The Apostle Peter is one of the most identifiable members of Jesus; inner group of twelve apostles. He was considered to be the leader of the group and led the way in the early years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. His main goal in life was to evangelize and spread the word of God to non-believers. In order to better understand the context of Peter’s life, we need to understand the world in which he lived, his mission in life not only during the life of Christ, but during the years immediately after the death and resurrection and finally, how Christ is revealed in him.

Peter was born in Bethsaida, but lived in Capernaum with his wife and worked as a fisherman. On a larger scale, Israel at this time was ruled by Rome, and as a result, the Jews had to pay taxes. The Romans hired Jews as tax collectors, and these Jewish tax collectors were very much hated by the Jewish populace. The Romans did understand that the one way to keep the peace was to allow small groups to worship as they wished, and as a result the Jews were allowed to worship in their own way.

A subsequent result of this was the development of two opposing religious groups. The first was the Pharisees, a group of purists that viewed themselves as separated from all pagan influences. The Pharisees were held in great esteem in Israel, mostly because they were rigid upholders of Jewish law. The second group was the Sadducees. They were upper class Jews. They only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament. They were extremely elitist and elicited much hatred from the general Jewish population.

In the larger context of Jewish life, the father was considered the head of the household, and women were subservient. Economically, farming was the main way people made their money, supplemented by fishing for those that lived near the rivers and seas. There was also some home based industry—that is, goldsmiths, silversmiths, and other craftsmen that worked out of their homes. Simon Peter only had four main calls in his life, and two of them are the same calls that all believers are called to perform. The first call was one of the most extraordinary.

It involved not only preaching, but healing, raising the dead, and casting out demons. These were the very powers that Jesus himself had that he used to such great effect. Peter was also called to spread the gospel. He accomplished this by preaching and writing epistles. Through the epistles, he was able to assist his friends in establishing churches throughout Asia Minor. Peter also was to convert non-believers. To this end, he went into areas dominated by non-believers and would convert them, usually on Pentecost.

Even today, when asked when they converted to Christianity, many former Muslims will say they converted on Pentecost. He was also called to head the apostles. He took his leadership seriously, having been told by Christ that he would lead the apostles after his death. Finally, we see that Jesus is revealed in Peter. We see this in the way that Jesus reveals himself to Peter both prior to and after his death. Prior to his death, Jesus calls Peter a “rock” and that he will build his church on Peter.

The Glory of Jesus is also revealed to Peter. This is when Peter realizes that Jesus is the Christ. Peter is also concerned about forgiveness, which is the same thing that Christ is concerned about. Peter also declares his loyalty to Christ. After Jesus’ death, Peter sees the resurrected Jesus. Also, with the urging of the spirit of Christ, Peter catches 153 fish, an allegory for the phrase “becoming fishers of men” that Christ referred to. Peter is also grated intense spiritual insight, and used prayer as a tool for spiritual discernment.

Finally, at his death, Peter suffered as Christ suffered, even being crucified, but refused to be crucified head up, demanding to be crucified head down. Simon Peter led an extraordinary life. He was a devout follower of Christ and was the leader of the Apostles. He devoted his life to answering God’s call and to preaching and evangelizing the gospel and to leading the call to create the Christian Church. By choosing to follow the call of Christ instead of the call of his own heart, Peter assumed his rightful place near to Christ as one of the saints of the church.