{"id":1722,"date":"2021-08-23T17:14:06","date_gmt":"2021-08-23T17:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/?p=1722"},"modified":"2021-10-25T15:58:53","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T15:58:53","slug":"stories-of-christian-martyrs-peter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/stories-of-christian-martyrs-peter\/","title":{"rendered":"Stories of Christian Martyrs: Peter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Simon, son of John, grew up in Capernaum, on the north end of the
Sea of Galilee. Raised along with his brother Andrew in a fishing
family, Simon seemed headed for a career in that business. Then
Jesus came walking along the shore and invited Simon to follow Him into
a life of fishing for people. Simon accepted both the invitation and a new
name given by Jesus\u2014Peter (from the Greek word petros<\/em>, meaning \u201ca
piece of rock\u201d). For three years, Peter was Jesus\u2019s constant companion.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We find it easy to imagine Simon Peter, the rock, smiling over the
immense irony of Jesus\u2019s call on his life as Peter wrote these lines: \u201cAs you
come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen
and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a
spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: \u2018Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame\u2019\u201d (1 Peter 2:4-6).
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter knew firsthand the depth of that promise of never being put to
shame. He knew the unspeakable joy that comes when, in the midst of
the overwhelming facts and feelings of failure, Jesus steps in and says, \u201cI
still have work for you to do.\u201d In the biblical record, Jesus\u2019s first and last
words to Peter were, \u201cFollow me\u201d (Mark 1:17; John 21:22). History tells
us Peter did just that. From the out-of-the-way shore of Galilee to the
center-of-the-world hallways of Rome, Peter followed Jesus. From laying
down his nets to laying down his life, Peter learned and practiced fishing
for men and women. It remains clear that Peter is one of our finest
examples of what it means to be a martyr. He lived a full life and he died
a faithful death for Christ.
<\/p>\n\n\n\r\n\t

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\r\n\t\t\t\"\"\r\n\t\t<\/figure>\r\n\t\t
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Request your free magazine<\/p>\r\n\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\n\n\n

Given the obvious leadership role that Peter had among the disciples
and in the early church, it is interesting to see how faithfully the gospels
record his fumbling efforts. The disciples as a group comprehended neither what Jesus was doing nor why, and Peter usually made public their lack of
understanding. His impulsive nature allowed him to sometimes blurt out
the truth, but more often to state the mistake. Though the resurrection of
Jesus transformed an average group of disciples into a powerful force for
the Gospel, those who knew them never forgot their background. The
gospel writers could have easily shaped the stories of the ministry days with Jesus in order to make the first leaders of the church more heroic. They resisted that temptation. Instead, they gave us the truth\u2014God\u2019s Word. They gave us accounts into which we can fit ourselves. The ordinary people who spent time with Jesus are people to whom we can relate. The fact that they became apostolic witnesses simply reminds us that God desires also to do something through us in order to bring glory to His name.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to Peter\u2019s missionary efforts, the first twelve chapters
of Acts record the exciting events of the initial years of the movement that
began with Jesus\u2019s command to make disciples throughout the world.
Peter\u2019s first sermon on the Day of Pentecost seemed to open the floodgates of new believers, but the spread of the Gospel was at first limited to Jews and proselytes (those Gentiles who had become \u201cnaturalized\u201d Jews). God used Peter\u2019s visit to a Roman soldier\u2019s household to confirm Jesus\u2019s inclusion of people from every nation as candidates for the good news of salvation. Cornelius became the test case for Gentile conversions.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter departs the Acts account suddenly in chapter 12. He had just been
miraculously freed from prison and had briefly visited the believers who
were gathered together praying for him at Mary\u2019s house. They had prayed
for Peter\u2019s safety, and God had answered by having Peter knock at the door. Because he was technically a prison escapee, Peter\u2019s life was in added danger. Luke notes Peter\u2019s parting message: \u201cBut motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, \u2018Tell these things to James and to the brothers.\u2019 Then he departed and went to another place\u201d (Acts 12:17).
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cother place\u201d where Peter went has been the subject of both tradition and legend. Traditional accounts for Peter\u2019s travels focus primarily on
time spent in Babylon (to the east) or Rome (to the west). In support of
Peter\u2019s ministry in Babylon, we have the apostle\u2019s apparent location mentioned in 1 Peter 5:13: \u201cShe who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen,
sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.\u201d The Eastern branch of
the church claims that Peter was instrumental in planting the Gospel there.
In support of Peter\u2019s ministry in Rome, we have the obvious case that he
did end up in Rome and was martyred there. As to his founding the church
in Rome, we have little direct evidence, but someone did bring the Gospel
to the Roman Empire\u2019s capital, for when Paul wrote his letter to Rome,
there was already a thriving church there. But if Peter was already in Rome
at the time, it seems strange that Paul didn\u2019t mention him among his various detailed greetings in that letter. What we know from Acts is that Peter was somewhere, busy sharing the Gospel.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has often been noted that when Jesus and Peter walked on the
shore of Galilee for the last time, the Lord not only reinstated His call
on Peter\u2019s life, but also gave Peter an inkling of the end that awaited him.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“‘Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to
dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you
are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress
you and carry you where you do not want to go.’ (This he said
to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after
saying this he said to him, ‘Follow me'” (John 21:18-19).
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not where we go and what happens to us that matters all that
much. What does matter is how we respond when Jesus comes to us and
says, \u201cFollow me.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter\u2019s final days in Rome are not described in the Scriptures, but
various traditional accounts have survived. Reportedly he spent horrific months in the infamous Mamertine Prison, a place where incarceration was often itself a death sentence. Though manacled and mistreated, Peter survived the tortures and apparently communicated the Gospel effectively to his guards. Eventually he was hauled out of the dungeon, taken to Nero\u2019s Circus, and there crucified upside down because he did not consider himself worthy to be crucified with his head upward, like Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story is an excerpt from Foxe: Voices of the Martyrs. <\/em>You can get your own copy free with any donation to The Voice of the Martyrs.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simon, son of John, grew up in Capernaum, on the north end of theSea of Galilee. Raised along with his brother Andrew in a fishingfamily, Simon seemed headed for a career in that business. ThenJesus came walking along the shore and invited Simon to follow Him intoa life of fishing for people. Simon accepted both the invitation and a newname given by Jesus\u2014Peter (from the Greek word petros, meaning \u201capiece of rock\u201d). For three years, Peter was Jesus\u2019s constant companion. We find it easy to imagine Simon Peter, the rock, smiling over theimmense irony of Jesus\u2019s call on his life as Peter wrote these lines: \u201cAs youcome to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosenand precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as aspiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: \u2018Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame\u2019\u201d (1 Peter 2:4-6). Peter knew firsthand the depth of that promise of never being put toshame. He knew the unspeakable joy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1774,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[89],"class_list":["post-1722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foxe","tag-rome","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nStories of Christian Martyrs: Peter - Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Peter\u2019s final days in Rome are not described in the Scriptures, but various traditional accounts have survived.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/stories-of-christian-martyrs-peter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stories of Christian Martyrs: Peter - 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