Peter 2 = Giving Simon the Name Peter
Giving Simon the Name Peter
"And Simon he surnamed Peter" Mar 3:16
"And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; Simon, (whom he had previously named Peter)" Luk 6:12-14
Jesus spends a night in prayer, and in the morning he chooses 12 men out of the larger group that was following him, and he designates them apostles.
Disciple means follower or one who is being taught, that refers to the larger group.
Apostle means a sent one, that refers to the 12.
Having chosen 12 out of the larger group of followers, he designates them apostles, to show that they would be sent out by him to do special work. Mat 10 continues with Jesus giving them instructions as he sends them out.
Personal names are important. We have Simon, which was his regular Jewish name, the name his parents gave him, to whom Jesus had previously given the Greek name Peter; the Aramaic equivalent would be Cephas. Both Peter (petros) in Greek and Cephas in Aramaic mean "rock."
When Jesus first meets Peter, he gives him this new name. What went through Peter's mind when he heard that? Surely he wonders, Why is he giving me a new name? And why Peter? Rock? He does not even know me! Think of Nathaniel’s reaction in the parallel first meeting Jhn 1:47-51.
As I see it, it is Jesus' statement to Simon, though he would not have understood it at the time, is to show him that Jesus had a plan for him; Simon, now Peter, is to be the leader of the 12. Every list of the 12, lists Peter first.
The new name has to do with Peter's role as leader, not his work as a fisher of men.
No one argues that Peter was the leader of the 12. This Blog will simply show that though leader, he is just one of the foundation stones of the Church, nothing more, nothing less.
The next Blog will deal with Mat 16:18 where Jesus says to Peter: And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church;
First, God does have a plan for us, even from before we are born, Jer 1:5 being the classic proof text. Jesus knew Simon, and the plan he had for Simon, and to show Simon that, and the others too, he gives him the name Peter, which means "rock."
Second, while Peter was a natural a leader, this goes beyond his natural abilities; this is God's plan for us from before we were born. The Lord certainly does use our natural abilities and personalities, which of course he has ordained, starting with us as we are, and molding us to be what he wants us to be on a human level, but he also goes beyond that and makes us more than we naturally/humanly are, by the gifting work of the Holy Spirit. As with all things in the Christian life, there is the mix: God working in us, so that we will and do his good pleasure. (Php 2:12-13) He works so that we both want to do, and actually do do, what he wants us to do.
We are all works-in-progress, as the Lord, the Potter, molds us. As Christians, we want it to happen quickly, but it often doesn't; in the end, though we do grow in grace, but if we are honest, not all that fast.
At the end of 3 plus years of being with Jesus, Peter ends up denying Christ! What kind of a rock is that!?
Christian, do not fight God the Holy Spirit working within you. Let him mold you into the person he wants you to be, so that he can use for his glory and the extension of his kingdom.
Third, while all of the 12 are equal foundation stones of the Church (Eph 4 and Rev 21), yet in every list of the 12 Peter is first, showing he is in some way the leader. Is it wrong for one of the 12 to lead? Is it wrong to have a leader at all? Aren't we all equal? Well ... yes and no! When James and John ask Jesus if they can sit at his right hand and left hand in heaven, he did not say nobody would sit there, he just said the father had already decided who would sit there, so therefore, 2 people will in fact sit in those places of honor, and be above the rest of us. We call the list of men and women in Heb 12, the “Heroes of the Faith,” and rightly so, because frankly they did do above and beyond what most of us do. David had his 30 mighty men, but 3 were first.
It is not wrong to have a leader, it is not wrong to be a leader, but if you are a leader, do not demand obedience which is due to Christ alone, and do not call not following your will sin; that type of leadership is not Christian leadership.
Simon was the only one to whom Jesus gave a new name, and that shows us that Jesus was setting him apart to be the leader of the group; but what is also clear, is that whatever leadership role Peter had, it was limited, and lessened as time went on.
In Acts 1 he leads in choosing the replacement for Judas. He leads the group, he does not make the decision himself. He continues to lead, bringing the gospel to Samaria and beyond (this will be another Blog), but he takes others with him. By the time of the Jerusalem Counsel (Act 15), James the Lord's brother leads the meeting (James, John's brother, Zebedee's son was dead, having been killed by Herod as recorded in Act 12:1-5; the leader in Act 15 is James the Lord's brother). Peter speaks at the meeting, and his words carry weight, but he is definitely not the leader of the meeting or the Jerusalem church in any positional way. James is the one who leads the group into writing the letter they send.
And by the time he writes his first epistle, he refers to himself as "an elder" (1Pe 5:1); without getting ahead of ourselves, that is not the language we would expect from "the vicar of Christ" "the pope." Never once does Peter refer to himself as "The Apostle." The Roman Catholic title “pope” comes from Greek and means father. In Italian he is called IL Papa. This is directly against what Jesus said, "call no man father.” (Mat 23:9)
Peter is showing us that the distinctive office of the Apostles (note the capital “A”, to distinguish them from the “apostles” with a small “a”, which means missionary), the 12 Apostles, was not a permanent office.
Note Matthias was not the only one qualified to take Judas' place; not even just Matthias and Barsabas. The 120 gathered together in Act 1, was a group of men and women, and among those men were others who qualified, not just Matthias and Barsabas. All of these people would have been at the Last Supper; the 12 sat at the table with Jesus (Luk 22:21 But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table.), but the room was filled with many others; the 120, and maybe others also. So from the qualified men who were among the 120, they picked just 2, Matthias and Barsabas, to choose from.
Peter says:
"Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two (from among the larger group), Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias." Act 1:21-23
The point being, Peter was the ordained leader of a group of 12 eye witnesses, nothing more, nothing less. They are all the foundation stones of the church, all 12, not just Peter, and we are not even told which stone was which Apostle, all are equally in obscurity, which is how is should be, so the Christ the Head, can have all of the honor and glory!
"And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." Rev 21:14
So where is Peter the Leader? Positionally, he, along with the other 11 are buried in the ground, serving as the foundation of the church. His body has long ago moldered away in the ground. His spirit is in heaven with the spirits of all the other of our Christian brothers and sister, awaiting the last day, when he too will get his new body.
23 February 2026