-39).
• Peter put his nets out at the direction of Jesus to bring in a massive catch of fish (Luke 5:1-11).
• Peter went on a unique outreach trip with the other disciples (Matthew 10:1-42).
• Peter stepped out of the boat during a raging storm and walked on the water with Jesus (Matthew 14:24-33).
• Peter was the one who said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and to know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:68-69).
• Peter saw Jesus transfigured in glory, together with Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:1-9).
• Peter was the one who asked Jesus how many times we should forgive a brother that sins against us, quoting the high number of “seven times” (Matthew 18:21-35).
• Peter was the one who asked Jesus, after the encounter with the rich young ruler, what the disciples would receive for giving everything up to follow Jesus (Matthew 19:27-30).

And his resume continues…..

• Peter was the one who insisted that Jesus would not wash his feet; then he commanded Jesus to wash his whole body! (John 13:6-10).
• Peter heard Jesus predict that he would deny Him three times (Matthew 26:30-35), and Peter replied, “Even if I have to die with you I will not deny You!” (Matthew 26:35), and the rest of the disciples agreed.
• Peter was the one who cut off the right ear of Malchus, the servant of the high priest, when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus (John 18:1-11).
• Peter denied Jesus three times, cursing and swearing that he did not even know “the Man,” refusing to even name the name of Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75).
• Peter was the one who ran with John the disciple to the tomb on the morning of the resurrection, after hearing the report of the women that the body of Jesus was not in its tomb (John 20:1-10).
• Peter was the one who received a personal visit from the resurrected Jesus on the day of the resurrection (Luke 24:34).
• Peter received a public restoration of Jesus in front of the other disciples after the resurrection of Jesus (John 21).”

“Portions of this blog post have been taken from the Enduring Word commentary, (c) 2023 The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – ewm@enduringword.com“

“Scripture (bold and italicized) has been taken from the English Standard Version, © ESV.org – www.esv.org”