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→Life during Jesus' Ministry
==Life during Jesus' Ministry==
The [[Matthew | Gospel of Matthew]] portrays Peter's great statement regarding the divinity of Jesus in the context of a question asked by Jesus. A discussion takes place between Jesus and his disciples near the city of [[Caesarea Philippi]]; this discussion begins with Jesus asking the question, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is" (Matt 16.13). The disciples proceed to explain the various opinions that the people have in the next verse before Jesus interjects with, "But who do you say that I am" (Matt 16.15). It is at this point that Peter is singled out in Matthew's Gospel as he replies, "You are the [[Christ]], the Son of the living God" (Matt 16.16). This is of great interest to the student of Peter's life. Here, for the first time recorded in the Gospels, the flamboyant Peter deftly proclaims that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. Jesus appears pleased with this statement and blesses Peter in the following verse.
It quickly becomes clear that Peter's idea of a Messiah did not include the idea of a suffering servant because a scant six verses later Peter takes Jesus aside and begins rebuking him for the idea that Jesus would die. Here Jesus rebukes Peter, calling him an adversary and saying that his mind is set on the things of man and not on the things of God (Matt 16.22-23). This is typical of Peter's interaction with Christ. He will take a great step of faith or make a great proclamation only to not quite get the full impact of what he just did or said. This is not something that Peter should be harshly judged on, rather it shows his own faith journey and humanity.
Similarly Peter shows his faith a few chapters earlier in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus' walking on the water is recorded in [[Mark]] 6.45-52, [[John]] 6.16-21, and [[Matthew]] 14.22-33. However, only in Matthew is Peter's role mentioned. In this narrative Jesus comes to the disciples, who are in a boat fighting against the wind and waves, walking on the water. At first the disciples are terrified by this sight and cry out in fear that it is a ghost. Once Jesus assures them that it is him, and not a ghost, Peter asks Jesus to command him to join him on the water. Jesus responds with the simple word, "come," (Matt 14.29). Peter obeyed, got out of the boat, "walked on the water and came to Jesus," (Matt 14.29). This is, perhaps, more than can be said for the other disciples who remained in the boat. Peter, in this passage, takes part in an event that he surely remembered for the rest of his life. It is important to remember at this point that Peter did not lack faith, he merely lacked enough faith to successfully stay on top of the water. As the story goes Peter saw the wind and became afraid, only then did he begin to sink. Still though, he cries out to Jesus for help which his lord readily gives with the gentle rebuke, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt" (Matt 14.31). So, at this point in his life Peter is revealed to be a man of faith, albeit only a little faith.
These two examples serve as a brief synopsis of Peter's life during the earthly ministry of Christ. Constantly it is Peter who is singled out as the disciple of action. It is he who walks on water, he who proclaims Jesus as the son of the living God, he who proposes that tents be pitched for Jesus, [[Moses]] and [[Elijah]] (Matt 17.2-4), it is he who cuts off [[Malchus]]' ear (John 18.10). Throughout the Gospels Peter acts. Most often these actions are undertaken on Peter's part with a lack of full understanding regarding what Jesus is doing. Nevertheless Peter does act, and it is he who receives the command to feed Jesus' sheep (John 21.15-17). Interestingly, Peter receives this command after jumping out of a boat to get to Jesus and then hauling 153 large fish ashore in a net single handedly, or so the text would seem to indicate (John 21.1-14). These examples show that it takes no stretch of the imagination to say that Peter was a man of action throughout his associate with Jesus.
==After the Resurrection: The early church==
