While many more things could be said to explain Peter’s prominence among Christ’s Apostles, these 5 points compel us to focus on a common theme: the redemption and transformation that comes by faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ despite our own weakness.

The Apostle Peter is the only other Apostle who can be said to be Paul’s equal in terms of significance for the history of the early church. His given name was Simon (Matt. 4:18; Mark 1:16; Luke 5:4), but he would become most well-known as Petros, the Greek translation of the Aramaic nickname Cephas (meaning “rock”), given to him by Jesus (Matt. 16:18). His prominence in the early church is anticipated by his special naming by Jesus and would develop in light of his association with the church at Rome (1 Peter 5:13). Here are five things about Peter that can help explain his prominence among Christ’s Apostles.

1. Mark likely wrote his gospel based on Peter’s account of Jesus’ ministry.

Most scholars today understand Mark’s gospel to be the first written among the four accounts. The early church historian Eusebius reports testimony from Papias that Mark wrote his account based on Peter’s teaching concerning Jesus. According to Papias: “Mark became Peter’s interpreter and wrote accurately all that he remembered, not, indeed, in order, of the things said or done by the Lord. For he had not heard the Lord, nor had he followed him, but later on, as I said, followed Peter, who used to give teaching as necessity demanded but not making, as it were, an arrangement of the Lord’s oracles, so that Mark did nothing wrong in thus writing down single points as he remembered them.”

2. Peter was the first among Jesus’ disciples to identify Him as the Messiah (Matt. 16:16; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20).

This is the occasion where Jesus designates Simon as “the rock” (Peter). However, Mark and Matthew also demonstrate that Peter likely had not yet grasped how that identity would contradict prevailing expectations of God’s kingdom and its coming. Indeed, in the very next passage where Peter rebukes Jesus for speaking about His betrayal, death, and resurrection, Jesus responds by rebuking the newly named Peter as “Satan” (Matt. 16:21–23; Mark 8:31–33). Both Peter’s first sermon in Acts (Acts 2:14–36) and the opening blessing of his first epistle (1 Peter 1:3–5) demonstrate that he would eventually never forget that moment’s lesson on the centrality of Christ’s death and resurrection for the coming of God’s kingdom.

Read More