Reference: Peter
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This name in Greek signifies a rock, as does also the name Cephas in Syriac. Peter was one of the twelve apostles, and was also called Simon, Mt 16:17, and Simeon, Ac 15:14. He was of Bethsaida, and was the son of Jonas, a fisherman, which occupation he also followed. After his marriage he resided at Capernaum, Mt 8:14; Lu 4:38, though called at a later period to labor else where as an apostle, and it would seem often accompanied in his journeys by his wife, 1Co 9:5. When first introduced to Jesus by his brother Andrew, he received from Him the name of Peter, Joh 1:42, probably in reference to the boldness and firmness of his character, and his activity in promoting his Master's cause. He received his second call, and began to accompany Christ, at the Sea of Galilee near his residence, and thenceforth learned to be a "fisher of men," Mt 4:18-20; Lu 5:1-11. Many remarkable incidents are recorded in the gospels, which illustrate his character. Among these are, his attempt to walk on the water to meet Christ, Mt 14:29; his avowal of the Messiahship and divinity of the Savior, Mt 16:16; his errors as to the design of Christ's incarnation,
Mt 16:22-23; his warm attachment to the divine Teacher, Joh 6:67-69; his cutting off the ear of Malchus, Joh 18:10; his boastful determination to adhere to his Master under all circumstances, and his subsequent denial of Him with oaths, Mt 26:74; Mr 14:29; Joh 13:37-38; his poignant repentance, Mt 26:75, and our Lord's forgiveness, after receiving an assurance of his love, which was thrice uttered as his denial of Christ had been, Joh 21:15-18. The death and resurrection of Christ, and the circumstances, which accompanied them, led to a wonderful change in the apostle's mind, and thenceforward his bold and steadfast course is worthy of his name. On the day of Pentecost, he was one of the principal witnesses for the Savior; in company with John he soon after healed a lame man at the temple gate, addressed the assembled crowd, was imprisoned, and fearlessly vindicated himself before the Sanhedrin, Ac 4:8-21. We find him afterwards denouncing the judgment of God on a guilty couple who had dared to lie to the Holy Ghost, Ac 5:1-11; visiting Samaria, and rebuking Simon the magician, Ac 8:5-24; healing Eneas and raising Dorcas to life at Lydda, Ac 9:32-43; seeing at Joppa a vision which prepared him to preach the gospel to the gentile Cornelius, Ac 10; imprisoned by Herod Agrippa, and delivered by an angel, Ac 12:3-19; and taking a part in the council at Jerusalem, Ac 15:7-11. The Bible gives us little information as to his subsequent labors; but it is probable that the three apostles who were most distinguished by the Savior while upon earth continues to be favored as chief instruments in advancing his cause. Paul speaks of "James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars," Ga 2:9. Yet in the same chapter we find him publicly reproving Peter for his wavering course in respect to the demands of Judaizing Christians, which he had been one of the first to repel at Jerusalem, Ac 15:9. He seems to have labored at Corinth, 1Co 1:12; 3:22, and at Babylon, 1Pe 5:13. Papal writers affirm that he was the bishop of Rome. But the evidence is strongly against this assertion. Paul wrote to the Roman Christians, giving them directions and saluting the principal persons by name; he also wrote six letters from Rome; but in none of these letters, nor in the narrative in Acts, is there the slightest intimation that Peter was or had been at Rome. And as Peter never resided at Rome, he was never made the head of the church universal. Whatever honor and authority he received from Christ, in establishing the first institutions of Christianity and declaring what it enjoined and from what it released, Mt 16:18-19, the other apostles also received, Mt 18:18; Joh 20:23; 5/3/type/goodspeed'>1Co 5:3,5; Eph 2:20; Re 21:14. There is no evidence that he had any supremacy over them, nor that he had any successor in that influence which was naturally accorded to him as one of the oldest, most active, and most faithful of those who had "seen the Lord".
See Verses Found in Dictionary
As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who was afterward called Peter, and his brother, Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. He said to them, "Come and follow me, and I will make you fish for men!" read more. They immediately dropped their nets and went with him.
Jesus went into Peter's house, and there he found Peter's mother-in-law sick in bed with fever.
And he said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and went to Jesus.
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!" Jesus answered, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for human nature has not disclosed this to you, but my Father in heaven! read more. But I tell you, your name is Peter, a rock, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not subdue it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you forbid on earth will be held in heaven to be forbidden, and whatever you permit on earth will be held in heaven to be permitted."
And Peter took him aside and began to reprove him for it, saying, "God bless you, Master! that can never happen to you!" But he turned and said to Peter, "Get out of my sight, you Satan! You hinder me, for you do not side with God, but with men!"
"I tell you, whatever you forbid on earth will be held in heaven to be forbidden, and whatever you permit on earth will be held in heaven to be permitted.
Then he started to swear with the strongest oaths, "I do not know the man!" And at that moment a cock crowed. And Peter remembered Jesus' words when he had said, "Before a cock crows, you will disown me three times!" And he went outside and wept bitterly.
When he got up and left the synagogue, he went to Simon's house. And Simon's mother-in-law was suffering with a severe attack of fever, and they asked him about her.
Once as the crowd was pressing about him to hear God's message, he happened to be standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats on the shore of the lake, for the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. read more. And he got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to push out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds of people from the boat. When he stopped speaking, he said to Simon, "Push out into deep water, and then put down your nets for a haul." Simon answered, "Master, we worked all night and caught nothing, but as you tell me to do it, I will put down the nets." So they did so, and inclosed such a shoal of fish that their nets began to break. And they signaled to their comrades in the other boat to come and help them. And they came, and they filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' feet and said, "Leave me, Master, for I am a sinful man." For he and all the men with him were perfectly amazed at the haul of fish they had made, and so were Zebedee's sons, James and John, who were Simon's partners. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid. From now on you are to catch men!" And they brought the boats to land and left everything and followed him.
So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you mean to go away too?" Simon Peter answered, "To whom can we go, sir? You have a message of eternal life, read more. and we believe and are satisfied that you are the Holy One of God."
Peter said to him, "Master, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." Jesus answered, "You will lay down your life for me? I tell you, before a cock crows, you will disown me thrice over!
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword with him, drew it and struck at the high priest's slave and cut off his right ear. The slave's name was Malchus.
"Receive the holy Spirit! If you forgive any men's sins, they are forgiven them, and if you fix any men's sins upon them, they will remain fixed."
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, are you more devoted to me than these others are?" Peter said to him, "Yes, Master, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then feed my lambs!" Again Jesus said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, are you devoted to me?" He said to him, "Yes, Master, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then be a shepherd to my sheep!" read more. Jesus said to him a third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because the third time Jesus asked him if he loved him, and he answered, "Master, you know everything, you can see that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then feed my sheep! I tell you, when you were young, you used to put on your own girdle and go where you pleased, but when you grow old, you will stretch our your hands and someone else will put a girdle on you and take you where you have no wish to go"
Then Peter, filled with the holy Spirit, said to them, "Leaders of the people and members of the council, if it is for a benefit conferred upon a helpless man, and as to how he was cured, that we are called to account here today, read more. you and the people of Israel must all know that it is through the power of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that he stands here before you well. He is the stone that you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. There is no salvation through anyone else, for there is no one else in the world who has been named to men as their only means of being saved." They were amazed to see how outspoken Peter and John were, and to find that they were uneducated men with no advantages. They recognized them as companions of Jesus, and seeing the man who had been cured standing beside them, they had nothing to say. But they ordered them out of the presence of the council and conferred together. They said, "What are we to do with these men? For it is plain to everyone in Jerusalem that an extraordinary wonder has been done by them. We cannot deny that. But to keep it from spreading farther among the people, let us warn them to say nothing to anyone else at all about this person." So they called them in and ordered them not to speak or teach at all about the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, "You must decide whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you instead of him, for we cannot help telling of what we have seen and heard." But after further threats they let them go, as they could find no way to punish them, on account of the people, who were all giving honor to God for what had happened,
But a man named Ananias, who, with his wife Sapphira, had sold a piece of property, with his wife's connivance appropriated some of the price received, and brought only a part of it to put at the disposal of the apostles. read more. And Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan taken such possession of your heart that you should lie to the holy Spirit, by appropriating part of the price of your land? As long as it was unsold was it not yours, and after it was sold was not the money under your control? How could you think of doing such a thing? You did not lie to men but to God!" When Ananias heard these words he fell down and expired, and everyone who heard them spoken was appalled. The younger men got up and wrapping his body up carried it out and buried it. About three hours later, his wife came in, without having learned what had happened. Peter said to her, "Tell me, did you sell the land for such and such a sum?" "Yes," she said, "that was it." Peter said to her, "How could you two agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? There at the door are the footsteps of the men who buried your husband, and they will carry you out also." She instantly fell down at his feet and expired. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And the whole church and all who heard this were appalled.
Philip reached the city of Samaria, and proclaimed the Christ to them. When the people heard Philip and saw the signs that he showed they were all interested in what he had to say, read more. for with loud cries foul spirits came out of many who had been possessed by them, and many paralytics and lame people were cured. So there was great rejoicing in that city. There was a man named Simon in the town, who had been amazing the Samaritan people by practicing magic there, and who made great pretensions. Everyone there, high and low, made much of him, and said, "He must be what is known as the Great Power of God!" They made much of him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip's message of the good news of the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, men and women alike accepted baptism. Even Simon himself believed and after his baptism devoted himself to Philip, and he was amazed at seeing such signs and great wonders taking place. When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted God's message, they sent Peter and John there. When they came, they prayed that the Samaritans might receive the holy Spirit, for it had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the holy Spirit. But when Simon saw that the holy Spirit was imparted through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, "Give me also this power to communicate the holy Spirit to anyone I place my hands upon." But Peter said to him, "Go to destruction with your money, for thinking you could buy God's gift with it! You have no share or part in this movement, for your heart is not honest in the sight of God. So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord, to see if you may not be forgiven for thinking of such a thing. For I see that you are a bitter poison and a bundle of iniquity!" Simon answered, "You must pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things you have said may happen to me!"
As Peter was traveling about among them all, he happened to visit God's people at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. read more. Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ cures you! Get up, and make your bed!" And he got up immediately. And everybody who lived in Lydda or in Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Among the disciples at Joppa there was a woman named Tabitha, which is in Greek Dorcas, that is, gazelle. She had devoted herself to doing good and to acts of charity. Just at that time it happened that she had been taken ill and had died, and they had washed her body and laid her out in a room upstairs. As Joppa was near Lydda, the disciples heard that Peter was there, and they sent two men to him, urging him to come over without delay. Peter went with them at once. When he arrived, they took him up to the room and all the widows stood around him crying and showing him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made when she was still with them. But Peter put them all out of the room. Then he knelt down and prayed, and then turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, stand up!" She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and raised her to her feet, and calling in the believers and the widows, he gave her back to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many came to believe in the Lord. So it came about that Peter stayed for some time in Joppa, at the house of a tanner named Simon.
and when he saw that this gratified the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, at the time of the festival of Unleavened Bread. He had him seized and put in jail, with four squads of soldiers to guard him, meaning after the Passover to bring him out before the people. read more. So Peter was kept in the jail, but the church was praying earnestly to God for him. The night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter was asleep between two soldiers, and fastened with two chains, and watchmen were at the door, guarding the jail, when an angel of the Lord stood at his side, and a light shone in the room, and striking Peter on the side, he woke him, and said to him, "Get up quickly!" The chains dropped from his hands, and the angel said to him, "Put on your belt and your sandals!" And he did so. Then he said to him, "Put on your coat and follow me!" So he followed him out without knowing that what the angel was doing was real, for he thought he was having a vision. They passed the first guard and then the second, and came to the iron gate that led into the city. It opened to them of itself, and they passed out and went along one street, when suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself, and he said, "Now I am certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the power of Herod and all that the Jewish people were expecting." When he realized his situation, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where a number of people were gathered, praying. When he knocked at the outer door, a maid named Rhoda came to answer it, and when she recognized Peter's voice, in her joy she did not stop to open the door, but ran in and told them that Peter was standing outside. But they said to her, "You are crazy!" But she insisted that it was so. Then they said, "Then it is his guardian angel!" But Peter kept on knocking. And when they opened the door and saw him they were amazed. He motioned to them to be quiet, and then related to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. "Tell all this to James and the brothers," he said. Then he left them and went somewhere else. But when morning came, there was no little commotion among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter. Herod had inquiries made for him, and when he could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he left Judea for Caesarea, and stayed there.
After a long discussion, Peter got up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days God chose that of you all I should be the one from whose lips the heathen should hear the message of the good news and believe it. And God who knows men's hearts testified for them by giving them the holy Spirit just as he had done to us, read more. making no difference between us and them, but cleansing their hearts by faith.
making no difference between us and them, but cleansing their hearts by faith. Then why do you now try to test God, by putting on the necks of these disciples a yoke that neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear? read more. Why, we believe that it is by the mercy of the Lord Jesus that we are saved just as they are."
Symeon has told how God first showed an interest in taking from among the heathen a people to bear his name.
What I mean is this, that one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul," another, "And I, of Apollos," another, "And I, of Cephas," and another, "And I, of Christ!"
Have we not a right to take a Christian wife about with us, like the rest of the apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?
You are built upon the apostles and prophets as your foundation, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone.
Your sister-church in Babylon, chosen like you, and Mark my son wish to be remembered to you.
The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the Lamb's twelve apostles.
Easton
originally called Simon (=Simeon ,i.e., "hearing"), a very common Jewish name in the New Testament. He was the son of Jona (Mt 16:17). His mother is nowhere named in Scripture. He had a younger brother called Andrew, who first brought him to Jesus (Joh 1:40-42). His native town was Bethsaida, on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee, to which also Philip belonged. Here he was brought up by the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and was trained to the occupation of a fisher. His father had probably died while he was still young, and he and his brother were brought up under the care of Zebedee and his wife Salome (Mt 27:56; Mr 15:40; 16:1). There the four youths, Simon, Andrew, James, and John, spent their boyhood and early manhood in constant fellowship. Simon and his brother doubtless enjoyed all the advantages of a religious training, and were early instructed in an acquaintance with the Scriptures and with the great prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah. They did not probably enjoy, however, any special training in the study of the law under any of the rabbis. When Peter appeared before the Sanhedrin, he looked like an "unlearned man" (Ac 4:13).
Simon was a Galilean, and he was that out and out...The Galileans had a marked character of their own. They had a reputation for an independence and energy which often ran out into turbulence. They were at the same time of a franker and more transparent disposition than their brethren in the south. In all these respects, in bluntness, impetuosity, headiness, and simplicity, Simon was a genuine Galilean. They spoke a peculiar dialect. They had a difficulty with the guttural sounds and some others, and their pronunciation was reckoned harsh in Judea. The Galilean accent stuck to Simon all through his career. It betrayed him as a follower of Christ when he stood within the judgment-hall (Mr 14:70). It betrayed his own nationality and that of those conjoined with him on the day of Pentecost (Ac 2:7). It would seem that Simon was married before he became an apostle. His wife's mother is referred to (Mt 8:14; Mr 1:30; Lu 4:38). He was in all probability accompanied by his wife on his missionary journeys (1Co 9:5; comp. 1Pe 5:13).
He appears to have been settled at Capernaum when Christ entered on his public ministry, and may have reached beyond the age of thirty. His house was large enough to give a home to his brother Andrew, his wife's mother, and also to Christ, who seems to have lived with him (Mr 1:29,36; 2:1), as well as to his own family. It was apparently two stories high (Mr 2:4).
At Bethabara (R.V., Joh 1:28, "Bethany"), beyond Jordan, John the Baptist had borne testimony concerning Jesus as the "Lamb of God" (Joh 1:29-36). Andrew and John hearing it, followed Jesus, and abode with him where he was. They were convinced, by his gracious words and by the authority with which he spoke, that he was the Messiah (Lu 4:22; Mt 7:29); and Andrew went forth and found Simon and brought him to Jesus (Joh 1:41).
Jesus at once recognized Simon, and declared that hereafter he would be called Cephas, an Aramaic name corresponding to the Greek Petros, which means "a mass of rock detached from the living rock." The Aramaic name does not occur again, but the name Peter gradually displaces the old name Simon, though our Lord himself always uses the name Simon when addressing him (Mt 17:25; Mr 14:37; Lu 22:31, comp. Mt 21:15-17). We are not told what impression the first interview with Jesus produced on the mind of Simon. When we next meet him it is by the Sea of Galilee (Mt 4:18-22). There the four (Simon and Andrew, James and John) had had an unsuccessful night's fishing. Jesus appeared suddenly, and entering into Simon's boat, bade him launch forth and let down the nets. He did so, and enclosed a great multitude of fishes. This was plainly a miracle wrought before Simon's eyes. The awe-stricken disciple cast himself at the feet of Jesus, crying, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Lu 5:8). Jesus addressed him with the assuring words, "Fear not," and announced to him his life's work. Simon responded at once to the call to become a disciple, and after this we find him in constant attendance on our Lord.
He is next called into the rank of the apostleship, and becomes a "fisher of men" (Mt 4:19) in the stormy seas of the world of human life (Mt 10:2-4; Mr 3:13-19; Lu 6:13-16), and takes a more and more prominent part in all the leading events of our Lord's life. It is he who utters that notable profession of faith at Capernaum (Joh 6:66-69), and again at Caesarea Philippi (Mt 16:13-20; Mr 8:27-30; Lu 9:18-20). This profession at Caesarea was one of supreme importance, and our Lord in response used these memorable words: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church."
From that time forth Jesus began to speak of his sufferings. For this Peter rebuked him. But our Lord in return rebuked Peter, speaking to him in sterner words than he ever used to any other of his disciples (Mt 16:21-23; Mr 8:31-33). At the close of his brief sojourn at Caesarea our Lord took Peter and James and John with him into "an high mountain apart," and was transfigured before them. Peter on that occasion, under the impression the scene produced on his mind, exclaimed, "Lord, it is good for us to be here: let us make three tabernacles" (Mt 17:1-9).
On his return to Capernaum the collectors of the temple tax (a didrachma, half a sacred shekel), which every Israelite of twenty years old and upwards had to pay (Ex 30:15), came to Peter and reminded him that Jesus had not paid it (Mt 17:24-27). Our Lord instructed Peter to go and catch a fish in the lake and take from its mouth the exact amount needed for the tax, viz., a stater, or two half-shekels. "That take," said our Lord, "and give unto them for me and thee."
As the end was drawing nigh, our Lord sent Peter and John (Lu 22:7-13) into the city to prepare a place where he should keep the feast with his disciples. There he was forewarned of the fearful sin into which he afterwards fell (Lu 22:31-34). He accompanied our Lord from the guest-chamber to the garden of Gethsemane (Lu 22:39-46), which he and the other two who had been witnesses of the transfiguration were permitted to enter with our Lord, while the rest were left without. Here he passed through a strange experience. Under a sudden impulse he cut off the ear of Malchus (Lu 22:47-51), one of the band that had come forth to take Jesus. Then follow the scenes of the judgment-hall (Lu 22:54-61) and his bitter grief ([luke 22:62|).
He is found in John's company early on the morning of the resurrection. He boldly entered into the empty grave (Joh 20:1-10), and saw the "linen clothes laid by themselves" (Lu 24:9-12). To him, the first of the apostles, our risen Lord revealed himself, thus conferring on him a signal honour, and showing how fully he was restored to his favour (Lu 24:34; 1Co 15:5). We next read of our Lord's singular interview with Peter on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where he thrice asked him, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" (Joh 21:1-19). (See Love.)
After this scene at the lake we hear nothing of Peter till he again appears with the others at the ascension (Ac 1:15-26). It was he who proposed that the vacancy caused by the apostasy of Judas should be filled up. He is prominent on the day of Pentecost (Ac 2:14-40). The events of that day "completed the change in Peter himself which the painful discipline of his fall and all the lengthened process of previous training had been slowly making. He is now no more the unreliable, changeful, self-confident man, ever swaying between rash courage and weak timidity, but the stead-fast, trusted guide and director of the fellowship of believers, the intrepid preacher of Christ in Jerusalem and abroad. And now that he is become Cephas indeed, we hear almost nothing of the name Simon (only in Ac 10:5,32; 15:14), and he is known to us finally as Peter."
After the miracle at the temple gate (Ac 3) persecution arose against the Christians, and Peter was cast into prison. He boldly defended himself and his companions at the bar of the council (Ac 4:19-20). A fresh
See Verses Found in Dictionary
As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who was afterward called Peter, and his brother, Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. He said to them, "Come and follow me, and I will make you fish for men!"
He said to them, "Come and follow me, and I will make you fish for men!" They immediately dropped their nets and went with him. read more. And he went on a little farther and saw two other men who were brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother, John, in the boat with Zebedee, their father, putting their nets in order, and he called them. And they immediately left the boat and their father, and went with him.
for he taught them like one who had authority and not like their scribes.
Jesus went into Peter's house, and there he found Peter's mother-in-law sick in bed with fever.
These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector, James the son of Alpheus and Thaddeus, read more. Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot who afterward betrayed him.
When Jesus reached the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They said, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." read more. He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!" Jesus answered, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for human nature has not disclosed this to you, but my Father in heaven!
Jesus answered, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for human nature has not disclosed this to you, but my Father in heaven! But I tell you, your name is Peter, a rock, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not subdue it. read more. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you forbid on earth will be held in heaven to be forbidden, and whatever you permit on earth will be held in heaven to be permitted." Then he warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. It was then that Jesus Christ for the first time explained to his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and endure great suffering there at the hands of the elders, high priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised to life on the third day. And Peter took him aside and began to reprove him for it, saying, "God bless you, Master! that can never happen to you!" But he turned and said to Peter, "Get out of my sight, you Satan! You hinder me, for you do not side with God, but with men!"
Six days after this, Jesus took Peter and James and his brother John, and led them up on a high mountain, by themselves. And his appearance underwent a change in their presence and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. read more. And Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. And Peter spoke, and said to Jesus, "Master, how good it is that we are here! If you wish, I will make three huts here, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." As he spoke a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, my Beloved. He is my Chosen. Listen to him!" When the disciples heard it, they were dreadfully frightened and fell upon their faces. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, "Get up and do not be afraid." When they looked up, they saw no one but Jesus himself. And as they were going down the mountain, Jesus cautioned them, saying, "Do not tell anyone of the vision you have seen until the Son of Man is raised from the dead."
When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple-tax came and said to Peter, "Does not your Master pay the temple-tax?" He said, "Yes." But when he went home, Jesus spoke of it first and said, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect duties and taxes? From their own people, or from aliens?"
He said, "Yes." But when he went home, Jesus spoke of it first and said, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect duties and taxes? From their own people, or from aliens?" He said, "From aliens." Jesus said to him, "Then their own people are exempt. read more. But rather than give offense to them, go down to the sea and throw in a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, open its mouth and you will find in it a dollar. Take that and pay the tax for us both."
But when the high priests and the scribes saw the wonders that he did and saw the boys shouting in the Temple, "God bless the Son of David!" they were indignant, and said to him, "Do you hear what they are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes. Did you never read, 'You have drawn praise from the mouths of children and infants'?" read more. And he left them, and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.
among them Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.
As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the house of Simon and Andrew. Simon's mother-in-law was in bed, sick with a fever, and they immediately told him about her.
Some days later he came back to Capernaum, and people heard that he was at home,
As they could not get him near Jesus on account of the crowd, they broke open the roof just over his head, and through the opening they lowered the mat with the paralytic lying on it.
And he went up the hillside and summoned to him those whom he wanted, and they went to him. He appointed twelve of them, whom he called apostles, to be with him and to be sent out to preach, read more. with power to drive out the demons. These were the twelve he appointed: Peter, which was the name he gave to Simon, James the son of Zebedee, and John, James's brother (he named them Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Then he went home.
Then Jesus and his disciples went away to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he questioned his disciples and said to them, "Who do people say that I am?" They said to him, "John the Baptist; others say Elijah, and others that you are one of the prophets." read more. And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to him, "You are the Christ." And he warned them not to say this about him to anyone. Then he explained to them for the first time that the Son of Man must go through much suffering, and be refused by the elders and the high priests and the scribes, and be killed, and rise again three days after. He told them this plainly. And Peter took him aside, and began to reprove him for it. But turning and seeing his disciples he reproved Peter, and said, "Get out of my sight, you Satan! for you do not side with God, but with men."
When he went back he found them asleep and he said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Were you not able to watch for one hour?
But he denied it again. And again a little while after, the bystanders said to Peter, "You certainly are one of them, for you are a Galilean!"
There were some women also watching from a distance, among them Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome,
When the Sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary, James's mother, and Salome bought spices, in order to go and anoint him.
And they all spoke well of him and were astonished at the winning words that fell from his lips, and they said, "Is he not Joseph's son?"
When he got up and left the synagogue, he went to Simon's house. And Simon's mother-in-law was suffering with a severe attack of fever, and they asked him about her.
When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' feet and said, "Leave me, Master, for I am a sinful man."
When day came, he called his disciples to him, and chose twelve of them whom he named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, read more. Matthew, Thomas, James, the son of Alpheus, Simon, who was called the Zealot, Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who turned out a traitor.
Once when he was praying by himself, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, "Who do the people say that I am?" They answered, "John the Baptist, though others say Elijah, and others that one of the old prophets has come back to life." read more. And he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God!"
When the day of Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed, Jesus sent Peter and John, saying to them, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover." read more. They said to him, "Where do you want us to prepare it?" He said to them, "Just after you enter the city, you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him to the house to which he goes, and say to the man of the house, 'Our Master says to you, "Where is the room where I can eat the Passover supper with my disciples?" ' And he will show you a large room upstairs with the necessary furniture. Make your preparations there." So they went and found everything just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover supper.
O Simon, Simon! Satan has obtained permission to sift all of you like wheat,
O Simon, Simon! Satan has obtained permission to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail. And afterward you yourself must turn and strengthen your brothers." read more. Peter said to him, "Master, I am ready to go to prison and to death with you!" But he said, "I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow today before you deny three times that you know me!"
And he went out of the city and up on the Mount of Olives as he was accustomed to do, with his disciples following him. And when he reached the spot, he said to them, "Pray that you may not be subjected to trial." read more. And he withdrew about a stone's throw from them, and kneeling down he prayed and said, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me. But not my will but yours be done!" OMITTED TEXT OMITTED TEXT When he got up from his prayer, he went to the disciples and found them asleep from sorrow. And he said to them, "Why are you asleep? Get up, and pray that you may not be subjected to trial!" While he was still speaking, a crowd of people came up, with the man called Judas, one of the Twelve, at their head, and he stepped up to Jesus to kiss him. Jesus said to him, "Would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?" Those who were about him saw what was coming and said, "Master, shall we use our swords?" And one of them did strike at the high priest's slave and cut his right ear off. But Jesus answered, "Let me do this much!" And he touched his ear and healed him.
Then they arrested him and led him away and took him to the house of the high priest. And Peter followed at a distance. And they kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat about it, and Peter sat down among them. read more. A maid saw him sitting by the fire and looked at him and said, "This man was with him too." But he denied it, and said, "I do not know him." Shortly after, a man saw him and said, "You are one of them too!" But Peter said, "I am not!" About an hour later, another man insisted, "This man was certainly with him too, for he is a Galilean!" But Peter said, "I do not know what you mean." And immediately, just as he spoke, a cock crowed. And the Master turned and looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the words the Master had said to him??"Before the cock crows today, you will disown me three times."
and they went back from the tomb and told all this to the eleven and all the rest. They were Mary of Magdala and Joanna and Mary, James's mother; and the other women also told this to the apostles. read more. But the story seemed to them to be nonsense and they would not believe them. OMITTED TEXT
and learned from them that the Master had really risen and had been seen by Simon.
In consequence of this many of his disciples drew back and would not go about with him any longer. So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you mean to go away too?" read more. Simon Peter answered, "To whom can we go, sir? You have a message of eternal life, and we believe and are satisfied that you are the Holy One of God."
On the day after the Sabbath, very early in the morning while it was still dark, Mary of Magdala went to the tomb, and she saw that the stone had been removed from it. So she ran away and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple who was dear to Jesus, and said to them, "They have taken the Master out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have put him." read more. So Peter and the other disciple went out of the city and started for the tomb. And they both ran, and the other disciple ran faster than Peter and got to the tomb first. And he stooped down and saw the bandages lying on the ground, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came up behind him, and he went inside the tomb, and saw the bandages lying on the ground, and the handkerchief that had been over Jesus' face not on the ground with the bandages, but folded up by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first went inside too, and saw and was convinced. For they did not yet understand the statement of Scripture that he must rise from the dead. So the disciples went home again.
After this Jesus again showed himself to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and he did so in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael, of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples of Jesus were all together. read more. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach, though the disciples did not know that it was he. So Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any fish?" They answered, "No." "Throw your net in on the right of the boat," he said to them, "and you will find them." They did so, and they could not haul it in for the quantity of fish in it. Then the disciple who was dear to Jesus said to Peter, "It is the Master!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Master, he put on his clothes, for he had taken them off, and sprang into the sea. The rest of the disciples followed in the boat, for they were not far from land, only about a hundred yards, dragging in the net full of fish. When they landed they saw a charcoal fire burning, with a fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught." So Simon Peter got into the boat, and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them, and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared to ask him who he was, for they knew it was the Master. Jesus went and got the bread and gave it to them, and the fish also. This was the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples, after he had risen from the dead. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, are you more devoted to me than these others are?" Peter said to him, "Yes, Master, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then feed my lambs!" Again Jesus said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, are you devoted to me?" He said to him, "Yes, Master, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then be a shepherd to my sheep!" Jesus said to him a third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because the third time Jesus asked him if he loved him, and he answered, "Master, you know everything, you can see that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then feed my sheep! I tell you, when you were young, you used to put on your own girdle and go where you pleased, but when you grow old, you will stretch our your hands and someone else will put a girdle on you and take you where you have no wish to go" He said this to show the kind of death by which Peter was to honor God; and after he had said it he said to Peter, "Follow me!"
It was at that time that Peter got up among the brothers??here were about a hundred and twenty persons present??nd said, "Brothers, the prediction of the Scriptures had to come true that the holy Spirit uttered by the lips of David, about Judas, who acted as guide for the men that arrested Jesus??17 for he was one of our number and a share in this ministry of ours fell to his lot."
(This man bought a piece of land with the money paid him for his treachery, and his body swelled up and burst open in the middle and all his vitals poured out. This fact was well known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the piece of land came to be called in their language Akeldamach, the bloody field.) read more. "For in the Book of Psalms it is written, 'Let his estate be desolate, with no one to live on it,' and 'Let someone else take his position.' "So one of the men who has been associated with us all the time that the Lord Jesus moved about among us, from his baptism by John to the time when he was caught up from us, must join us as a witness to his resurrection." Then they proposed two men, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was known as Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, saying, "Lord, you who know all hearts, show us which one of these two you have chosen to take this place of service as an apostle which Judas left to go where he belonged." Then they drew lots between them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was added to the eleven apostles.
They were perfectly amazed and said in their astonishment, "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?
Then Peter stood up with the eleven around him, and raising his voice addressed them. "Men of Judea," he said, "and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you, and pay attention to what I say. These men are not drunk as you suppose, for it is only nine in the morning. read more. But this is what was predicted by the prophet Joel, " 'It will come about in the last days, God says, That I will pour out my Spirit upon all mankind; Your sons and daughters will become prophets, Your young men will have visions, And your old men will have dreams. Even on my slaves, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, And they will become prophets. I will show wonders in the sky above, And signs on the earth below, Blood and fire and thick smoke. The sun will turn to darkness, And the moon to blood, Before the coming of the great, splendid Day of the Lord. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' "Men of Israel, listen to what I say. Jesus of Nazareth, as you know, was a man whom God commended to you by the wonders, portents, and signs that God did right among you through him. But you, by the fixed purpose and intention of God, handed him over to wicked men, and had him crucified. But God set aside the pain of death and raised him up, for death could not control him. For David says of him, 'I constantly regarded the Lord before me, For he is at my right hand, so that I may not be displaced. Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices, And my body will still live in hope. For you will not desert my soul in death, You will not let your Holy One be destroyed. You have made the ways of life known to me, And you will fill me with joy in your presence.' "Brothers, one may say to you confidently of the patriarch David that he died and was buried, and his grave is here among us to this very day. But as he was a prophet, and knew that God had promised him with an oath that he would put one of his descendants upon his throne, he foresaw the resurrection of the Christ and told of it, for he was not deserted in death and his body was not destroyed. He is Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, and to whose resurrection we are all witnesses. So he has been exalted to God's right hand, and has received from his Father and poured over us the holy Spirit that had been promised, as you see and hear. "For David did not go up to heaven, but he said, 'The Lord said to my lord, Sit at my right hand, Until I make your enemies your footstool.' "Therefore the whole nation of Israel must understand that God has declared this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ." When they heard this, they were stung to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter said to them, "You must repent, and every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, in order to have your sins forgiven; then you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit, for the promise of it belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those far away whom the Lord our God calls to him." He said much more besides in giving his testimony, and urged them to save themselves from that crooked age.
They were amazed to see how outspoken Peter and John were, and to find that they were uneducated men with no advantages. They recognized them as companions of Jesus,
But Peter and John answered them, "You must decide whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you instead of him, for we cannot help telling of what we have seen and heard."
This aroused the high priest and all his supporters, the party of the Sadducees, and filled them with jealousy, and they had the apostles arrested and put in the common jail. read more. But an angel of the Lord opened the jail doors in the night and let them out, and said to them, "Go, take your stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new life." And they obeyed, and about daybreak went into the Temple and began to teach. The high priest and his party came over and called together the council and indeed the whole senate of the Israelites, and sent to the prison to have the apostles brought in.
Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. The God of our forefathers raised Jesus to life when you had hung him on a cross and killed him. read more. God took him up to his right hand as our leader and savior, in order to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We and the holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him are witnesses to these things."
When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted God's message, they sent Peter and John there. When they came, they prayed that the Samaritans might receive the holy Spirit, read more. for it had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the holy Spirit. But when Simon saw that the holy Spirit was imparted through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, "Give me also this power to communicate the holy Spirit to anyone I place my hands upon." But Peter said to him, "Go to destruction with your money, for thinking you could buy God's gift with it! You have no share or part in this movement, for your heart is not honest in the sight of God. So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord, to see if you may not be forgiven for thinking of such a thing. For I see that you are a bitter poison and a bundle of iniquity!" Simon answered, "You must pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things you have said may happen to me!" After they had given their testimony and delivered the Lord's message, they went back to Jerusalem, telling the good news in many Samaritan villages on the way.
When he reached Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they could not believe that he was really a disciple. But Barnabas got hold of him and introduced him to the apostles, and he told them how on his journey he had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken to him, and how boldly he had spoken for the cause of Jesus at Damascus. read more. After that, he associated with them freely in Jerusalem, and spoke boldly for the Lord's cause, talking and debating with the Greek-speaking Jews. But they tried to kill him. When the brothers found this out, they took him down to Caesarea, and sent him away to Tarsus.
As Peter was traveling about among them all, he happened to visit God's people at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. read more. Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ cures you! Get up, and make your bed!" And he got up immediately. And everybody who lived in Lydda or in Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Among the disciples at Joppa there was a woman named Tabitha, which is in Greek Dorcas, that is, gazelle. She had devoted herself to doing good and to acts of charity. Just at that time it happened that she had been taken ill and had died, and they had washed her body and laid her out in a room upstairs. As Joppa was near Lydda, the disciples heard that Peter was there, and they sent two men to him, urging him to come over without delay. Peter went with them at once. When he arrived, they took him up to the room and all the widows stood around him crying and showing him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made when she was still with them. But Peter put them all out of the room. Then he knelt down and prayed, and then turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, stand up!" She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and raised her to her feet, and calling in the believers and the widows, he gave her back to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many came to believe in the Lord. So it came about that Peter stayed for some time in Joppa, at the house of a tanner named Simon.
So send to Joppa and invite Simon who is called Peter to come here. He is staying at the house of a tanner named Simon, close to the sea.'
The apostles and brothers all over Judea heard that the heathen had also accepted God's message, and when Peter returned to Jerusalem, the advocates of circumcision took him to task, read more. charging him with having visited and eaten with men who were not Jews. Then Peter explained the matter to them from beginning to end. He said, "I was praying in the town of Joppa, and while in a trance I had a vision. Something like a great sheet came down out of the sky, lowered by its four corners. It came right down to me, and when I looked at it, I saw in it quadrupeds, wild animals, reptiles, and wild birds. And I heard a voice say to me, 'Get up, Peter! Kill something and eat it!' But I said, 'Never, sir! For nothing that was not ceremonially cleansed has ever passed my lips.' Then the voice from heaven answered again, 'Do not call what God has cleansed unclean!' This happened three times; then it was all drawn back again into the sky. Just at that moment three men, who had been sent from Caesarea to find me, reached the house where we were staying, and the Spirit told me not to hesitate to go with them. These six brothers here also went with me, and we went to the man's house. Then he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, 'Send to Joppa for a man named Simon who is also called Peter, and he will tell you things that will save you and your whole household.' When I began to speak to them, the holy Spirit fell upon them just as it did upon us at the beginning, and I remembered the saying of the Lord, 'John baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the holy Spirit.' So if God had given them the same gift that we received when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, to be able to interfere with God?" When they heard this, they made no further objection, but they gave honor to God, and said, "Then God has given even the heathen repentance and the hope of life!"
About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He had John's brother, James, beheaded, read more. and when he saw that this gratified the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, at the time of the festival of Unleavened Bread. He had him seized and put in jail, with four squads of soldiers to guard him, meaning after the Passover to bring him out before the people. So Peter was kept in the jail, but the church was praying earnestly to God for him. The night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter was asleep between two soldiers, and fastened with two chains, and watchmen were at the door, guarding the jail, when an angel of the Lord stood at his side, and a light shone in the room, and striking Peter on the side, he woke him, and said to him, "Get up quickly!" The chains dropped from his hands, and the angel said to him, "Put on your belt and your sandals!" And he did so. Then he said to him, "Put on your coat and follow me!" So he followed him out without knowing that what the angel was doing was real, for he thought he was having a vision. They passed the first guard and then the second, and came to the iron gate that led into the city. It opened to them of itself, and they passed out and went along one street, when suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself, and he said, "Now I am certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the power of Herod and all that the Jewish people were expecting." When he realized his situation, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where a number of people were gathered, praying. When he knocked at the outer door, a maid named Rhoda came to answer it, and when she recognized Peter's voice, in her joy she did not stop to open the door, but ran in and told them that Peter was standing outside. But they said to her, "You are crazy!" But she insisted that it was so. Then they said, "Then it is his guardian angel!" But Peter kept on knocking. And when they opened the door and saw him they were amazed. He motioned to them to be quiet, and then related to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. "Tell all this to James and the brothers," he said. Then he left them and went somewhere else. But when morning came, there was no little commotion among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter. Herod had inquiries made for him, and when he could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he left Judea for Caesarea, and stayed there.
Some people came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers that unless they were circumcised as Moses prescribed, they could not be saved. This created a disturbance and a serious discussion between Paul and Barnabas and them, and it was agreed that Paul and Barnabas and some others of their number should go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question. read more. The church saw them off upon their journey, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria they told of the conversion of the heathen, and caused great rejoicing among all the brothers. When they reached Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported how God had worked with them. But some members of the Pharisees' party who had become believers got up and said that such converts ought to be circumcised and told to obey the Law of Moses. The apostles and elders had a meeting to look into this matter. After a long discussion, Peter got up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days God chose that of you all I should be the one from whose lips the heathen should hear the message of the good news and believe it. And God who knows men's hearts testified for them by giving them the holy Spirit just as he had done to us, making no difference between us and them, but cleansing their hearts by faith. Then why do you now try to test God, by putting on the necks of these disciples a yoke that neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear? Why, we believe that it is by the mercy of the Lord Jesus that we are saved just as they are." This quieted the whole meeting, and they listened while Barnabas and Paul told of the signs and wonders which God had done among the heathen through them. When they finished James made this response: "Brothers, listen to me. Symeon has told how God first showed an interest in taking from among the heathen a people to bear his name.
Symeon has told how God first showed an interest in taking from among the heathen a people to bear his name. And this agrees with the predictions of the prophets which say, read more. " 'Afterward I will return, and rebuild David's fallen dwelling. I will rebuild its very ruins, and set it up again, So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, And all the heathen who are called by my name, Says the Lord, who has been making this known from of old.' In my opinion, therefore, we ought not to put obstacles in the way of those of the heathen who are turning to God, but we should write to them to avoid anything that has been contaminated by idols, immorality, the meat of strangled animals, and the tasting of blood. For Moses for generations past has had his preachers in every town, and has been read aloud in the synagogues every Sabbath." Then the apostles and elders with the whole church resolved to select representatives and send them with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. They were Judas who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers. They were the bearers of this letter: "The apostles and the brothers who are elders send greeting to the brothers of heathen birth in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. As we have heard that some of our number, without any instructions from us, have disturbed you by their teaching and unsettled your minds, we have unanimously resolved to select representatives and send them to you with our dear brothers Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we send Judas and Silas to you, to give you this same message by word of mouth. For the holy Spirit and we have decided not to lay upon you any burden but this indispensable one, that you avoid whatever has been sacrificed to idols, the tasting of blood and of the meat of animals that have been strangled, and immorality. Keep yourselves free from these things and you will get on well. Goodbye." So the delegates went down to Antioch and gathered the congregation together and delivered the letter; and when they read it they were delighted with the encouragement it gave them.
Have we not a right to take a Christian wife about with us, like the rest of the apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?
Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem, to become acquainted with Cephas, and I spent two weeks with him;
Then, fourteen years later, I went up to Jerusalem again, with Barnabas, and took Titus also with me. It was in obedience to a revelation that I went. I laid before them the good news that I preach to the heathen, presenting it privately to the leaders, for fear my efforts might be or might have been futile. read more. But they did not insist that even my companion Titus, although he was a Greek, should be circumcised, to gratify the false brothers who had been smuggled in, who sneaked in to spy upon the freedom we enjoy in Christ Jesus, so as to reduce us to slavery again. But we did not submit to them for a moment, in order that the truth of the good news might remain yours. Those who were regarded as the leaders??hat they once were makes no difference to me; God takes no account of external differences??he leaders contributed nothing new to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been intrusted with the good news for the heathen, just as Peter had been intrusted with it for the Jews??8 for he who actuated Peter to be an apostle to the Jews also actuated me to be one to the heathen??9 and when they recognized the favor God had shown me, James, Cephas, and John, who were regarded as pillars of the church, pledged Barnabas and me their co-operation, with the understanding that we should work among the heathen and they among the Jews.
Only, we were to remember the poor, and that I have taken pains to do. But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, for his own conduct condemned him. read more. For until some people came from James, he used to eat with the heathen, but after they came, he began to draw back and hold aloof, for fear of the party of circumcision. The other Jewish Christians followed his example in concealing their real views, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their pose. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the good news, I said to Cephas, right before them all, "If you live like a heathen, and not like a Jew, though you are a Jew yourself, why should you try to make the heathen live like Jews?" We who are Jews by birth, and not sinful heathen, but who know that a man is not made upright by doing what the Law commands, but by faith in Christ Jesus??ven we believed in Christ Jesus, so as to be made upright by faith in Christ and not by doing what the Law commands??or by doing what the Law commands no one can be made upright.
Your sister-church in Babylon, chosen like you, and Mark my son wish to be remembered to you.
Your sister-church in Babylon, chosen like you, and Mark my son wish to be remembered to you.
Fausets
(See JESUS CHRIST .) Of Bethsaida on the sea of Galilee. The Greek for Hebrew Kephas, "stone" or "rock." Simon his original name means "hearer"; by it he is designated in Christ's early ministry and between Christ's death and resurrection. Afterward he is called by his title of honour, "Peter". Son of Jonas (Mt 16:17; Joh 1:43; 21:16); tradition makes Johanna his mother's name. Brought up to his father's business as a fisherman on the lake of Galilee. He and his brother Andrew were partners with Zebedee's sons, John and James, who had "hired servants," which implies a social status and culture not the lowest. He lived first at Bethsaida, then in Capernaum, in a house either his own or his mother-in-law's, large enough to receive Christ and his fellow apostles and some of the multitude who thronged about Him. In" leaving all to follow Christ," he implies he made a large sacrifice (Mr 10:28). The rough life of hardship to which fishing inured him on the stormy lake formed a good training of his character to prompt energy, boldness, and endurance.
The Jews obliged their young to attend the common schools. In Ac 4:13, where Luke writes the Jewish council regarded him and John as "unlearned and ignorant," the meaning is not absolutely so, but in respect to professional rabbinical training "lairs," "ignorant" of the deeper sense which the scribes imagined they found in Scripture. Aramaic, half Hebrew half Syriac, was the language of the Jews at that time. The Galileans spoke this debased Hebrew with provincialisms of pronunciation and diction. So at the denial Peter betrayed himself by his "speech" (Mt 26:73; Lu 22:59). Yet lie conversed fluently with Cornelius seemingly without an interpreter, and in Greek His Greek style in his epistles is correct; but Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus, and Tertullian allege he employed an interpreter for them. He was married and led about his wife in his apostolic journeys (1Co 9:5).
The oblique coincidence; establishing his being a married man, between Mt 8:14, "Peter's wife's mother ... sick of a fever," and 1Co 9:5, "have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as Cephas?" is also a delicate confirmation of the truth of the miraculous cure, as no forger would be likely to exhibit such a minute and therefore undesigned correspondence of details. Alford translated 1Pe 5:13 "she in Babylon" (compare 1Pe 3:7); but why she should be called "elected together with you in Babylon," as if there were no Christian woman in Babylon besides, is inexplicable. Peter and John being closely associated, Peter addresses the church in John's province, Asia, "your co-elect sister church in Babylon saluteth you"; so 2Jo 1:13 in reply. Clemens Alex. gives the name of Peter's wife as Perpetua. Tradition makes him old at the time of his death. His first call was by Andrew his brother, who had been pointed by their former master John the Baptist to Jesus, "behold the Lamb of God" (Joh 1:36).
That was the word that made the first Christian; so it has been ever since. "We have found (implying they both had been looking for) the Messias," said Andrew, and brought him to Jesus. "Thou art Simon son of Jona (so the Alexandrinus manuscript but Vaticanus and Sinaiticus 'John'), thou shalt be called Cephas" (Joh 1:41-42). As "Simon" he was but an hearer; as Peter or Cephas he became an apostle and so a foundation stone of the church, by union to the one only Foundation Rock (Eph 2:20; 1Co 3:11). Left to nature, Simon, though bold and stubborn, was impulsive and fickle, but joined to Christ lie became at last unshaken and firm. After the first call the disciples returned to their occupation. The call to close discipleship is recorded Lu 5:1-11. The miraculous draught of fish overwhelmed Simon with awe at Jesus' presence; He who at creation said, "let the waters bring forth abundantly" (Ge 1:20), now said, "let down your nets for a draught."
Simon, when the net which they had spread in vain all night now broke with the multitude of fish, exclaimed, "depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" He forgot Ho 9:12 end; our sin is just the reason why we should beg Christ to come, not depart. "Fear not, henceforth thou shalt catch to save alive (zoogroon) men," was Jesus' explanation of the typical meaning of the miracle. The call, Mt 4:18-22 and Mr 1:16-20, is the same as Luke 5, which supplements them. Peter and Andrew were first called; then Christ entered Peter's boat, then wrought the miracle, then called James and John; Jesus next healed of fever Simon's mother-in-law. His call to the apostleship is recorded Mt 10:2-4. Simon stands foremost in the list, and for the rest of Christ's ministry is mostly called "Peter." His forward energy fitted him to be spokesman of the apostles. So in Joh 6:66-69, when others went back (2Ti 4:10), to Jesus' testing question, "will ye also go away?" Simon replied, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." Compare his words, Ac 4:12.
He repeated this testimony at Caesarea Philippi (Mt 16:16). Then Jesus said: "blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee (Joh 1:13; Eph 2:8) but My Father in heaven, and ... thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prewill against it." Peter by his believing confession identified himself with Christ the true Rock (1Co 3:11; Isa 28:16; Eph 2:20), and so received the name; just as Joshua bears the name meaning "Jehovah Saviour", because typifying His person and offices. Peter conversely, by shrinking from a crucified Saviour and dissuading Him from the cross, "be it far from Thee," identified Himself with Satan who tempted Jesus to take the world kingdom without the cross (Mt 4:8-10), and is therefore called "Satan," "get thee behind Me, Satan," etc. Instead of a rock Peter became a stumbling-block ("offense," scandalous). "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven," namely, to open the door of faith to the Jews first, then to Cornelius and the Gentiles (Ac 10:11-48).
Others and Paul further opened the door (Ac 14:27; 11:20-26). The papal error regards Peter as the rock, in himself officially, and as transmitting an infallible authority to the popes, as if his successors (compare Isa 22:22). The "binding" and "loosing" power is given as much to the whole church, layman and ministers, as to Peter (Mt 18:18; Joh 20:23.) Peter exercised the power of the keys only in preaching, as on Pentecost (Acts 2), He never exercised authority over the other apostles. At Jerusalem James exercised the chief authority (Ac 15:19; 21:18; Ga 1:19; 2:9). Peter "withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed," "not walking uprightly in the truth of the gospel," but in "dissimulation" (Ga 2:10-14). (On the miraculous payment of the temple tribute of the half shekel (two drachms) each, see JESUS CHRIST.)
Matthew alone (Mt 17:24-27) records it, as appropriate to the aspect of Jesus as theocratic king, prominent in the first Gospel. Peter too hastily had answered for his Master as though He were under obligation to pay the temple tribute; Peter forgot his own confession (Mt 16:16). Nevertheless, the Lord, in order not to "offend." i.e. give a handle of reproach, as if lie despised the temple and law, caused Peter the fisherman again to resume his occupation and brought a fish (Ps 8:8; Jon 1:17) with a starer, i.e. shekel, in its mouth, the exact sum required, four drachmas, for both. Jesus said, "for ME and thee," not for us; for His payment was on an altogether different footing from Peter's (compare Joh 20:17). Peter needed a "ransom for his soul" and could not pay it; but Jesus needed none; nay, came to pay it Himself (Joh 20:28), first putting Himself under the same yoke with us (Ga 4:4-5). Peter, James, and John were the favored three alone present at the raising of Jairus' daughter, the transfiguration, and the agony in Gethsemane.
His exaltations were generally, through his self sufficiency giving place to weakness, accompanied with humiliations, as in Matthew 16. In the transfiguration he t
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Again the devil took him to a very high mountain, and he showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor, and said to him, "I will give all this to you, if you will fall on your knees and do homage to me." read more. Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! For the Scripture says, 'You must do homage to the Lord your God, and worship him alone!' "
As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who was afterward called Peter, and his brother, Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. He said to them, "Come and follow me, and I will make you fish for men!" read more. They immediately dropped their nets and went with him. And he went on a little farther and saw two other men who were brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother, John, in the boat with Zebedee, their father, putting their nets in order, and he called them. And they immediately left the boat and their father, and went with him.
Jesus went into Peter's house, and there he found Peter's mother-in-law sick in bed with fever.
These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector, James the son of Alpheus and Thaddeus, read more. Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot who afterward betrayed him.
And the disciples saw him walking on the sea, and they were terrified and said, "It is a ghost!" And they screamed with fear.
And he said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and went to Jesus.
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!" Jesus answered, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for human nature has not disclosed this to you, but my Father in heaven!
When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple-tax came and said to Peter, "Does not your Master pay the temple-tax?" He said, "Yes." But when he went home, Jesus spoke of it first and said, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect duties and taxes? From their own people, or from aliens?" read more. He said, "From aliens." Jesus said to him, "Then their own people are exempt. But rather than give offense to them, go down to the sea and throw in a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, open its mouth and you will find in it a dollar. Take that and pay the tax for us both."
"I tell you, whatever you forbid on earth will be held in heaven to be forbidden, and whatever you permit on earth will be held in heaven to be permitted.
A man came up to him and said, "Master, what good deed must I do to obtain eternal life?"
The young man said to him, "I have obeyed all these commandments. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go! Sell your property and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come back and be a follower of mine." read more. But when the young man heard that, he went away much cast down, for he had a great deal of property. Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you, it will be hard for a rich man to get into the Kingdom of Heaven! And again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to get through a needle's eye than for a rich man to get into the Kingdom of God!" But when the disciples heard this, they were completely astounded and said, "Then who can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said, "For men it is impossible, but anything is possible for God!" Then Peter spoke and said to him, "Here we have left all we had and followed you. What are we to have?"
Peter answered, "If they all desert you, I will never do it!" Jesus said to him, "I tell you, tonight, before a cock crows, you will disown me three times!" read more. Peter said to him, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you!" All the disciples said so too.
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a maid came up to him, and said, "You were with Jesus the Galilean, too!"
And he went out into the gateway, and another maid saw him, and said to the men there, "This fellow was with Jesus the Nazarene!"
A little while after the bystanders came up to Peter and said, "You are certainly one of them too, for your accent shows it!"
As he was passing along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets in the sea, for they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fish for men." read more. They immediately abandoned their nets and followed him. He went on a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; they too were in their boat putting their nets in order. He immediately called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and went off after him.
Peter started to say to him, "Well, we have left all we had, and have followed you."
But Peter said to him, "Even if they all desert you, I will not!" Jesus said to him, "I tell you, this very night before the cock crows twice you yourself will disown me three times!" read more. But he persisted vehemently, "If I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And they all said the same thing.
While Peter was down in the courtyard, one of the high priest's maids came up, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, "You were with this Jesus of Nazareth too!" read more. But he denied it, saying, "I do not know or understand what you mean." He went out into the gateway. And the maid saw him there and began again to tell the bystanders, "This fellow is one of them!"
At that moment for the second time a cock crowed. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, "Before the cock crows twice, you will disown me three times!" And at that, he wept aloud.
But go and say to his disciples and to Peter, 'He is going before you to Galilee; you will see him there, just as he told you.' "
Once as the crowd was pressing about him to hear God's message, he happened to be standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats on the shore of the lake, for the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. read more. And he got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to push out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds of people from the boat. When he stopped speaking, he said to Simon, "Push out into deep water, and then put down your nets for a haul." Simon answered, "Master, we worked all night and caught nothing, but as you tell me to do it, I will put down the nets." So they did so, and inclosed such a shoal of fish that their nets began to break. And they signaled to their comrades in the other boat to come and help them. And they came, and they filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' feet and said, "Leave me, Master, for I am a sinful man." For he and all the men with him were perfectly amazed at the haul of fish they had made, and so were Zebedee's sons, James and John, who were Simon's partners. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid. From now on you are to catch men!" And they brought the boats to land and left everything and followed him.
Peter said to him, "Master, I am ready to go to prison and to death with you!" But he said, "I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow today before you deny three times that you know me!"
A maid saw him sitting by the fire and looked at him and said, "This man was with him too."
A maid saw him sitting by the fire and looked at him and said, "This man was with him too."
Shortly after, a man saw him and said, "You are one of them too!" But Peter said, "I am not!" About an hour later, another man insisted, "This man was certainly with him too, for he is a Galilean!"
About an hour later, another man insisted, "This man was certainly with him too, for he is a Galilean!"
and learned from them that the Master had really risen and had been seen by Simon.
owing their birth not to nature nor to any human or physical impulse, but to God.
In consequence of this many of his disciples drew back and would not go about with him any longer. So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you mean to go away too?" read more. Simon Peter answered, "To whom can we go, sir? You have a message of eternal life, and we believe and are satisfied that you are the Holy One of God."
Simon Peter said to him, "Master, where are you going?" Jesus answered, "I am going where you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me later." Peter said to him, "Master, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." read more. Jesus answered, "You will lay down your life for me? I tell you, before a cock crows, you will disown me thrice over!
while Peter stood outside at the door. So this other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest, went out and spoke to the woman at the door and brought Peter in. The maid at the door said to Peter, "Are you also one of this man's disciples?" He said, "No, I am not."
But Simon Peter still stood warming himself. So they said to him, "Are you also one of his disciples?" He denied it and said, "No, I am not."
Jesus said to her, "You must not cling to me, for I have not yet gone up to my Father, but go to my brothers and say to them that I am going up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."
"Receive the holy Spirit! If you forgive any men's sins, they are forgiven them, and if you fix any men's sins upon them, they will remain fixed."
Thomas answered him, "My Master and my God!"
Again Jesus said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, are you devoted to me?" He said to him, "Yes, Master, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then be a shepherd to my sheep!"
I tell you, when you were young, you used to put on your own girdle and go where you pleased, but when you grow old, you will stretch our your hands and someone else will put a girdle on you and take you where you have no wish to go"
I tell you, when you were young, you used to put on your own girdle and go where you pleased, but when you grow old, you will stretch our your hands and someone else will put a girdle on you and take you where you have no wish to go" He said this to show the kind of death by which Peter was to honor God; and after he had said it he said to Peter, "Follow me!"
The sun will turn to darkness, And the moon to blood, Before the coming of the great, splendid Day of the Lord.
But you, by the fixed purpose and intention of God, handed him over to wicked men, and had him crucified. But God set aside the pain of death and raised him up, for death could not control him.
When they heard this, they were stung to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter said to them, "You must repent, and every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, in order to have your sins forgiven; then you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit,
it was in this way that God fulfilled what he by all the prophets foretold that his Christ must suffer.
It was to you that God first sent his servant after he had raised him from the dead, to bless you by making every one of you turn from his wickedness."
There is no salvation through anyone else, for there is no one else in the world who has been named to men as their only means of being saved." They were amazed to see how outspoken Peter and John were, and to find that they were uneducated men with no advantages. They recognized them as companions of Jesus,
But Peter and John answered them, "You must decide whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you instead of him, for we cannot help telling of what we have seen and heard."
Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. The God of our forefathers raised Jesus to life when you had hung him on a cross and killed him.
So they went out from before the council, glad that they had been thought worthy to bear disgrace for the sake of Jesus,
When he reached Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they could not believe that he was really a disciple.
As Peter was traveling about among them all, he happened to visit God's people at Lydda.
and saw the sky opened and a thing like a great sheet coming down, lowered to the ground by the four corners, with all kinds of quadrupeds, reptiles, and wild birds in it. read more. And a voice came to him, "Get up, Peter! Kill something and eat it!" But Peter said, "Never, sir! For I have never eaten anything that was not ceremonially cleansed." The voice came to him again a second time, "Do not call what God has cleansed unclean." This happened three times; then the thing was taken right up into the sky. While Peter was still wondering what the vision he had had could mean, the men whom Cornelius had sent had asked the way to Simon's house and reached the door, and they called out to ask if Simon who was called Peter was staying there. As Peter was pondering over his vision, the Spirit said to him, "There are two men looking for you. Get up and go down, and go with them without any hesitation, for I have sent them." Then Peter went down to see the men, and said to them, "I am the man you are asking for. What is the reason for your coming?" They answered, "Cornelius, who is a captain, and an upright and God-fearing man, and who has a good reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house, and to listen to what you have to say." So Peter invited them in and entertained them. The next day he started off with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa, and the day after, he reached Caesarea. Cornelius had invited in his relatives and his intimate friends and was waiting for them. When Peter actually came in, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet and made obeisance to him. But Peter lifted him to his feet, and said, "Get up! I am only human myself." So they went in talking together, and Peter found that many people had gathered, and he said to them, "You know that it is against the Law for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit one; but God has taught me not to call anyone vulgar or unclean. That was why, when I was sent for, I came without any hesitation. And now I want to ask why you sent for me." Cornelius answered, "Three days ago, just at this time of day, I was praying in my house about three o'clock, when a man in dazzling clothing stood before me, and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your charities have been recalled to mind by God. So send to Joppa and invite Simon who is called Peter to come here. He is staying at the house of a tanner named Simon, close to the sea.' So I sent for you immediately, and you have very kindly come. Now we are all here in God's presence, to hear everything that the Lord has instructed you to say." Then Peter began and said, "Now I really understand that God shows no partiality, but welcomes the man of any nation who reveres him and does what is right. He has sent his message to Israel's descendants, and made the good news of peace known to them through Jesus Christ. He is Lord of us all. You know the story that has gone all over Judea, starting from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed, about Jesus of Nazareth, and how God endowed him with the power of the holy Spirit, and he went about doing good and curing all who were in the power of the devil, because God was with him. We are witnesses of everything that he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. Yet they put him upon a cross and killed him. But God raised him to life on the third day and caused him to be plainly seen, not by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had designated beforehand, that is, by us, who ate and drank with him after he had risen from the dead. He also directed us to announce to the people and bear solemn testimony that he is the one whom God has appointed to be the judge of the living and the dead. It is of him that all the prophets bear witness that everyone that believes in him will have his sins forgiven in his name." Before Peter had finished saying these words, the holy Spirit fell on all who were listening to his message. The Jewish believers who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the holy Spirit had been showered upon the heathen too, for they heard them speaking in foreign languages and declaring the greatness of God. Then Peter said, "Can anyone refuse the use of water to baptize these people when they have received the holy Spirit just as we did?" And he directed that they should be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on there a few days.
So if God had given them the same gift that we received when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, to be able to interfere with God?" When they heard this, they made no further objection, but they gave honor to God, and said, "Then God has given even the heathen repentance and the hope of life!"
There were some men from Cyprus and Cyrene among them, however, who when they reached Antioch spoke to the Greeks also, and told them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and there were a great many who believed and turned to the Lord. read more. The news about them came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas all the way to Antioch. When he reached there and saw the favor God had shown them, he was delighted, and encouraged them all to be resolute and steadfast in their devotion to the Lord, for he was an excellent man, full of the holy Spirit and faith. So a considerable number of people came over to the Lord. Then Barnabas went over to Tarsus to seek out Saul, and found him and brought him to Antioch. The result was that for a whole year they met with the church, and taught large numbers of people, and it was at Antioch that the disciples first came to be known as Christians.
When they arrived there, they called the church together, and reported how God had worked with them, and how he had opened the way to faith for the heathen.
In my opinion, therefore, we ought not to put obstacles in the way of those of the heathen who are turning to God,
Paul stayed some time longer, and then bade the brothers goodbye and sailed for Syria, with Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, because of a vow he had been under. When they reached Ephesus he left them there. He went to the synagogue there and had a discussion with the Jews. read more. They asked him to stay longer, but he would not consent. He bade them goodbye, saying, "I will come back to you again if it is God's will." Then he sailed from Ephesus.
For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to lose any time in Asia, for he was hurrying to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of the Harvest Festival.
On the next day we went with Paul to see James, and all the elders came in.
On the next day we went with Paul to see James, and all the elders came in. Paul greeted them warmly and gave a detailed account of what God had done among the heathen through his efforts. read more. They praised God when they heard it, and they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousand believers there are among the Jews, all of them zealous upholders of the Law. They have been told that you teach all Jews who live among the heathen to turn away from Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children nor to observe the old customs. What then? They will be sure to hear that you have come. So do what we tell you. We have four men here who are under a vow. Join them, undergo the rites of purification with them, and pay their expenses so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will understand that there is no truth in the stories about you, but that you yourself observe the Law.
Do you think so lightly of his wealth of kindness, forbearance, and patience, and fail to see that God's kindness ought to induce you to repent?
What I mean is this, that one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul," another, "And I, of Apollos," another, "And I, of Cephas," and another, "And I, of Christ!"
For no one can lay any other foundation than the one that is laid, that is, Jesus Christ himself.
Have we not a right to take a Christian wife about with us, like the rest of the apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?
Have we not a right to take a Christian wife about with us, like the rest of the apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?
or going up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I went off to Arabia, and on my return came back to Damascus. Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem, to become acquainted with Cephas, and I spent two weeks with him; read more. but I did not see any other apostle, except James, the Lord's brother.
Only, we were to remember the poor, and that I have taken pains to do. But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, for his own conduct condemned him. read more. For until some people came from James, he used to eat with the heathen, but after they came, he began to draw back and hold aloof, for fear of the party of circumcision. The other Jewish Christians followed his example in concealing their real views, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their pose. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the good news, I said to Cephas, right before them all, "If you live like a heathen, and not like a Jew, though you are a Jew yourself, why should you try to make the heathen live like Jews?"
but when the proper time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, and made subject to law, to ransom those who were subject to law, so that we might receive adoption.
For it is by his mercy that you have been saved through faith. It is not by your own action, it is the gift of God.
You are built upon the apostles and prophets as your foundation, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone.
You are built upon the apostles and prophets as your foundation, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone.
Here, what matters is not "Greek" and "Jew," the circumcised and the uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeborn, but Christ is everything and in us all.
Aristarchus, my fellow-prisoner, wishes to be remembered to you, and so does Barnabas' cousin Mark. (About him you have had instructions; if he comes to see you, make him welcome.)
for Demas has deserted me for love of the present world, and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. No one but Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is of great assistance to me,
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are scattered as foreigners over Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
Now that by obeying the truth you have purified your souls for sincere love of the brotherhood, you must love one another intensely and heartily,
He carried the burden of our sins in his own body on the cross, in order that we might die to sin and live for uprightness. By his wounds you have been healed.
You married men also must be considerate in living with your wives. You must show deference to women as the weaker sex, sharing the gift of life with you, so that there may be nothing to interfere with your prayers.
Dear friends, do not be surprised that a test of fire is being applied to you, as though a strange thing were happening to you, but be glad that you are in a measure sharing the sufferings of the Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may be triumphantly happy. read more. If you are being abused for the sake of Christ, you are blessed, because the glorious Spirit of God is resting upon you. For no one of you must suffer as a murderer or thief or criminal or revolutionist, but if a man suffers for being a Christian, he must not be ashamed of it, but must do honor to God through that name.
By Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I think him, I have written you this short letter to encourage you and bear my testimony that this is what the true mercy of God means. Stand fast in it. Your sister-church in Babylon, chosen like you, and Mark my son wish to be remembered to you.
Your sister-church in Babylon, chosen like you, and Mark my son wish to be remembered to you.
Your sister-church in Babylon, chosen like you, and Mark my son wish to be remembered to you.
Look upon our Lord's patience as salvation, just as our dear brother Paul, with the wisdom that God gave him, wrote you to do, speaking of it as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which ignorant, unsteadfast people twist to their own ruin, just as they do the rest of the Scriptures.
Hastings
SIMON, surnamed Peter, was 'the coryph
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As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who was afterward called Peter, and his brother, Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who was afterward called Peter, and his brother, Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. He said to them, "Come and follow me, and I will make you fish for men!" read more. They immediately dropped their nets and went with him. And he went on a little farther and saw two other men who were brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother, John, in the boat with Zebedee, their father, putting their nets in order, and he called them.
And he went on a little farther and saw two other men who were brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother, John, in the boat with Zebedee, their father, putting their nets in order, and he called them. And they immediately left the boat and their father, and went with him.
Jesus went into Peter's house, and there he found Peter's mother-in-law sick in bed with fever. And he touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and waited on him.
These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James the son of Zebedee and his brother John,
Peter answered, "If it is you, Master, order me to come to you on the water." And he said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and went to Jesus. read more. But when he felt the wind he was frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Master, save me!" Jesus immediately stretched out his hand and caught hold of him, and said to him, "Why did you waver? You have so little faith!"
Jesus answered, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for human nature has not disclosed this to you, but my Father in heaven! But I tell you, your name is Peter, a rock, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not subdue it. read more. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you forbid on earth will be held in heaven to be forbidden, and whatever you permit on earth will be held in heaven to be permitted." Then he warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. It was then that Jesus Christ for the first time explained to his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and endure great suffering there at the hands of the elders, high priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised to life on the third day. And Peter took him aside and began to reprove him for it, saying, "God bless you, Master! that can never happen to you!" But he turned and said to Peter, "Get out of my sight, you Satan! You hinder me, for you do not side with God, but with men!"
Six days after this, Jesus took Peter and James and his brother John, and led them up on a high mountain, by themselves. And his appearance underwent a change in their presence and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. read more. And Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. And Peter spoke, and said to Jesus, "Master, how good it is that we are here! If you wish, I will make three huts here, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
And Peter spoke, and said to Jesus, "Master, how good it is that we are here! If you wish, I will make three huts here, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." As he spoke a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, my Beloved. He is my Chosen. Listen to him!" read more. When the disciples heard it, they were dreadfully frightened and fell upon their faces. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, "Get up and do not be afraid." When they looked up, they saw no one but Jesus himself.
But this has all taken place in fulfilment of the writings of the prophets." Then all the disciples left him and made their escape.
And Peter followed him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest's house, and he went inside and sat down among the attendants to see how it came out.
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a maid came up to him, and said, "You were with Jesus the Galilean, too!" But he denied it before them all, and said, "I do not know what you mean." read more. And he went out into the gateway, and another maid saw him, and said to the men there, "This fellow was with Jesus the Nazarene!" He denied it again, with an oath, and said, "I do not know the man!" A little while after the bystanders came up to Peter and said, "You are certainly one of them too, for your accent shows it!" Then he started to swear with the strongest oaths, "I do not know the man!" And at that moment a cock crowed. And Peter remembered Jesus' words when he had said, "Before a cock crows, you will disown me three times!" And he went outside and wept bitterly.
And Peter remembered Jesus' words when he had said, "Before a cock crows, you will disown me three times!" And he went outside and wept bitterly.
As he was passing along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets in the sea, for they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fish for men." read more. They immediately abandoned their nets and followed him.
They immediately abandoned their nets and followed him. He went on a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; they too were in their boat putting their nets in order. read more. He immediately called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and went off after him.
And his fame immediately spread in all directions through the whole neighborhood of Galilee. As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the house of Simon and Andrew. read more. Simon's mother-in-law was in bed, sick with a fever, and they immediately told him about her. And he went up to her, and grasping her hand, he made her rise. And the fever left her, and she waited on them.
And he called the Twelve to him and sent them off two by two, giving them power over the foul spirits.
Then Jesus and his disciples went away to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he questioned his disciples and said to them, "Who do people say that I am?" They said to him, "John the Baptist; others say Elijah, and others that you are one of the prophets." read more. And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to him, "You are the Christ." And he warned them not to say this about him to anyone. Then he explained to them for the first time that the Son of Man must go through much suffering, and be refused by the elders and the high priests and the scribes, and be killed, and rise again three days after. He told them this plainly. And Peter took him aside, and began to reprove him for it. But turning and seeing his disciples he reproved Peter, and said, "Get out of my sight, you Satan! for you do not side with God, but with men."
Six days after this Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him, and led them up on a high mountain, off by themselves. And his appearance underwent a change in their presence, and his clothes shone whiter than any earthly bleaching could make them. read more. And Elijah appeared to them, accompanied by Moses, and they talked with Jesus. Then Peter spoke, and said to Jesus, "Master, how good it is that we are here! Let us put up three huts, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." For he did not know what to say, they were so frightened.
For he did not know what to say, they were so frightened. And a cloud came and overshadowed them, and from the cloud came a voice, "This is my Son, my Beloved. Listen to him," read more. And suddenly, on looking around, they saw that there was now no one with them but Jesus alone.
When he went back he found them asleep and he said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Were you not able to watch for one hour?
And Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest and sat down with the attendants and warmed himself at the fire.
While Peter was down in the courtyard, one of the high priest's maids came up, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, "You were with this Jesus of Nazareth too!" read more. But he denied it, saying, "I do not know or understand what you mean." He went out into the gateway. And the maid saw him there and began again to tell the bystanders, "This fellow is one of them!" But he denied it again. And again a little while after, the bystanders said to Peter, "You certainly are one of them, for you are a Galilean!" But he began to swear with the strongest oaths, "I do not know this man that you are talking about!" At that moment for the second time a cock crowed. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, "Before the cock crows twice, you will disown me three times!" And at that, he wept aloud.
At that moment for the second time a cock crowed. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, "Before the cock crows twice, you will disown me three times!" And at that, he wept aloud.
But go and say to his disciples and to Peter, 'He is going before you to Galilee; you will see him there, just as he told you.' "
When he got up and left the synagogue, he went to Simon's house. And Simon's mother-in-law was suffering with a severe attack of fever, and they asked him about her. And he stood over her and reproved the fever and it left her, and she got up and waited on them.
Once as the crowd was pressing about him to hear God's message, he happened to be standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats on the shore of the lake, for the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. read more. And he got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to push out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds of people from the boat. When he stopped speaking, he said to Simon, "Push out into deep water, and then put down your nets for a haul." Simon answered, "Master, we worked all night and caught nothing, but as you tell me to do it, I will put down the nets." So they did so, and inclosed such a shoal of fish that their nets began to break. And they signaled to their comrades in the other boat to come and help them. And they came, and they filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
And they signaled to their comrades in the other boat to come and help them. And they came, and they filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' feet and said, "Leave me, Master, for I am a sinful man." read more. For he and all the men with him were perfectly amazed at the haul of fish they had made, and so were Zebedee's sons, James and John, who were Simon's partners. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid. From now on you are to catch men!" And they brought the boats to land and left everything and followed him.
And they brought the boats to land and left everything and followed him.
Once when he was praying by himself, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, "Who do the people say that I am?" They answered, "John the Baptist, though others say Elijah, and others that one of the old prophets has come back to life." read more. And he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God!" But he warned them particularly not to tell this to anyone, and said, "The Son of Man must endure great suffering and be refused by the elders, the high priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and be raised to life on the third day."
It was about eight days after Jesus said this that he took Peter, John, and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the look of his face changed and his clothes turned dazzling white. read more. And two men were talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah, and they appeared in glory and spoke of his departure which he was to go through with at Jerusalem. Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but waking up they saw his glorious appearance and the two men standing by him. Just as they were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, how good it is that we are here! Let us put up three huts, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah!" For he did not know what he was saying.
Just as they were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, how good it is that we are here! Let us put up three huts, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah!" For he did not know what he was saying. But as he said it, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were frightened as they passed under the cloud. read more. And from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen! Listen to him!" At the sound of the voice, they saw that Jesus was alone. And they kept silence, and said nothing about it to anyone at that time.
O Simon, Simon! Satan has obtained permission to sift all of you like wheat,
But Jesus answered, "Let me do this much!" And he touched his ear and healed him.
Then they arrested him and led him away and took him to the house of the high priest. And Peter followed at a distance.
Then they arrested him and led him away and took him to the house of the high priest. And Peter followed at a distance. And they kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat about it, and Peter sat down among them. read more. A maid saw him sitting by the fire and looked at him and said, "This man was with him too." But he denied it, and said, "I do not know him." Shortly after, a man saw him and said, "You are one of them too!" But Peter said, "I am not!" About an hour later, another man insisted, "This man was certainly with him too, for he is a Galilean!" But Peter said, "I do not know what you mean." And immediately, just as he spoke, a cock crowed. And the Master turned and looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the words the Master had said to him??"Before the cock crows today, you will disown me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly.
And he went outside and wept bitterly.
and learned from them that the Master had really risen and had been seen by Simon.
Next day the people who had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not embarked in it with his disciples, but that the disciples had gone away by themselves. But some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where they had eaten the bread after Jesus had given thanks for it. read more. So when the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were any longer there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of him. And when they had crossed the sea and found him, they said to him, "When did you get here, Master?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, it is not because of the signs you have seen that you have come in search of me, but because you ate that bread and had all you wanted of it. You must not work for the food that perishes, but for that which lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for God the Father has authorized him to do so." Then they said to him, "What must we do to carry out God's work?" Jesus answered them, "The work God has for you is to believe in the messenger that he has sent to you." Then they said to him, "Then what sign do you show for us to see and so come to believe you? What work are you doing? Our forefathers in the desert had manna to eat; as the Scripture says, 'He gave them bread out of heaven to eat!'" Jesus said to them, "I tell you, Moses did not give you the bread out of heaven, but my Father gives you the bread out of heaven, for it is God's bread that comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world." Then they said to him, "Give us that bread always, sir!" Jesus said to them, "I am the bread that gives life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty. But as I have told you, although you have seen me, you will not believe. All that my Father gives to me will come to me, and I will never refuse anyone who comes to me, for I have come down from heaven not to do what I please but what pleases him who has sent me. And the purpose of him who has sent me is this, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but should raise them to life on the Last Day. For it is the purpose of my Father that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and that I shall raise him to life on the Last Day." The Jews complained of him for saying, "I am the bread that has come out of heaven," and they said, "Is he not Joseph's son, Jesus, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down out of heaven'?" Jesus answered, "Do not complain to one another. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him to me; then I myself will raise him to life on the Last Day. In the prophets it is written, 'And all men will be taught by God!' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him will come to me. Not that anyone has ever seen the Father, except him who is from God; he has seen the Father. I tell you, whoever believes already possesses eternal life. I am the bread that gives life. Your forefathers in the desert ate the manna and yet they died. But here is bread that comes down out of heaven, and no one who eats it will ever die. I am this living bread that has come down out of heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the world's life is my own flesh!" This led the Jews to dispute with one another. They said, "How can he give us his flesh to eat?" Then Jesus said to them, "I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no self-existent life. Whoever lives on my flesh and drinks my blood possesses eternal life, and I will raise him to life on the Last Day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever lives on my flesh and drinks my blood remains united to me and I remain united to him. Just as the living Father has sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who lives on me will live because of me. This is the bread that has come down out of heaven??ot like that which your forefathers ate and yet died. Whoever lives on this bread will live forever." Jesus said all this while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. Many of his disciples on hearing it said, "This is a harsh teaching! Who can listen to it?" But Jesus, knowing that his disciples were complaining about this, said to them, "Does this stagger you? Then what if you see the Son of Man go up where he was before? The Spirit is what gives life; flesh is of no use at all. The things that I have said to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who will not believe." For Jesus knew from the first who would not believe, and who was going to betray him. And he added, "This is why I said to you, 'No one can come to me unless he is enabled to do so by the Father.' " In consequence of this many of his disciples drew back and would not go about with him any longer. So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you mean to go away too?" Simon Peter answered, "To whom can we go, sir? You have a message of eternal life, and we believe and are satisfied that you are the Holy One of God."
So he came to Simon Peter. He said to him, "Master, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered, "You cannot understand now what I am doing, but you will learn by and by." read more. Peter said to him, "I will never let you wash my feet!" Jesus answered, "You will have no share with me unless I wash you." Simon Peter said to him, "Master, wash not only my feet but my hands and my face too!"
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword with him, drew it and struck at the high priest's slave and cut off his right ear. The slave's name was Malchus. Then Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has offered me?" read more. So the garrison and the colonel and the attendants of the Jews seized Jesus and bound him, and they took him first to Annas. For he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. Now it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it was for their interest that one man should die for the people. But Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. This other disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest, and he went on with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard,
But Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. This other disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest, and he went on with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard, while Peter stood outside at the door. So this other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest, went out and spoke to the woman at the door and brought Peter in. read more. The maid at the door said to Peter, "Are you also one of this man's disciples?" He said, "No, I am not."
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, are you more devoted to me than these others are?" Peter said to him, "Yes, Master, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then feed my lambs!"
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, are you more devoted to me than these others are?" Peter said to him, "Yes, Master, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then feed my lambs!" Again Jesus said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, are you devoted to me?" He said to him, "Yes, Master, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then be a shepherd to my sheep!"
Again Jesus said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, are you devoted to me?" He said to him, "Yes, Master, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then be a shepherd to my sheep!" Jesus said to him a third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because the third time Jesus asked him if he loved him, and he answered, "Master, you know everything, you can see that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then feed my sheep!
Jesus said to him a third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because the third time Jesus asked him if he loved him, and he answered, "Master, you know everything, you can see that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then feed my sheep! I tell you, when you were young, you used to put on your own girdle and go where you pleased, but when you grow old, you will stretch our your hands and someone else will put a girdle on you and take you where you have no wish to go" read more. He said this to show the kind of death by which Peter was to honor God; and after he had said it he said to Peter, "Follow me!"
It was at that time that Peter got up among the brothers??here were about a hundred and twenty persons present??nd said, "Brothers, the prediction of the Scriptures had to come true that the holy Spirit uttered by the lips of David, about Judas, who acted as guide for the men that arrested Jesus??17 for he was one of our number and a share in this ministry of ours fell to his lot."
(This man bought a piece of land with the money paid him for his treachery, and his body swelled up and burst open in the middle and all his vitals poured out. This fact was well known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the piece of land came to be called in their language Akeldamach, the bloody field.) read more. "For in the Book of Psalms it is written, 'Let his estate be desolate, with no one to live on it,' and 'Let someone else take his position.' "So one of the men who has been associated with us all the time that the Lord Jesus moved about among us, from his baptism by John to the time when he was caught up from us, must join us as a witness to his resurrection." Then they proposed two men, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was known as Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, saying, "Lord, you who know all hearts, show us which one of these two you have chosen to take this place of service as an apostle which Judas left to go where he belonged." Then they drew lots between them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was added to the eleven apostles.
Then Peter stood up with the eleven around him, and raising his voice addressed them. "Men of Judea," he said, "and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you, and pay attention to what I say.
As they were talking in this way to the people, the high priests, the commander of the Temple, and the Sadducees came up to them, greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and declaring that in the case of Jesus there had been a resurrection from the dead. read more. They arrested them, and as it was already evening, they shut them up until next morning. But many of those who had heard what they said believed it, and their number grew to be about five thousand. On the next day the leading members of the council, the elders, and the scribes met in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all who belonged to the high priest's family. They had the apostles brought before them and demanded of them, "By what power or authority have men like you done this?" Then Peter, filled with the holy Spirit, said to them, "Leaders of the people and members of the council, if it is for a benefit conferred upon a helpless man, and as to how he was cured, that we are called to account here today, you and the people of Israel must all know that it is through the power of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that he stands here before you well. He is the stone that you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. There is no salvation through anyone else, for there is no one else in the world who has been named to men as their only means of being saved." They were amazed to see how outspoken Peter and John were, and to find that they were uneducated men with no advantages. They recognized them as companions of Jesus, and seeing the man who had been cured standing beside them, they had nothing to say. But they ordered them out of the presence of the council and conferred together. They said, "What are we to do with these men? For it is plain to everyone in Jerusalem that an extraordinary wonder has been done by them. We cannot deny that. But to keep it from spreading farther among the people, let us warn them to say nothing to anyone else at all about this person." So they called them in and ordered them not to speak or teach at all about the name of Jesus.
But a man named Ananias, who, with his wife Sapphira, had sold a piece of property, with his wife's connivance appropriated some of the price received, and brought only a part of it to put at the disposal of the apostles. read more. And Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan taken such possession of your heart that you should lie to the holy Spirit, by appropriating part of the price of your land? As long as it was unsold was it not yours, and after it was sold was not the money under your control? How could you think of doing such a thing? You did not lie to men but to God!" When Ananias heard these words he fell down and expired, and everyone who heard them spoken was appalled. The younger men got up and wrapping his body up carried it out and buried it. About three hours later, his wife came in, without having learned what had happened. Peter said to her, "Tell me, did you sell the land for such and such a sum?" "Yes," she said, "that was it." Peter said to her, "How could you two agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? There at the door are the footsteps of the men who buried your husband, and they will carry you out also." She instantly fell down at his feet and expired. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And the whole church and all who heard this were appalled.
so that people would carry their sick out into the streets, and lay them down on beds and mats, to have at least Peter's shadow fall on some of them as he went by.
This aroused the high priest and all his supporters, the party of the Sadducees, and filled them with jealousy, and they had the apostles arrested and put in the common jail. read more. But an angel of the Lord opened the jail doors in the night and let them out, and said to them, "Go, take your stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new life." And they obeyed, and about daybreak went into the Temple and began to teach. The high priest and his party came over and called together the council and indeed the whole senate of the Israelites, and sent to the prison to have the apostles brought in. But the attendants who went for them could not find them in the jail, and they came back and reported, "We found the prison securely locked up, with the sentries on duty at the doors, but on opening the doors we found no one inside." When the commander of the Temple and the high priests heard this report, they were very much at a loss as to what would come of it. Someone came over and reported to them, "The men that you put in jail are standing right here in the Temple, teaching the people!" Then the commander and his men went and brought them back, but without using violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. So they brought them before the council. The high priest called on them for an explanation. "We strictly forbade you," he said, "to teach on this authority, and here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and propose to hold us responsible for this man's death!" Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. The God of our forefathers raised Jesus to life when you had hung him on a cross and killed him. God took him up to his right hand as our leader and savior, in order to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We and the holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him are witnesses to these things." When they heard this, they were furious, and wanted to kill them. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law highly regarded by all the people, got up in the council and ordered the men to be removed for a while, and then said, "Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. For some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be a person of importance, and a group of men numbering some four hundred joined him. But he was killed and all his followers were dispersed and disappeared. After him, at the time of the census, Judas of Galilee appeared, and raised a great following, but he too perished, and all his followers were scattered. So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this idea or movement is of human origin, it will come to naught, but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop it. You may actually find yourselves fighting God!" They were convinced by him, and they called the apostles in and had them flogged, and warned them not to speak about the name of Jesus, and then let them go. So they went out from before the council, glad that they had been thought worthy to bear disgrace for the sake of Jesus, and they did not for a single day stop teaching and preaching in the Temple and in private houses the good news of Jesus, the Christ.
And Saul entirely approved of his being put to death. A great persecution of the church in Jerusalem broke out that day, and they were all scattered over Judea and Samaria except the apostles. Some pious men buried Stephen and loudly lamented him. read more. But Saul harassed the church. He went into one house after another, and dragging out men and women, put them in prison. Those who were scattered went from place to place preaching the good news of the message. Philip reached the city of Samaria, and proclaimed the Christ to them. When the people heard Philip and saw the signs that he showed they were all interested in what he had to say, for with loud cries foul spirits came out of many who had been possessed by them, and many paralytics and lame people were cured. So there was great rejoicing in that city. There was a man named Simon in the town, who had been amazing the Samaritan people by practicing magic there, and who made great pretensions. Everyone there, high and low, made much of him, and said, "He must be what is known as the Great Power of God!" They made much of him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip's message of the good news of the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, men and women alike accepted baptism. Even Simon himself believed and after his baptism devoted himself to Philip, and he was amazed at seeing such signs and great wonders taking place. When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted God's message, they sent Peter and John there.
When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted God's message, they sent Peter and John there. When they came, they prayed that the Samaritans might receive the holy Spirit,
When they came, they prayed that the Samaritans might receive the holy Spirit, for it had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
for it had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the holy Spirit.
Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the holy Spirit. But when Simon saw that the holy Spirit was imparted through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,
But when Simon saw that the holy Spirit was imparted through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, "Give me also this power to communicate the holy Spirit to anyone I place my hands upon."
saying, "Give me also this power to communicate the holy Spirit to anyone I place my hands upon." But Peter said to him, "Go to destruction with your money, for thinking you could buy God's gift with it!
But Peter said to him, "Go to destruction with your money, for thinking you could buy God's gift with it! You have no share or part in this movement, for your heart is not honest in the sight of God.
You have no share or part in this movement, for your heart is not honest in the sight of God. So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord, to see if you may not be forgiven for thinking of such a thing.
So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord, to see if you may not be forgiven for thinking of such a thing. For I see that you are a bitter poison and a bundle of iniquity!"
For I see that you are a bitter poison and a bundle of iniquity!" Simon answered, "You must pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things you have said may happen to me!"
Simon answered, "You must pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things you have said may happen to me!" After they had given their testimony and delivered the Lord's message, they went back to Jerusalem, telling the good news in many Samaritan villages on the way.
As Peter was traveling about among them all, he happened to visit God's people at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. read more. Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ cures you! Get up, and make your bed!" And he got up immediately. And everybody who lived in Lydda or in Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Among the disciples at Joppa there was a woman named Tabitha, which is in Greek Dorcas, that is, gazelle. She had devoted herself to doing good and to acts of charity. Just at that time it happened that she had been taken ill and had died, and they had washed her body and laid her out in a room upstairs. As Joppa was near Lydda, the disciples heard that Peter was there, and they sent two men to him, urging him to come over without delay. Peter went with them at once. When he arrived, they took him up to the room and all the widows stood around him crying and showing him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made when she was still with them. But Peter put them all out of the room. Then he knelt down and prayed, and then turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, stand up!" She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and raised her to her feet, and calling in the believers and the widows, he gave her back to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many came to believe in the Lord.
There was at Caesarea a man named Cornelius, a captain in what was known as the Italian regiment.
The fugitives from the persecution that had broken out over Stephen went all the way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, but they told the message to none but Jews.
About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He had John's brother, James, beheaded, read more. and when he saw that this gratified the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, at the time of the festival of Unleavened Bread. He had him seized and put in jail, with four squads of soldiers to guard him, meaning after the Passover to bring him out before the people. So Peter was kept in the jail, but the church was praying earnestly to God for him. The night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter was asleep between two soldiers, and fastened with two chains, and watchmen were at the door, guarding the jail, when an angel of the Lord stood at his side, and a light shone in the room, and striking Peter on the side, he woke him, and said to him, "Get up quickly!" The chains dropped from his hands, and the angel said to him, "Put on your belt and your sandals!" And he did so. Then he said to him, "Put on your coat and follow me!" So he followed him out without knowing that what the angel was doing was real, for he thought he was having a vision. They passed the first guard and then the second, and came to the iron gate that led into the city. It opened to them of itself, and they passed out and went along one street, when suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself, and he said, "Now I am certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the power of Herod and all that the Jewish people were expecting." When he realized his situation, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where a number of people were gathered, praying. When he knocked at the outer door, a maid named Rhoda came to answer it, and when she recognized Peter's voice, in her joy she did not stop to open the door, but ran in and told them that Peter was standing outside. But they said to her, "You are crazy!" But she insisted that it was so. Then they said, "Then it is his guardian angel!" But Peter kept on knocking. And when they opened the door and saw him they were amazed. He motioned to them to be quiet, and then related to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. "Tell all this to James and the brothers," he said. Then he left them and went somewhere else. But when morning came, there was no little commotion among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter. Herod had inquiries made for him, and when he could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he left Judea for Caesarea, and stayed there.
Some people came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers that unless they were circumcised as Moses prescribed, they could not be saved. This created a disturbance and a serious discussion between Paul and Barnabas and them, and it was agreed that Paul and Barnabas and some others of their number should go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question. read more. The church saw them off upon their journey, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria they told of the conversion of the heathen, and caused great rejoicing among all the brothers. When they reached Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported how God had worked with them. But some members of the Pharisees' party who had become believers got up and said that such converts ought to be circumcised and told to obey the Law of Moses. The apostles and elders had a meeting to look into this matter. After a long discussion, Peter got up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days God chose that of you all I should be the one from whose lips the heathen should hear the message of the good news and believe it. And God who knows men's hearts testified for them by giving them the holy Spirit just as he had done to us, making no difference between us and them, but cleansing their hearts by faith. Then why do you now try to test God, by putting on the necks of these disciples a yoke that neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear? Why, we believe that it is by the mercy of the Lord Jesus that we are saved just as they are." This quieted the whole meeting, and they listened while Barnabas and Paul told of the signs and wonders which God had done among the heathen through them. When they finished James made this response: "Brothers, listen to me. Symeon has told how God first showed an interest in taking from among the heathen a people to bear his name. And this agrees with the predictions of the prophets which say, " 'Afterward I will return, and rebuild David's fallen dwelling. I will rebuild its very ruins, and set it up again, So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, And all the heathen who are called by my name, Says the Lord, who has been making this known from of old.' In my opinion, therefore, we ought not to put obstacles in the way of those of the heathen who are turning to God, but we should write to them to avoid anything that has been contaminated by idols, immorality, the meat of strangled animals, and the tasting of blood. For Moses for generations past has had his preachers in every town, and has been read aloud in the synagogues every Sabbath." Then the apostles and elders with the whole church resolved to select representatives and send them with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. They were Judas who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers. They were the bearers of this letter: "The apostles and the brothers who are elders send greeting to the brothers of heathen birth in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. As we have heard that some of our number, without any instructions from us, have disturbed you by their teaching and unsettled your minds, we have unanimously resolved to select representatives and send them to you with our dear brothers Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we send Judas and Silas to you, to give you this same message by word of mouth. For the holy Spirit and we have decided not to lay upon you any burden but this indispensable one, that you avoid whatever has been sacrificed to idols, the tasting of blood and of the meat of animals that have been strangled, and immorality. Keep yourselves free from these things and you will get on well. Goodbye."
Then, fourteen years later, I went up to Jerusalem again, with Barnabas, and took Titus also with me. It was in obedience to a revelation that I went. I laid before them the good news that I preach to the heathen, presenting it privately to the leaders, for fear my efforts might be or might have been futile. read more. But they did not insist that even my companion Titus, although he was a Greek, should be circumcised, to gratify the false brothers who had been smuggled in, who sneaked in to spy upon the freedom we enjoy in Christ Jesus, so as to reduce us to slavery again. But we did not submit to them for a moment, in order that the truth of the good news might remain yours. Those who were regarded as the leaders??hat they once were makes no difference to me; God takes no account of external differences??he leaders contributed nothing new to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been intrusted with the good news for the heathen, just as Peter had been intrusted with it for the Jews??8 for he who actuated Peter to be an apostle to the Jews also actuated me to be one to the heathen??9 and when they recognized the favor God had shown me, James, Cephas, and John, who were regarded as pillars of the church, pledged Barnabas and me their co-operation, with the understanding that we should work among the heathen and they among the Jews.
Only, we were to remember the poor, and that I have taken pains to do. But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, for his own conduct condemned him. read more. For until some people came from James, he used to eat with the heathen, but after they came, he began to draw back and hold aloof, for fear of the party of circumcision. The other Jewish Christians followed his example in concealing their real views, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their pose. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the good news, I said to Cephas, right before them all, "If you live like a heathen, and not like a Jew, though you are a Jew yourself, why should you try to make the heathen live like Jews?" We who are Jews by birth, and not sinful heathen, but who know that a man is not made upright by doing what the Law commands, but by faith in Christ Jesus??ven we believed in Christ Jesus, so as to be made upright by faith in Christ and not by doing what the Law commands??or by doing what the Law commands no one can be made upright. If through our efforts to be made upright through Christ, we have ourselves been proved as much "sinners" as the heathen, does that make Christ encourage sin? By no means. I really convict myself of wrongdoing when I start to rebuild what I tore down. For it is through the Law that I have become dead to the Law, so that I may live for God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me. The life I am now living in the body I am living by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I refuse to nullify the mercy of God. For if uprightness could be secured through law, then Christ died for nothing!
Morish
The son of Jonas and one of the twelve apostles. His name was originally Simon, and apparently at his first interview with the Lord he received from Him the surname CEPHAS. This is an Aramaic word, the same as Peter in Greek, both signifying 'a stone.' Joh 1:42. (In Ac 10:5 he is called "Simon, whose surname is Peter.") The next notice of Peter is in Luke 5 when he was called to the apostleship. Overpowered at the draught of fishes, he exclaimed, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord;" but at the bidding of Christ he forsook all and followed Him. Mt 4:18; Mr 1:16-17; Lu 5:3-11.
He had a sort of prominence among the apostles: when a few of them were selected for any special occasion, Peter was always one of them, and is named first. The three names 'Peter, James, and John' occur often together, still we do not read of Peter having any authority over the others: cf. Mt 20:25-28. Peter was in character energetic and impulsive: he wanted to walk on the water to go to Christ, and his strong affection for the Lord led him to oppose when the Lord spoke of His coming sufferings, for which he was rebuked as presenting Satan's mind. His self-confidence led him into a path of temptation, in which he thrice denied his Lord. But the Lord had prayed for him that his faith should not fail, and his repentance was real and instant. He was fully restored by the Lord, who significantly demanded thrice if he loved Him, and then committed to him the care of His sheep and His lambs. John 21.
When Peter confessed to Jesus, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," the Lord said that He would build His church upon that foundation, and added, "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven," with assurance that what he bound or loosed on earth would be ratified in heaven. Matt. 16. On the day of Pentecost we find Peter accordingly using these keys, and opening to three thousand Jews the doors of the kingdom. He afterwards admitted Gentiles in the person of Cornelius and those that were gathered with him.
Peter was the apostle of the circumcision, as Paul was of the Gentiles, and was a long time getting entirely clear of Jewish prejudices. Paul had to withstand him to the face at Antioch, for refusing under Jewish influence to continue eating with Gentiles. On the other hand, Peter, while confessing that in some of Paul's writings there were things hard to be understood, recognises them as scripture.
In the beginning of the Acts Peter's boldness in testimony is conspicuous. He was leaning on One stronger than himself and was carried on by the power of the Holy Spirit. He was miraculously delivered out of prison. The Lord had intimated to him that he would die the death of a martyr (Joh 21:19), and historians relate that he was crucified, and with his head downward by his own request: they also state that his wife died with him. He was the writer of the two epistles bearing his name.
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As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who was afterward called Peter, and his brother, Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the heathen lord it over them, and their great men tyrannize over them. It is not to be so among you, but whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, read more. and whoever wants to hold the first place among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man has come not to be waited on, but to wait on other people, and to give his life to ransom many others."
As he was passing along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets in the sea, for they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fish for men."
And he got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to push out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds of people from the boat. When he stopped speaking, he said to Simon, "Push out into deep water, and then put down your nets for a haul." read more. Simon answered, "Master, we worked all night and caught nothing, but as you tell me to do it, I will put down the nets." So they did so, and inclosed such a shoal of fish that their nets began to break. And they signaled to their comrades in the other boat to come and help them. And they came, and they filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' feet and said, "Leave me, Master, for I am a sinful man." For he and all the men with him were perfectly amazed at the haul of fish they had made, and so were Zebedee's sons, James and John, who were Simon's partners. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid. From now on you are to catch men!" And they brought the boats to land and left everything and followed him.
He said this to show the kind of death by which Peter was to honor God; and after he had said it he said to Peter, "Follow me!"
Smith
Pe'ter
(a rock or stone). The original name of this disciple was Simon, i.e. "hearer." He was the son of a man named Jonas,
Mt 16:17; Joh 1:42; 21:16
and was brought up in his father's occupation, that of a fisherman. He and his brother Andrew were partners of John end James, the sons of Zebedee, who had hired servants. Peter did not live, as a mere laboring man, in a hut by the seaside, but first at Bethsaida, and afterward in a house at Capernaum belonging to himself or his mother-in-law, which must have been rather a large one, since he received in it not only our Lord and his fellow disciples, but multitudes who were attracted by the miracles and preaching of Jesus. Peter was probably between thirty and forty pears of age at the date of his call. That call was preceded by a special preparation. Peter and his brother Andrew, together with their partners James and John, the sons ,of Zebedee, were disciples of John the Baptist when he was first called by our Lord. The particulars of this are related with graphic minuteness by St. John. It was upon this occasion that Jesus gave Peter the name Cephas, a Syriac word answering to the Greek Peter, and signifying a stone or rock.
Joh 1:35-42
This first call led to no immediate change in Peter's external position. He and his fellow disciples looked henceforth upon our Lord as their teacher, but were not commanded to follow him as regular disciples. They returned to Capernaum, where they pursued their usual business, waiting for a further intimation of his will. The second call is recorded by the other three evangelists; the narrative of Luke being apparently supplementary to the brief and, so to speak official accounts given by Matthew and Mark. It took place on the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum, where the four disciples Peter and Andrew, James and John were fishing. Some time was passed afterward in attendance upon our Lord's public ministrations in Galilee, Decapolis, Peraea and Judea. The special designation of Peter and his eleven fellow disciples took place some time afterward, when they were set apart as our Lord's immediate attendants. See
(the most detailed account); Luke 6:13 They appear to have then first received formally the name of apostles, and from that time Simon bore publicly, and as it would seem all but exclusively, the name Peter, which had hitherto been used rather as a characteristic appellation than as a proper name. From this time there can be no doubt that Peter held the first place among the apostles, to whatever cause his precedence is to be attributed. He is named first in every list of the apostles; he is generally addressed by our Lord as their representative; and on the most solemn occasions he speaks in their name. The distinction which he received, and it may be his consciousness of ability, energy, zeal and absolute devotion to Christ's person, seem to have developed a natural tendency to rashness and forwardness bordering upon resumption. In his affection and self-confidence Peter ventured to reject as impossible the announcement of the sufferings and humiliation which Jesus predicted, and heard the sharp words, "Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me, for thou savorest not the things that be of God but those that be of men." It is remarkable that on other occasions when St. Peter signalized his faith and devotion, he displayed at the time, or immediately afterward, a more than usual deficiency in spiritual discernment and consistency. Toward the close of our Lord's ministry Peter's characteristics become especially prominent. At the last supper Peter seems to have been particularly earnest in the request that the traitor might be pointed out. After the supper his words drew out the meaning of the significant act of our Lord in washing his disciples' feet. Then too it was that he made those repeated protestations of unalterable fidelity, so soon to be falsified by his miserable fall. On the morning of the resurrection we have proof that Peter, though humbled, was not crushed by his fall. He and John were the first to visit the sepulchre; he was the first who entered it. We are told by Luke and by Paul that Christ appeared to him first among the apostles. It is observable; however, that on that occasion he is called by his original name, Simon not Peter; the higher designation was not restored until he had been publicly reinstituted, so to speak, by his Master. That reinstitution--an event of the very highest import-took place at the Sea of Galilee. John 21. The first part of the Acts of the Apostles is occupied by the record of transactions in nearly all forth as the recognized leader of the apostles. He is the most prominent person in the greatest event after the resurrection, when on the day of Pentecost the Church was first invested with the plenitude of gifts and power. When the gospel was first preached beyond the precincts of Judea, he and John were at once sent by the apostles to confirm the converts at Samaria. Henceforth he remains prominent, but not exclusively prominent, among the propagators of the gospel. We have two accounts of the first meeting of Peter and Paul --
This interview was followed by another event marking Peter's position --a general apostolical tour of visitation to the churches hitherto established.
The most signal transaction after the day of Pentecost was the baptism of Cornelius. That was the crown and consummation of Peter's ministry. The establishment of a church in great part of Gentile origin at Antioch and the mission of Barnabas between whose family and Peter there were the bonds of near intimacy, set the seal upon the work thus inaugurated by Peter. This transaction was soon followed by the imprisonment of our apostle. His miraculous deliverance marks the close of this second great period of his ministry. The special work assigned to him was completed. From that time we have no continuous history of him. Peter was probably employed for the most part in building up and completing the organization of Christian communities in Palestine and the adjoining districts. There is, however strong reason to believe that he visited Corinth at an early period. The name of Peter as founder or joint founder is not associated with any local church save the churches of Corinth, Antioch or Rome, by early ecclesiastical tradition. It may be considered as a settled point that he did not visit Rome before the last year of his life; but there is satisfactory evidence that he and Paul were the founders of the church at Rome, and suffered death in that city. The time and manner of the apostle's martyrdom are less certain. According to the early writers, he suffered at or about the same time with Paul, and in the Neronian persecution, A.D. 67,68. All agree that he was crucified. Origen says that Peter felt himself to be unworthy to be put to death in the same manner as his Master, and was therefore, at his own request, crucified with his head downward. The apostle is said to have employed interpreters. Of far more importance is the statement that Mark wrote his Gospel under the teaching of Peter, or that he embodied in that Gospel the substance of our apostle's oral instructions. [MARK]
See Mark, Gospel of
The only written documents which Peter has left are the First Epistle-- about which no doubt has ever been entertained in the Church-- and the Second, which has been a subject of earnest controversy.
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These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector, James the son of Alpheus and Thaddeus, read more. Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot who afterward betrayed him.
Jesus answered, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for human nature has not disclosed this to you, but my Father in heaven!
And he went up the hillside and summoned to him those whom he wanted, and they went to him. He appointed twelve of them, whom he called apostles, to be with him and to be sent out to preach, read more. with power to drive out the demons. These were the twelve he appointed: Peter, which was the name he gave to Simon, James the son of Zebedee, and John, James's brother (he named them Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Then he went home.
Again Jesus said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, are you devoted to me?" He said to him, "Yes, Master, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then be a shepherd to my sheep!"
When he reached Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they could not believe that he was really a disciple.
As Peter was traveling about among them all, he happened to visit God's people at Lydda.
Watsons
PETER, the great Apostle of the circumcision, was the son of Jona, and born at Bethsaida, a town situated on the western shore of the lake of Gennesareth, but in what particular year we are not informed, Joh 1:42-43. His original name was Simon or Simeon, which his divine Master, when he called him to the Apostleship, changed for that of Cephas, a Syriac word signifying a stone or rock; in Latin, petra, from whence is derived the term Peter. He was a married man, and had his house, his mother-in-law and his wife, at Capernaum, on the lake of Gennesareth, Mt 8:14; Mr 1:29; Lu 4:38. He had also a brother of the name of Andrew, who had been a disciple of John the Baptist, and was called to the knowledge of the Saviour prior to himself. Andrew was present when the venerable Baptist pointed his disciples to Jesus, and added. "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world;" and, meeting Simon shortly afterward, said, "We have found the Messiah," and then brought him to Jesus, Joh 1:41. When the two brothers had passed one day with the Lord Jesus, they took their leave of him, and returned to their ordinary occupation of fishing. This appears to have taken place in the thirtieth year of the Christian era. Toward the end of the same year, as Jesus was one morning standing on the shore of the lake of Gennesareth, he saw Andrew and Peter engaged about their employment. They had been fishing during the whole night, but without the smallest success; and, after this fruitless expedition, were in the act of washing their nets, Lu 5:1-3. Jesus entered into their boat, and bade Peter throw out his net into the sea, which he did; and now, to his astonishment, the multitude of fishes was so immense that their own vessel, and that of the sons of Zebedee, were filled with them. Peter evidently saw there was something supernatural in this, and, throwing himself at the feet of Jesus, he exclaimed, "Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man." The miracle was no doubt intended for a sign to the four disciples of what success should afterward follow their ministry in preaching the doctrine of his kingdom; and therefore Jesus said unto them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men;" on which they quitted their boats and nets, and thenceforth became the constant associates of the Saviour, during the whole of his public ministry, Lu 18:28.
From the instant of his entering upon the apostolic office, we find St. Peter on almost every occasion evincing the strength of his faith in Jesus as the Messiah, and the most extraordinary zeal in his service, of which many examples are extant in the Gospels. When Jesus in private asked his disciples, first, what opinion the people entertained of him; next, what was their own opinion: "Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," Mt 16:16. Having received this answer, Jesus declared Peter blessed on account of his faith; and in allusion to the signification of his name, added, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth," &c. Many think these things were spoken to St. Peter alone, for the purpose of conferring on him privileges and powers not granted to the rest of the Apostles. But others, with more reason, suppose that, though Jesus directed his discourse to St. Peter, it was intended for them all; and that the honours and powers granted to St. Peter by name were conferred on them all equally. For no one will say that Christ's church was built upon St. Peter singly: it was built on the foundation of all the Apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone. As little can any one say that the power of binding and loosing was confined to St. Peter, seeing it was declared afterward to belong to all the Apostles, Mt 18:18; Joh 20:23. To these things add this, that as St. Peter made his confession in answer to a question which Jesus put to all the Apostles, that confession was certainly made in the name of the whole; and, therefore, what Jesus said to him in reply was designed for the whole without distinction; excepting this, which was peculiar to him, that he was to be the first who, after the descent of the Holy Ghost, should preach the Gospel to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles: an honour which was conferred on St. Peter in the expression, "I will give thee the keys," &c.
St. Peter was one of the three Apostles whom Jesus admitted to witness the resurrection of Jairus's daughter, and before whom he was transfigured, and with whom he retired to pray in the garden the night before he suffered. He was the person who in the fervour of his zeal for his Master cut off the ear of the high priest's slave, when the armed band came to apprehend him. Yet this same Peter, a few hours after that, denied his Master three different times in the high priest's palace, and that with oaths. In the awful defection of the Apostle on this occasion we have melancholy proof of the power of human depravity even in regenerate men, and of the weakness of human resolutions when left to ourselves. St. Peter was fully warned by his divine Master of his approaching danger; but confident in his own strength, he declared himself ready to accompany his Lord to prison and even to judgment. After the third denial "Jesus turned and looked upon Peter;" that look pierced him to the heart; and, stung with deep remorse, "he went out, and wept bitterly." St. Peter, however, obtained forgiveness; and, when Jesus had risen from the dead, he ordered the glad tidings of his resurrection to be conveyed to St. Peter by name: "Go tell my disciples and Peter," Mr 16:8. He afterward received repeated assurances of his Saviour's love, and from that time uniformly showed the greatest zeal and fortitude in his Master's service.
Soon after our Lord's ascension, in a numerous assembly of the Apostles and brethren, St. Peter gave it as his opinion, that one should be chosen to be an Apostle in the room of Judas. To this they all agreed; and, by lot, chose Matthias, whom on that occasion they numbered with the eleven Apostles. On the day of pentecost following, when the Holy Spirit fell on the Apostles and disciples, St. Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice; that is, St. Peter, rising up, spake with a loud voice, in the name of the Apostles, as he had done on various occasions in his Master's lifetime, and gave the multitude an account of that great miracle, Ac 2:14. St. Peter now began to experience the fulfilment of Christ's promise to make him a fisher of men, and also that he would give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven. His sermon on this occasion produced an abundant harvest of converts to Christ. Three thousand of his audience were pricked to the heart, and cried out, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" St. Peter proclaimed to them the riches of pardoning mercy through the divine blood of the Son of God; and they that gladly received his doctrine were baptized and added to the church, Ac 2:37-43. The effects produced on the mind of this great Apostle of the circumcision by the resurrection of his divine Master, and the consequent effusion of the Holy Spirit, were evidently of the most extraordinary kind, and such as it is impossible to account for upon natural principles. He was raised superior to all considerations of personal danger and the fear of man. And though all the Apostles could now say, "God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind;" yet an attentive reader of the Acts of the Apostles cannot fail to perceive that upon almost every occasion of difficulty St. Peter is exhibited to our view as standing foremost in the rank of Apostles. When St. Peter and John were brought before the council to be examined concerning the miracle wrought on the impotent man, St. Peter spake. It was St. Peter who questioned Ananias and Sapphira about the price of their lands; and for their lying in that matter, punished them miraculously with death. It is remarkable, also, that although by the hands of the Apostles many signs and wonders were wrough
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Jesus went into Peter's house, and there he found Peter's mother-in-law sick in bed with fever.
"I tell you, whatever you forbid on earth will be held in heaven to be forbidden, and whatever you permit on earth will be held in heaven to be permitted.
As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the house of Simon and Andrew.
And they fled out of the tomb, for they were all trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing about it to anyone, for they were afraid to do so. AN ANCIENT APPENDIX But they reported briefly to Peter and his companions all they had been told. And afterward Jesus himself sent out by them from the east to the west the sacred and incorruptible message of eternal salvation. \b ANOTHER ANCIENT APPENDIX
When he got up and left the synagogue, he went to Simon's house. And Simon's mother-in-law was suffering with a severe attack of fever, and they asked him about her.
Once as the crowd was pressing about him to hear God's message, he happened to be standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats on the shore of the lake, for the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. read more. And he got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to push out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds of people from the boat.
Peter said, "Here we have left home and followed you."
"Receive the holy Spirit! If you forgive any men's sins, they are forgiven them, and if you fix any men's sins upon them, they will remain fixed."
Then Peter stood up with the eleven around him, and raising his voice addressed them. "Men of Judea," he said, "and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you, and pay attention to what I say.
When they heard this, they were stung to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter said to them, "You must repent, and every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, in order to have your sins forgiven; then you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit, read more. for the promise of it belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those far away whom the Lord our God calls to him." He said much more besides in giving his testimony, and urged them to save themselves from that crooked age. So they welcomed his message and were baptized, and about three thousand people joined them that day. And they devoted themselves to the teaching and the society of the apostles, the breaking of bread, and prayer. Everyone felt a sense of awe, and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
What I mean is this, that one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul," another, "And I, of Apollos," another, "And I, of Cephas," and another, "And I, of Christ!"
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, for his own conduct condemned him.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, for his own conduct condemned him. For until some people came from James, he used to eat with the heathen, but after they came, he began to draw back and hold aloof, for fear of the party of circumcision. read more. The other Jewish Christians followed his example in concealing their real views, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their pose. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the good news, I said to Cephas, right before them all, "If you live like a heathen, and not like a Jew, though you are a Jew yourself, why should you try to make the heathen live like Jews?" We who are Jews by birth, and not sinful heathen, but who know that a man is not made upright by doing what the Law commands, but by faith in Christ Jesus??ven we believed in Christ Jesus, so as to be made upright by faith in Christ and not by doing what the Law commands??or by doing what the Law commands no one can be made upright. If through our efforts to be made upright through Christ, we have ourselves been proved as much "sinners" as the heathen, does that make Christ encourage sin? By no means. I really convict myself of wrongdoing when I start to rebuild what I tore down. For it is through the Law that I have become dead to the Law, so that I may live for God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me. The life I am now living in the body I am living by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I refuse to nullify the mercy of God. For if uprightness could be secured through law, then Christ died for nothing!