A Man Called Peter

“And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.  And He said unto them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  Matthew 4:18-19

Jesus chose out twelve men to travel with Him, teaching and training them by word and example in order for them to carry the gospel when His time on earth had come to an end.  Scripture gives us the specific callings of seven of the disciples, Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Nathaniel, who is also known as Bartholomew, and Matthew, also known as Levi.  The specific calling of the other five, Thomas, James, son of Alphaeus, Labbaeus, also know as Judas Labbaeus Thaddaeus, Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, is not recorded in scripture.  As far as we know, they were all common everyday folks with various occupations.  They all had one common denominator which was to serve God except for Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.  I doubt that any of them were highly educated.  Some folks might wonder why Jesus didn’t choose men who were more highly sophisticated and knowledgeable, but it was usually the elite and educated who gave Jesus the most trouble, or as my Daddy used to say about troublemakers, “There’s always a smart aleck in the crowd.”

Jesus doesn’t look on the outward appearance, the degrees and diplomas, or the bank accounts of those He came to serve and save.  He looks at the heart, the innermost thoughts and intents of a person, and that is that to which He responds.  When Jesus called them to follow Him, they had no clue of what would ensue.  They only knew that when He called out to them, “You–follow Me”, they were strangely compelled to leave all and follow Him.

Simon Peter is probably the most well known disciple mainly because he was so outspoken.  As already stated, Peter had a brother named Andrew who also became a disciple of Jesus,  and Peter was married because Jesus healed his mother-in-law (Matthew 8:14-15).  Among his personality traits were some of those that we find among ourselves.  He had doubts and fears (Matthew 14:25-33) and was somewhat of a “know-it-all”.  He actually had the nerve to rebuke Jesus when Jesus told him that He would go into Jerusalem and be killed.  Peter wasn’t having it (Matthew 16:21-23).  Peter was stubborn.  In John 13:6-10, Peter refused to let Jesus wash his feet until Jesus explained to him that allowing his feet to be washed by his Lord was to submit to the authority and grace of the Lord.

Peter was very inquisitive.  He tried, in John 13:24, to get John to find out the identity of the betrayer.  He was overconfident of his own ability to stand firm in the face of opposition.  In John 13:36-38, he vowed never to forsake Jesus, but that’s exactly what he did.  Peter was also impetuous.  When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant (John 18:10).  Even though Peter denied Jesus three times when He stood before the high priest (Matthew 26:69-75), Jesus restored him later to full fellowship with Him (John 21:15-19).  Peter’s strong personality, when used in the spread of the gospel and the upbuilding of Christ’s church, became a real asset.  He did indeed become a fisher of men.