Simon Peter

Also known as Simon ben Jonah, Simon Peter, and Cephas, Peter was the son of Jonah, the brother of Andrew, and a native of Bethsaida. Married, he and his wife lived in Capernaum. According to both Matthew and Mark, while fishing in Lake Gennesaret Peter and his brother were called by Christ to be His disciples.

All four gospels record that Jesus foretold that Peter would deny Him three times that same night. Before doing so, however, Peter cut off the ear of Malchus, a servant of the High Priest. After Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter was the first to enter the empty tomb.

According to the book of Acts, Peter was an extremely important figure within the early Christian community. He delivered a significant speech on the day of Pentecost, and was a leader in finding a replacement for Judas Iscariot. Peter was dragged before the Sanhedrin on two occasions, went on missionary trips to Lydda, Joppa, and Caesarea, and was instrumental in the decision of the council of Jerusalem to evangelize the Gentiles and accept them without circumcision.

Another early Christian document reports the tradition that Peter was fleeing Rome to avoid execution when he encountered a vision of Jesus. Peter asked Him, “Quo vadis?”, “Where are you going?”, to which Jesus replied that He was going to Rome to be crucified again. Peter returned to the city and accepted his martyrdom.

Early Christian authors such as Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Dionysius of Corinth, and Irenaeus of Lyon all say that Peter was crucified, upside down, as part of the Christian persecution meted out by Emperor Nero in response to the great fire of Rome. Some scholars suggest that it was on October 13, 64.

Litany of the Led

In the summer of 2007 I wrote an article for our denominational Light and Life magazine entitled "Litany of the Led." It included the names of 66 persons throughout church history who have served God by following His will and allowing countless others to follow their example. Frankly, I don't think we can have enough role models in life.

Here is a reprint of that original article, and every week for the next year or so I'll be posting the biography that I wrote for each of these saints, a brief biography that appeared on our denominational web site a year ago.

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Peter. Andrew. James. John. Philip. Bartholomew. Thomas. Matthew. James, son of Alphaeus. Thaddaeus. Simon the zealot. Stephen. Paul. Ignatius. Polycarp. Justin Martyr. Perpetua and Felicitas. Anthony. Athanasius. Basil the Great. Ambrose. John Chrysostom. Augustine. Patrick. Benedict.

Gregory the Great. Bede the Venerable. Bernard of Clairvaux. Thomas Becket. Dominic. Francis of Assisi. Thomas Aquinas. Bonaventure. Catherine of Siena. William of Ockham. John Wycliffe. John Hus.

Martin Luther. Ulrich Zwingli. John Calvin. Thomas More. Ignatius of Loyola. Francis Xavier. Thomas Cranmer. George Fox. John Bunyan. George Whitefield. John and Charles Wesley.

William Wilberforce. Charles Finney. John Henry Newman. Phoebe Palmer. D. L. Moody. Benjamin Titus Roberts. William and Catherine Booth. William Seymour. Alexandr Sozhenitsyn. Karl Barth. Dietrich Bonhoeffer. C. S. Lewis. Martin Luther King, Jr. Jim Elliott. Mother Teresa. Pope John Paul II. Billy Graham.

The litany of those who have had the courage to enter areas of service that may not be immediately compatible with their particular stage of life is endless. Whether leaving their nets with their father on the sea-shore or responding to the needs of the poorest of the poor in the streets of Calcutta, men and women from the time of Christ have abandoned all to follow Him and proclaim His message of hope and grace and joy to the world. When in their own strength they were tempted to go another direction they have trusted God to provide, trusted the Spirit to lead, and because of their faithfulness we are able to stand strong in faith today. We did not get here by accident. We do not go forward alone.

Many other names can be added to this list. Can yours?