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10 Facts About Peter the Apostle
Aaron Erhardt

1. He was originally named Simon (Jn. 1:42) (1)

2. He was one of the original twelve apostles (2)

3. He was part of the Lord’s inner circle (3)

4. His brother Andrew was an apostle (Lk. 6:14)

5. He was married and had children (1 Cor. 9:5) (4)

6. He was a fisherman by trade (Matt. 4:18)

7. He was very inquisitive by nature (5)

8. He played a prominent role in Acts (6)

9. He wrote two epistles in the NT (7)

10. He died a martyr’s death (Jn. 21:18-19)

Footnotes:

1. Jesus gave Simon the name Peter, which means “rock.” It is equivalent to the Aramaic name Cephas.

2. Peter’s name appears first in every list of the Twelve (Matt. 10:2-4; Mk. 3:16-19; Lk. 6:14-16; Acts 1:13), which probably indicates that he was the leader.

3. Peter, James, and John were often allowed to witness special events during the Lord’s ministry (Mk. 5:37; 9:2; 14:33).

4. This text reveals that it was Peter’s custom to take his wife with him as he went out to preach. Hence, he was married (also see Matt. 8:14). Furthermore, we know that Peter had children because he was an elder (1 Pet. 5:1), and one of the qualifications for an elder was believing children (Tit. 1:6).

5. Peter asked more questions in the gospels than all of the other apostles combined.

6. Peter’s work primarily dominates the first half of Acts (chs. 1-12). He took the lead in selecting a replacement for Judas Iscariot, preached the recorded sermon on Pentecost, imparted gifts to the Samaritans, raised Tabitha from the dead, and preached the first sermon to uncircumcised Gentiles. He also spoke at the Jerusalem meeting.

7. Peter wrote 1 & 2 Peter. He also influenced the writing of Mark.