EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/8/2025 8:21 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “Introduction to 2 Peter”
I think that what I am about to quote from John MacArthur’s introduction to his commentary on 2 Peter will be something that all of us will want to read, as he writes about the author of this letter, of course is Peter.
AUTHOR
“Peter was the acknowledged leader and spokesman of the apostles, as such, his name heads all four New Testament lists of the Twelve (Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16; Acts 1:13). Along with his brother Andrew (who introduced him to Jesus [John 1:40-42], he ran a fishing business on the Sea of Galilee (Matt. 4:18; Luke 5:1-3). The two brothers were originally from the village of Bethsaida (John 1:44), but later moved to a larger nearby town of Capernaum (Mark 1:21, 29). Their business was a successful one, as evidenced by the spacious house they owned in Capernaum (Mark 1:29, 32-33; Luke 4:38). We know that Peter was married, because Jesus healed his mother-in-law (Luke 4:38), and his wife accompanied him on his missionary travels (1 Cor. 9:5).
“Peter’s full name was Simon Barjona (Matt. 16:17), literally ‘Simon son of Jonas’) or John; cf. John 1:42). Simon was a common name in first-century Palestine. (There are eight other Simons mentioned in the New Testament; Simon the Zealot [Matt. 10:4]; Simon the half-brother of the Lord [Matt. 13:55]; Simon the leper [Matt. 26:6]; Simon of Cyrene, who was drafted to carry Jesus’ cross [Matt. 27:32]; Simon the Pharisee, at whose home Jesus ate a meal [Luke 7:36-50]; Simon the father of Judas Iscariot [John 6:71]; Simon the magician [Acts 8:9-24]; and Simon the tanner, with whom Peter stayed in Joppa [Acts 9:43].) At their first meeting, Jesus named him Cephas (John 1:42; cf. 1 Cor. 1:12; 3:22; 9:5; 15:5; Gal. 1:18; w: 9, 11, 14), which is Aramaic for ‘rock’; ‘Peter’ is its Greek equivalent (John 1:42).
“On occasion, Peter called ‘Simon’ is secular or neutral settings (e.g., in reference to his house [Mark 1:29; Luke 4:38]), his mother-in-law [Mark 1:30; Luke 4:38], or his business [Luke 5:3, 10]). At such times the use of the name has no spiritual implications. More often, however, he is referred to as ‘Simon’ to mark the key failures in his life—those times when he was acting like his old, unregenerate self.
“For example, in Matthew 17:24-25 Peter brashly assured the tax collector that Jesus would pay the two-drachma tax levied for the upkeep of the temple. Reminding him that as God’s Son, He was exempt from paying the tax, Jesus addressed Peter as ‘Simon’ (v.25). On another occasion, while out on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch’ (Luke 5:4). Peter was skeptical and hesitant to follow the Lord’s advice; after all, Jesus had been a carpenter and was a rabbi, not a fisherman. Now doubt somewhat exasperated, ‘Simon answered and said, ‘Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets’’ (v. 5). The staggering haul of fish that resulted from his obedience (vv. 6-7) opened Simon’s eyes to the reality of who Jesus is, so Luke, by the Spirit’s inspiration, called him by his new name: ‘Simon Peter …fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’’ (v. 8).
“Following one of the Twelve’s recurring debates as to which of them was the greatest, Jesus warned proud, overconfident Peter of his impending betrayal: ‘Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat’ (Luke 22:31). In fact, it was on the night of that betrayal that Peter was again called Simon, this time because he could not stay awake in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:37).
“After the resurrection, Jesus called Peter ‘Simon’ for the last time. Tired of waiting for the Lord to appear (Matt. 28:7), Peter impulsively announced, ‘I am going fishing’ (John 21:3). Dutifully following their leader, the rest of the disciples said to him, ‘We will also come with you.’ But those whom Jesus called to be fishers of men (Matt. 4:19) He did not allow to again become mere catches of fish: ‘and that night they caught nothing.’ The next morning Jesus met the unsuccessful crew on the shore, where He prepared breakfast for them. Afterward, He asked Peter three times, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’ (John 21:15-17), and three times Peter affirmed his love for the Lord.
“A few weeks later, the Holy Spirit descended on Peter and the rest of the apostles, and from then on the ‘Rock’ lived up to his name. He took the lead in finding a replacement for Judas Iscariot (Acts. 1:15-26), fearlessly preached the gospel (Acts. 2:14-40; 3:12-26), boldly confronted the Jewish authorities (Acts 4:8-20), unhesitatingly disciplined sinning church members (Acts 5:1-11), and zealously denounced false teachers (Acts 8:20). Moreover, it was through Peter’s ministry that the doors of the church were thrown open to the Gentiles (Acts 10:1-11, 18).
“After his appearance at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:7-12), Peter all but disappeared from the historical record of the New Testament until he wrote his epistles. Paul alluded to Peter’s missionary travels in 1 Corinthians 9:5, but the extent of those travels is not known. Nonetheless, the Scriptures indicate that he visited Antioch (cf. Gal 2:11-21) and probably traveled to Corinth (cf. 1 Cor. 1:12) and throughout Asia Minor (cf. 1 Peter 1:1). According to tradition, Peter perished in Rome, as did Paul, during Nero’s persecution (see further comments under ‘Date, Place of Writing, and Destination’ below).”
I can say that it will take a while before we get to that portion that MacArthur mentioned above as in tomorrow SD, Lord willing, we begin a very long section entitled “Petrine Authorship Disputed.” There is always people like that Apostates who desire to try and dispute the writings Scripture.
9/8/2025 9:13 PM
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