Who was Peter in the Bible?
You can read some of Peter’s story in Matthew 4:18–22; 26:31–75; Luke 24:1–12; and John 21 in the New Testament.
Peter (also known as Simon Peter) is best known as a fisherman who walked with Jesus."[Jesus said,] 'Here is what I tell you. You are Peter. On this rock I will build my church. The gates of hell will not be strong enough to destroy it'" (Matthew 16:18).
Peter and his brother Andrew caught and sold fish for a living. One day, while they were cleaning their nets, Jesus came by and asked Peter if he could stand Peter’s boat so He could speak to the people. After Jesus talked to the people, he told Peter to try to get some fish in his nets. Peter thought it was a bit silly, since he and the other fishermen hadn’t caught anything all night, but he obeyed Jesus. To Peter’s great surprise, they caught
tons of fish! It was a miracle. Jesus said, "From now on you will catch people" (Luke 5:10). Jesus meant that Peter would tell people about how they could one day be in heaven with Jesus.
Peter sometimes did things without thinking first. For example, when soldiers came to arrest Jesus at the garden of Gethsemane, Peter took a sword and cut off a man’s ear! Jesus told Peter to put his sword away, and then Jesus healed the man’s ear. Later on, while he was waiting to hear what would happen to Jesus, he denied he knew Jesus three times he denied the Lord. After, he was very sad. How could he ever forgive himself? Later that day, Jesus was sentenced to die on a cross.
Three days later, the disciples were mourning the loss of Jesus when suddenly amazing news came to them! Jesus was alive! Peter got up and ran to the tomb to see if the news was true. It was! Soon he saw Jesus himself, and Jesus forgave Peter for saying that he didn’t know Jesus.
After Jesus went back to heaven, Peter would bravely preach the good news of Jesus’ death for sin and his resurrection. He served the Jesus for the rest of his life. He wrote two letters, which are now in the New Testament as 1 Peter and 2 Peter.
Peter’s life can teach us that getting saved is only the beginning of our life in Christ. We then grow in Him. We may fail sometimes, but Jesus will always pick us up, help us, and use us until He brings us home to Him in heaven. May we be like Peter and turn from our sin to become a follower of Jesus all the days of our life!
