Summary of the apostle Peter’s ministry to the Jews

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How could a man who initially lived in Bethsaida on the Sea of ​​Galilee, born and raised in a traditional Jewish home, and went into his father’s fishing business be known as the Apostle Peter? He was to be known as the “Apostle of the Circumcision.”

Peter first appears in the Gospel story in John 1:35-42, when Andrew discovered that Jesus was the Messiah. He went and found his brother, Peter, and led him to Jesus. When Jesus saw Peter, he said, “You are Simon, son of Jonah. They will call you Cephas.” Cephas is an Aramaic surname whose Greek synonym is Petros, or Peter and translates as “rock” or “stone”. As we see in the scriptures in Matthew 16:18 – “And I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” This scripture is misinterpreted by many denominations. It is not on Peter that the church is built, but on Christ. We know that if the church, or anything, built on man it will not stand the test of time. It must be built on Christ as its foundation. Christ did not intend to teach that his church would be built on Peter, but on Himself as Peter confessed. Peter is careful to state this in the first of his two Epistles (1 Pet 2:4-9).

Peter’s life can be divided into two parts: first from his call to discipleship until the ascension of Jesus Christ and from the ascension to the end of his life. Although there are several events in the early part of Peter’s life prior to Christ’s ascension, only one seems to have a direct impact on the balance of Peter’s life. That is his call to the apostolic office and his spiritual equipment as seen in Matthew 10:2-4-Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew the his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Tomás and Mateo the tax collector; Jacobo, son of Alfeo, and Lebeo, whose nickname was Thaddeus; 4 Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot, the one who also betrayed him.

Peter occupied a distinguished place among the twelve disciples. We see in the four lists of apostles found in the New Testament, Peter is named first – Matthew 10:2-4; March 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16: and Acts 1:13. In addition, Jesus chose Peter, James, and John as three main apostles to be present at certain important moments in his ministry, such as the Transfiguration and in the Garden of Gethsemane.

As stated in Matthew 4:19 – Then he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” It was then that Peter received the call from him to the discipleship of Jesus.

When the Apostle Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, his ministry began. He went out and preached the first gospel that day as we see in Acts 2 and 3000 became Christians. This is where Peter receives the title “Apostle of the Circumcision”. He was speaking to a crowd of Jews. He began his sermon by quoting the prophet Joel. He was preaching to them what they already knew and then went on to explain that they had killed Christ. God himself. Then Peter said to them: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” – Acts 2:38.

Peter and John, on their way to the temple, met a man lame from birth who was placed daily at the door of the temple named Beautiful. Peter (with the help of the Holy Spirit) healed the man with the sword. Peter then addressed the people in the temple. Peter was arrested and beaten several times, but he continued to preach and heal and do signs and wonders: heals Aeneas at Lydda, raises Dorcas from the dead at Joppa.

Peter has a vision on the housetop that leads him to preach the gospel to the Gentile centurion, Cornelius, at his (Cornelius) home in Caesarea. This opened the door of the gospel to the Gentile world. This is where he found the opposite of everything he was taught. This is where he discovered that Jesus Christ came not only for the Jews but also for the Gentiles. Peter, with the help of the Holy Spirit, had to learn how to circumcise the foreskin of his heart. In Cornelius’ house he saw that Gentiles could also be saved. Peter witnessed scenes very similar to those of Pentecost in Jerusalem (Acts 10:44-47). He was given the solemn sentence to pronounce on the guilty couple, Ananias and Sapphira. In these and similar situations, Peter exhibited the authority with which Christ had invested him (Matthew 16:19), an authority given to all disciples (John 20:22-23), the power to bind and loose.

Since his ministry was primarily to the Jews, Peter advocated the inclusion of Gentiles in the Christian movement at the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem.

The ministries of Peter, “Apostle to the Circumcision” and Paul, “Apostle to the Uncircumcised” are in no way in conflict with each other as demonstrated at the transition point in Acts 10. Up to this point in time the gospel had been offered only to Jews. Now they have rejected it in the national sense, and “the normal order of the present Christian era” has been reached (Acts 13:44-48). We find Peter and Paul side by side, affirming the great doctrine of justification by faith alone, as stated in Acts 15:11 (KJV), “We believe that by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we (the Jews) shall be saved, like them (the Gentiles).”

It is clear in the Second Epistle of Peter (2 Pe 1:1) that his conception of justification from God and also from the human side is identical to that of Paul, since he speaks of justifying faith as the result of the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. This is not the justice that God is, but the justice that God gives as we see in Rom 1:16,17; Rom 3, 21-25; and 2 Corinthians 5:20,21.

Probably late in his life, Peter wrote his two Epistles, as appears especially in the Second Epistle (2 Peter 1:12-15). Both were addressed primarily to the Jewish Christians scattered in the different provinces of Asia Minor, among whom Paul and his followers had planted the gospel (1Pe 1:1-2 and 2Pe 3:1). The First Epistle was written in Babylon (1 Pet 5:13) on the Euphrates, although destroyed as a great capital, it was still inhabited by a small group of people, mostly Jews.

Peter went to Rome and it is believed that Mark (writer of the Gospel of Mark) was Peter’s translator while he was preaching. It is also believed that when Peter recounted and retold his experiences with Jesus, Mark gave him an almost verbatim account. After Peter’s death, Mark recorded what he remembered in what we know as the Gospel of Mark.

Tradition says that Peter died a martyr in Rome around AD 67. He was about 75 years old. He was crucified under Nero. He thinks, at his own request, that he be crucified upside down, feeling unworthy to resemble Christ’s crucifixion in his death.

This is how a man from Betsaida went from being a fisherman to a fisher of men. As stated in Matthew 4:19-he Then he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

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