1 Peter Intro

1 Peter 1:1-2 “1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.”

The author

His calling, learning to obey

Luke 5:4-11 “4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.”

Walking on the water, still learning

Matthew 14:22-33 “22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, …”

Showing his faith in Christ

Matthew 16:13-20 “13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.”

Sticking his foot in his mouth

Matthew 16:21-23 “21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.””

In a garden, acting tough

John 18:10-11 “10 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) 11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?””

Denying his Savior

Matthew 26:69-75 “69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” 71 And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” 73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74 Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.”

Being Restored to Service

John 21:1-19

When we think about Peter, we must remember that Peter was impetuous, brash, loud, impulsive - but also he was very devoted and passionate to his Lord.

We must remember that Peter had his flaws. He was only human, just like we are. Now, unless we realize that - we will begin to put Bible characters (just like Peter) on some sort of pedestal and make them super-human.

All of these examples we just discussed are plenty of reasons that we must take Peter as a good example of someone who has “been there, done that”.

Peter isn’t some guy that lived a life of luxury in some ivory tower that never had real experiences and struggles as a believer and follower of Jesus. He was a very flawed, but devoted disciple. We can relate to that right?

The audience

The setting

The purpose

1 Peter contains an unusual number of apparent reminiscences of the Lord’s words: generally not as formal quotations, but woven into the framework of the discourse (e.g. 1 Pet. 1:16 = Mt. 5:48; 1:17 = Mt. 22:16; 1:18 = Mk. 10:45; 1:22 = Jn. 15:12; 2:19 = Lk. 6:32 and Mt. 5:39; 3:9 = Mt. 5:39; 3:14 = Mt. 5:10; 4:11 = Mt. 5:16; 4:13 = Mt. 5:10ff.; 4:18 = Mt. 24:22; 5:3 = Mt. 20:25f.; 5:7 = Mt. 6:25ff.), and other passages take on a richer meaning if Peter were in fact the author. These connections are not exclusively from the Marcan tradition: but 1 Peter and Mk. alike display the theme of the suffering and the glory.