3 Common Men, Uncommon Calling—Part 2: Peter (Luke 6:14a)
Simon, whom He also named Peter, (6:14a)
Our society and its laws set standards and requirements for almost every enterprise. People have to demonstrate their qualifications for everything from jobs to driver’s licenses to credit cards to loans. Doctors must be licensed, teachers credentialed, and lawyers admitted to the bar. Students must meet certain standards to be admitted to a college or university, and meet still other standards to receive their degrees. Many positions also require intangible qualifications, such as character, experience, self-motivation, and social skills.
As the Bible makes clear, God’s standards for those who lead His people are extremely high. An elder must be
above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. (1 Tim. 3:2–7)
Leaders must be exemplary since the standards their lives are measured against are the same ones all believers are to meet; God doesn’t lower the standards for everyone else. Thus the writer of Hebrews exhorts believers to “remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7). The ultimate standard Christians are called to meet is “to be perfect, as [their] heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt.5:48).
Such a lofty standard is, humanly speaking, impossible to meet. No one qualifies on his or her own merit to enter God’s kingdom or to serve Him. Since there are no qualified people, God, in His grace, had to choose unworthy and unqualified people to minister for Him. Saving and sanctifying grace transforms them into useful servants. The Twelve, like all believers, were unqualified sinners saved by God’s redeeming grace and sovereignly chosen by Him for service (John 15:16).They were not stained-glass saints, to be put on a pedestal, or worse, worshiped; they were like Elijah, who “was a man with a nature like ours” (James 5:17). In spite of all their human limitations, God used the apostles to turn the world upside down (cf. Acts 17:6) because they surrendered completely to Him whose power is perfected in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). The gospel, not those who proclaim it, “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16; cf. 1 Cor. 1:18; 2:4–5; 2 Cor. 4:7).
Spiritual leadership differs markedly from natural leadership. Natural leaders trust their judgment and make their own decisions; spiritual leaders humbly seek God’s will. Natural leaders are ambitious and driven; spiritual leaders seek God’s will and glory. Natural leaders enjoy exercising authority over others; spiritual leaders seek to serve others (Matt. 23:11). Natural leaders are motivated by success; spiritual leaders by love for God. Natural leaders are independent; spiritual leaders are totally dependent on God.
There is no clearer example in Scripture of how God builds a spiritual leader than Peter. He was chosen and equipped by the Lord to be the spokesman for the Twelve, and as such is the most prominent of the apostles. Peter is mentioned more often in the gospels than anyone else except Jesus. None of the Twelve spoke as often as Peter did, nor did the Lord address anyone else as often as Peter. None of the disciples was so often rebuked by Jesus as Peter was, and no disciple had the temerity to rebuke the Lord except Peter. No one confessed Christ’s true identity more boldly and explicitly than Peter, yet paradoxically, no one denied Him as vehemently and publicly as did Peter. No one received higher praise from Jesus than Peter, but neither did He address anyone else as
Satan. Yet God took this common man with an ambivalent, vacillating, impulsive, unsubmissive personality and molded him into the unquestioned leader of the Twelve and the boldest, most powerful preacher in the early years of the church.
Peter’s birth name was Simon Barjona (“son of Jonas,” or “John”; Matt. 16:17). Simon was a very common name in Israel; the New Testament lists several other men by that name, including another one of the apostles, Simon the Zealot, (Luke 6:15), one of Jesus’ brothers (Matt. 13:55), a leper (presumably healed by Jesus) in Bethany (Mark 14:3), at whose house Mary (the sister of Martha) anointed Jesus with costly perfume (John 12:1–3), a Pharisee who invited Jesus to eat with him, and at whose house another woman anointed Jesus (Luke 7:36–50), a man from Cyrene, pressed by the Romans into carrying Jesus’ cross (Mark 15:21), the father of Judas Iscariot (John 6:71), the false prophet Simon the magician (Acts 8:9–24), and Simon the tanner, at whose house in Joppa Peter stayed (Acts 9:43).
As noted in the previous chapter of this volume, Peter’s name heads all four New Testament lists of the apostles. Emphasizing his primary position among the Twelve, Matthew 10:2 calls Peter the “first” of the apostles. Prōtos (“first”) does not refer in this context to being first in sequence, but rather first in importance; it has the sense of “chief,” or “most important.” He was by trade a fisherman, along with his brother Andrew (Matt. 4:18). They were originally from the small village of Bethsaida (John 1:44), but had moved to Capernaum, the most significant town on the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee (Luke 4:31, 38), where Jesus had settled after leaving Nazareth (Matt.4:13).Though it is impossible to be certain, a church building found in the ruins of Capernaum may have been built on the site of Peter’s home. Peter was married, since Jesus healed his mother-in-law (Luke 4:38–39), and Paul noted that his wife accompanied him on his missionary journeys (1 Cor. 9:5).
That Jesus named Simon Peter is significant, as I explain in my book Twelve Ordinary Men:
Luke’s choice of words here is important. Jesus didn’t merely give him a new name to replace the old one. He “also” named him Peter. This disciple was known sometimes as Simon, sometimes as Peter, and sometimes as Simon Peter.
“Peter” was a sort of nickname. It means “Rock.” (Petros is the Greek word for “a piece of rock, a stone.”) The Aramaic equivalent was Cephas (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:12;3:22;9:5; 15:5; Galatians 2:9). John 1:42 describes Jesus’ first face-to-face meeting with Simon Peter: “Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, ‘You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas’ (which is translated, A Stone)” Those were apparently the first words Jesus ever said to Peter. And from then on, “Rock” was his nickname.
Sometimes, however, the Lord continued to refer to him as Simon anyway. When you see that in Scripture, it is often a signal that Peter has done something that needs rebuke or correction.
The nickname was significant, and the Lord had a specific reason for choosing it. By nature Simon was brash, vacillating, and undependable. He tended to make great promises he couldn’t follow through with. He was one of those people who appears to lunge wholeheartedly into something but then bails out before finishing. He was usually the first one in; and too often, he was the first one out. When Jesus met him, he fit James’s description of a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (James 1:8). Jesus changed Simon’s name, it appears, because He wanted the nickname to be a perpetual reminder to him about who he should be. And from that point on, whatever Jesus called him sent a subtle message. If He called him Simon, He was signaling him that he was acting like his old self. If He called him Rock, He was commending him for acting the way he ought to be acting….
This young man named Simon, who would become Peter, was impetuous, impulsive, and overeager. He needed to become like a rock, so that is what Jesus named him. From then on, the Lord could gently chide or commend him just by using one name or the other.
After Christ’s first encounter with Simon Peter, we find two distinct contexts in which the name Simon is regularly applied to him. One is a secular context. When Scripture refers to his house, for example, it’s usually “Simon’s house” (Mark 1:29; Luke 4:38).When it speaks of his mother-in-law, it does so in similar terms: “Simon’s wife’s mother” (Mark 1:30; Luke 4:38). Luke 5, describing the fishing business, mentions” one of the boats, which was Simon’s” (v. 3)—and Luke says James and John were “partners with Simon” (v 10). All of those expressions refer to Simon by his given name in purely secular contexts. When he is called Simon in such a context, the use of his old name usually has nothing to do with his spirituality or his character. That is just the normal way of signifying what pertained to him as a natural man—his work, his home, or his family life. These are called “Simon’s” things.
The second category of references where he is called Simon is seen whenever Peter was displaying the characteristics of his unregenerate self—when he was sinning in word, attitude, or action. Whenever he begins to act like his old self, Jesus and the Gospel writers revert to calling him Simon. In Luke 5:5, for example, Luke writes, “Simon answered and said to Him, ‘Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net. ‘“That is young Simon the fisherman speaking. He is skeptical and reluctant. But as he obeysand his eyes are opened to who Jesus really is, Luke begins to refer to him by his new name. Verse 8 says, “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’“
We see Jesus calling him Simon in reference to the key failures in his career. In Luke 22:31, foretelling Peter’s betrayal, Jesus said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat” Later, in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Peter should have been watching and praying with Christ, he fell asleep. Mark writes, “[Jesus] came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak’“ (Mark 14:37–38). Thus usually when Peter needed rebuke or admonishment, Jesus referred to him as Simon. It must have reached the point where whenever the Lord said “Simon,” Peter cringed. He must have been thinking, Please call me Rock! And the Lord might have replied, “I’ll call you Rock when you act like a rock.”
It is obvious from the Gospel narratives that the apostle John knew Peter very very well. They were lifelong friends, business associates, and neighbors. Interestingly in the Gospel of John, John refers to his friend fifteen times as “Simon Peter.” Apparently John couldn’t make up his mind which name to use, because he saw both sides of Peter constantly So he simply put both names together. In fact, “Simon Peter” is what Peter calls himself in the address of his second epistle: “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1). In effect, he took Jesus’ nickname for him and made it his surname (cf. Acts 10:32).
After the resurrection, Jesus instructed His disciples to return to Galilee, where He planned to appear to them (Matthew 28:7). Impatient Simon apparently got tired of waiting, so he announced that he was going back to fishing (John 21:3). As usual, the other disciples dutifully followed their leader. They got into the boat, fished all night, and caught nothing.
But Jesus met them on the shore the following morning, where He had prepared breakfast for them. The main purpose of the breakfast meeting seemed to be the restoration of Peter (who, of course, had sinned egregiously by denying Christ with curses on the night the Lord was betrayed). Three times Jesus addressed him as Simon and asked, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” (John 21:15–17). Three times, Peter affirmed his love.
That was the last time Jesus ever had to call him Simon. A few weeks later, on Pentecost, Peter and the rest of the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit. It was Peter, the Rock, who stood up and preached that day. Peter was exactly like most Christians—both carnal and spiritual. He succumbed to the habits of the flesh sometimes; he functioned in the Spirit other times. He was sinful sometimes, but other times he acted the way a righteous man ought to act. This vacillating man—sometimes Simon, sometimes Peter—was the leader of the Twelve. ([Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2002], 33–37. Emphasis in original.)
As noted earlier, how God dealt with Peter is a prime example of how He builds a leader. An examination of Peter’s life reveals three key elements that combine to make up a true spiritual leader: the right raw material, the right life experiences, and the right virtues.
THE RIGHT RAW MATERIAL
The best answer to the question of whether leaders are born or made is that they possess certain innate abilities, which must then be shaped by their life experiences. Apparently, Peter possessed at least three such leadership traits.
First, he was inquisitive. Leaders understand that knowledge is power; hence people who do not ask questions do not make good leaders. Unlike those who are willing to remain ignorant about what they do not understand, do not care to listen to others’ insights, are unconcerned about what they have not analyzed, and are content to leave problems unsolved, leaders have an insatiable curiosity
Peter manifested his curiosity by asking more questions in the gospels than the rest of the Twelve combined. It was Peter who asked the Lord to explain a puzzling statement He had just made (Matt. 15:15), to whom another of Christ’s teachings applied (Luke 12:41), how many times he was expected to forgive someone who offended him (Matt. 18:21), what reward the apostles would receive (Matt. 19:27), and (along with James, John, and Andrew) about the end times and the signs of Christ’s return (Mark 13:3–4). Even after His resurrection Peter continued to pepper the Lord with questions (John 21:20–22). His constant desire for more knowledge and better understanding marks effective leaders.
Peter also possessed a second crucial trait of a leader—initiative. According to the humorous saying, there are three kinds of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who ask, “What happened?” Leaders are definitely those who make things happen, and Peter was no exception. Not only did he ask the most questions, he also was usually the first one to answer any question posed by the Lord—most notably when he made the great confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (see the discussion of this passage below). When a woman with a hemorrhage touched Jesus andwas healed, He asked, “Who is the one who touched Me?” It was Peter who replied, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You” (Luke 8:45).
But nowhere is Peter’s initiative more clearly seen than in Gethsemane. When a large detachment of Roman soldiers and Jewish officials arrived to arrest Jesus, Peter immediately sprang into action. Without waiting for an answer from Jesus to the disciples’ question, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” (Luke 22:49), Peter drew his, bravely but foolishly intending to hack his way through the entire detachment. He attacked first Malchus, the slave of the high priest, and cut off his ear (John 18:10). (Peter, of course, was after his head, not his ear, but Malchus’s quick reflexes saved him.) In this case Peter’s initiative was misguided, and earned him the Lord’s rebuke (Luke 22:51; John 18:11).
Peter’s initiative could at times cause him to act rashly without sensibly evaluating the situation. Yet it is easier to rein in someone who is overly aggressive than to attempt to motivate a passive, timid, hesitant person. When molded by his life experiences, and controlled by the Holy Spirit, Peter’s courageous willingness to take the initiative would make him a bold and fearless preacher of the gospel (cf.Acts 2:14–40; 3:12–26; 4:8–12, 19–20; 5:29–32).
Finally, Peter was willing to get involved. Like all true leaders, he had to be where the action was. The classic illustration of that comes from the story of Jesus’ walking on the water (Matt. 14:25–34). Terrified when the Lord appeared in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, the disciples assumed that what they saw was a ghost (v 26). When Jesus reassured them that it was He (v 27), Peter impulsively exclaimed, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water” (v 28). After the Lord told him to come, “Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus” (v.29). Leaving the other disciples behind in the boat mulling over whether the apparition was really Jesus or a ghost, Peter went to where the action was, where the Lord was. Once out of the boat Peter’s faith abruptly failed (v.30), and Jesus had to save him from drowning. People remember that Christ rightly rebuked him for his lack of faith (v.31), but forget about the other disciples, who never even left the boat.
Similarly, while Peter denied the Lord, only he (and John) were in a position where that could happen; the rest of the apostles had fled for their lives (Matt.26:56). Peter, however, was too involved to abandon Jesus completely After the resurrection, that deep commitment to the Savior prompted Peter to go right past John, who had arrived at the empty tomb first but remained outside, and enter the tomb (John 20:4–6).
Those who refuse to get involved cannot effectively lead. People will not follow someone who remains out of the fray issuing instructionsfrom a position of safety and comfort. True leaders lead from the front, not the rear.
THE RIGHT LIFE EXPERIENCES
Peter’s natural abilities needed to be shaped and molded by the experiences of his life before he could be the leader God meant him to be. Experience can be a hard teacher, and the lessons Peter learned were dramatic and often painful. He sometimes soared to the dizzying heights of theological insight, and other times plunged into the abyss of woeful ignorance—sometimes in the same incident (Matt. 16:16, 23).The gospels record five experiences that helped mold Peter into the man God could use.
The first experience was Peter’s great revelation, described in John 6:66–69. After feeding a large crowd of five thousand men and thousands more women and children, Jesus presented Himself to them as the Bread of Life. When He challenged His hearers to commit themselves totally to Him, using the graphic metaphor of eating His flesh and drinking His blood (v. 53), “many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore” (v 66).Turning to the Twelve Jesus asked, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” (v. 67). Based on the private miracle they had just seen during the night—Jesus walking on the lake—which ramped up their faith in Him beyond what even the miracle feeding did (Mark 6:52), Peter acted as the spokesman for the rest as he usually did (cf., John 13:36–37; Matt. 15:15; 16:16; 17:4; 18:21; 19:27; 26:33, 35; Mark 11:21; Luke 5:8; 8:45; 12:41) with the answer: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68–69). While it is true to Peter’s conviction, along with the Twelve, that statement was nonetheless a revelation from God, like Peter’s later, more explicit confession that Jesus was the Messiah and Son of God (Matt. 16:16–17).
This experience taught Peter that God would give him the message he was to proclaim through divine means (cf. John 14:26; 16:13–14). Though he was merely a fisherman, not educated in the rabbinic schools (Acts 4:13), he did not need to be concerned about what he would say for God would reveal it to him. That confidence allowed Peter to boldly and fearlessly proclaim the gospel, as recorded in the early chapters of Acts.
Another life-shaping experience for Peter was the great promise given to him. In response to his confession of Jesus as the Messiah (Matt. 16:16), the Lord
said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven” (vv. 17–19)
The foundation on which the church is built is the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God. It was Peter’s privilege not only to articulate that reality, but also to preach it until his death. By so doing, he would shut the gates of hell so that its forces would not prevail against the church, and open the gates of heaven for all who believed, including both Jews (Acts 2:14–40) and Gentiles (Acts 10:1–48).
God even used Peter’s great transgression to further mold and shape him. Perhaps no incident more clearly reveals Peter’s mercurial temperament than his confession of Jesus as Messiah and its aftermath. After affirming Jesus’ true identity through a revelation from God (Matt. 16:16–17) and receiving the promise and privilege described above, Peter was riding high. Yet amazingly, he immediately plunged into the depths of sinful folly by daring to rebuke the Lord. After Jesus solemnly warned the apostles of His coming rejection and death (v. 21), Peter brashly “took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You’“ (v22).There was no place in Peter’s theology for a dying Messiah; like the rest of his fellow Israelites, he expected the Messiah to drive out the Roman oppressors and bring Israel to the place of covenant promise, prominence and glory. Christ’s response was swift and devastating. The very man whom He had just pronounced blessed by God (v. 17) He now shockingly addressed as Satan (v. 23).
The lesson Peter learned from this incident was that he was not to overestimate his role, but to understand its firm limits within the divine plan (cf. Rom. 12:3). As Jesus’ rebuke indicated, Peter could be just as available to Satan as he was to God. Because of their influence and the respect leaders command, they have the potential to be used by God, but also to be used by the devil. Leaders must learn, as Peter did, to operate within God’s plan, as revealed in Scripture, and not alter it in order to pursue their own agenda.
Without question the most painful experience of Peter’s life was his great rejection of Jesus Christ. On the night before His death, Jesus, quoting Zechariah’s prophecy, warned the disciples that they would all temporarily abandon Him that very night (Matt. 26:31–32). Peter, however, confidently asserted that whatever the others might do, he was going to stick with Jesus (v. 33).When Jesus replied that Peter would deny Him three times, Peter forcefully insisted that he would never abandon the Lord (v. 35). But as always, Jesus was right and Peter was wrong. Not longafter boldly proclaiming his undying loyalty to Jesus, Peter repeatedly and emphatically denied Him (vv. 69–74). After his final denial, “the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, ‘Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times’“ (Luke 22:61). The realization of what he had done devastated Peter, “and he went out and wept bitterly” (v 62). His proud self-confidence had been put to the test and found to be wanting.
This experience crushed Peter’s self-confident reliance on his own strength and abilities. Leaders have to learn to rely on the Lord for strength; they must acknowledge that, as Martin Luther put it in his hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, “
Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing.
Paul, the proud, self-righteous, self-confident Pharisee, came to recognize himself as the foremost of sinners (1 Tim. 1:16) and acknowledged, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me” (1 Cor. 15:10).
But having shattered Peter’s self-confidence, the Lord did not leave him in that state. He brought a final experience into Peter’s life, one that would prepare him for the important role he would play in the spread of the gospel. After Christ’s death Peter and the rest of the apostles went to Galilee in obedience to His command (Matt. 28:10). But Peter announced to those who were with him, “I am going fishing” (John 21:3). Peter was not suggesting a little recreational fishing to pass the time until Jesus arrived, but intended to return to his former occupation (cf. John 12–21, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 2008], 390). In light of his shameful denials of Christ, Peter no doubt felt inadequate to serve Him. The rest of the apostles agreed with Peter, and told him, “We will also come with you.” Even when his course of action was wrong, they still followed Peter’s lead. But the Lord had other plans for these men, and though “they went out and got into the boat … that night they caught nothing.”
The following morning Jesus appeared, and revealed Himself to them by directing them to a large haul of fish (vv.4–7). After breakfast (v. 9), Jesus addressed Peter. He knew that before he could play a leading role in building the church and preaching the gospel, Peter needed to be restored and recommissioned. He needed to be reassured that though he had forsaken Christ, Christ had not forsaken him. Therefore Jesus challenged Peter three times—once for each of his denials—to reaffirm his love for Him (vv. 15–17). Then He said something that must have thrilled
Peter. “Truly truly I say to you,” Jesus told him, “when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go” (v. 18). As the apostle John’s footnote indicates, by saying that Jesus was “signifying by what kind of death [Peter] would glorify God” (v. 19).
Normally, such a prediction would bring alarm, not comfort. But the Lord’s words reassured Peter that he would remain faithful to Him until death. There would be no more vacillating; Peter would not again forsake Jesus, but would faithfully carry out the ministry to which he had been called. Nearing the end of his life Peter wrote,
Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind. (2 Peter 1:12–15)
He had become the man the Lord needed him to be.
THE RIGHT VIRTUES
The Lord’s molding of the raw material of Peter’s nature through his life experiences produced in him the virtues and character essential to a true spiritual leader.
The fundamental, foundational principle of spiritual leadership is submission to God and His Word. As noted above, Peter was aggressive, bold, and self-confident. He illustrated those traits when approached by those collecting the two-drachma temple tax. When they asked whether Jesus was going to pay that tax, Peter replied that He was. That reality apparently did not sit well with Peter. When he came into the house where Jesus was staying, the Lord knew what Peter was thinking. Before he could say a word, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?” (Matt. 17:25). When Peter replied, “from strangers,” Jesus drew the logical conclusion that “the sons are exempt” (v. 26). Even earthly kings do not tax their children; therefore as the Son of God, Jesus was not obligated to pay the temple tax. But then came the lesson on submission. To avoid giving offense, Jesus directed Peter to “go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, youwill find ashekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me”(v 27).
Peter got the point. Years later he exhorted Christians, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12). Believers are to live their lives in such a way as to deny opponents any legitimate grounds for criticizing the gospel. Then in verses 13 to 18 Peter spelled out how to do that:
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.
Peter had come a long way from the man who had balked at paying the temple tax. But he had learned the lesson that although he was a subject of God’s kingdom and merely a sojourner on earth, he nevertheless needed to submit to human authority for the Lord’s sake.
Second, Peter learned restraint, or self-control. The danger facing decisive, action-oriented leaders is becoming angry when their goals are thwarted by those who do not share their vision, or who underperform. Peter’s lack of restraint was clearly seen in his singlehandedly taking on those who came to Gethsemane to arrest Jesus (see the discussion above), which earned him the Lord’s rebuke (John 18:11).
Once again, Peter learned his lesson. In his first epistle he wrote,
For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously (1 Peter 2:21–23)
He understood the importance of following the Lord’s example.
Third, Peter learned humility Pride is an ever-present danger for leaders, because of their influence, and because people praise, respect, and admire them. It was Peter’s proud self-confidence that lay behind his boast, noted above, that he would not abandon the Lord, and the hard fall that he subsequently took shattered that pride. As he closed his first epistle, he warned elders not to exalt themselves over those they lead(1 Peter 5:3), then exhorted all believers, “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time” (vv. 5–6). Peter’s life, message, and leadership reflected the humility he had so painfully learned.
Fourth, Peter learned love. Leaders, even those in the church, can come to view people as a means to an end; to be task oriented rather than people oriented. But the essence of true spiritual leadership is humble, loving service to others. “If anyone wants to be first” Jesus told the Twelve, “he shall be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35).On the night before His death, Jesus graphically illustrated that principle by humbly washing the disciples’ dirty feet. That degrading task was usually assigned to the lowliest servant. But on that evening in the upper room, there was no servant. And none of the disciples, who as usual were arguing among themselves as to who was the greatest (Luke 22:24; cf. 9:46; Matt. 20:20–28), were going to eliminate themselves from contention by washing the others’ feet.
Peter did not understand the significance of the Lord’s action, and protested vehemently when the Lord came to wash his feet (John 13:6–10). But when Jesus told him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me” (v 8), Peter, in typical fashion, veered from one extreme to the other, “Lord,” he said, “then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head” (v9).
In the context of His own example, Jesus’ exhortation to the Twelve that believers are to love each other (vv.34–35; cf. 15:12–13, 17) took on a heightened significance. Peter got the message, as his exhortation, “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8; cf. 1:22;2:17;2 Peter 1:7) indicates.
Fifth, Peter learned compassion in a most amazing way through the assault of Satan that led to his denials (Luke 22:31). But it was Peter’s tearful, remorseful recovery from that most terrible failure that enabled him to strengthen others in their temptations (v. 32). Compassion is a virtue that leaders often lack. Focused on their goals and objectives, they often do not stop to care for the wounded. Not so Peter. Having experienced the Lord’s restoration of him (in John 21, as noted above), he modeled the compassionate comforting of those struggling with sorrow or sin that should mark all leaders. In his first epistle, he wrote these words of comfort, expressing his compassion to those facing Satan’s onslaughts:
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. (1 Peter 5:8–10)
That was no ivory tower exhortation; Peter had lived what he preached.
Finally, Peter learned courage—not the reckless impulsiveness that prompted him to slash off Malchus’s ear, but rather a mature, settled determination to suffer for the cause of Christ. He would need that courage, since he would face trouble, opposition, persecution, and, ultimately martyrdom. As noted above, Jesus predicted Peter’s martyrdom in John 21 when He told him, “Truly truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go” (v 18).”Now this He said” John noted, “signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God”(v. 19).
Peter showed his courage by boldly proclaiming Jesus as Savior and Lord to the very people who had crucified Him. Nor did he stop preaching, not even when ordered to do so by the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:18–20; 5:27–29). He exhorted all Christians to follow his courageous example when he wrote,
But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.” (1 Peter 3:14–15)
Peter eventually became the leader Jesus needed him to be. He was the primary figure in the first twelve chapters of Acts. He was the one who initiated the replacement of Judas with Matthias, who preached the first sermon in the church’s history on the Day of Pentecost and who kept on preaching in defiance of the Sanhedrin, who, along with John, healed a lame man at the temple, who dealt with the hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira, who confronted the false teacher Simon Magus, who healed Aeneas and raised Dorcas from the dead, and who took the gospel to the Gentiles.
Along the way Peter suffered persecution and imprisonment. Eventually, as the Lord had predicted, he was martyred for his unswerving faith in Jesus Christ. According to tradition Peter, after being forced to watch his wife’s crucifixion, was himself crucified—head downward at his own request, since he felt himself unworthy of dying as his Lord had died. His life and ministry can be summed up in the closing words of the last epistle he wrote: “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity Amen”(2 Peter 3:18).