First Peter Introduction Authorship: Besides the direct statement in 1:1 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ”, the author claims to have been an eyewitness of the sufferings of Christ (5:1). This gives added meaning to 1 Peter 2:23, when we realize that the author personally beheld the events described in that verse. In addition, besides being an Apostle, this writer was also an elder (5:1), therefore a man who was married and had believing children (1 Timothy 3:1-4). Matthew and Paul both record Peter as being married (Matthew 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 9:5). Evidence can also be gained by looking at Second Peter: a. Second Peter claims to be a second letter (3:1 “This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you”). b. The author of Second Peter witnessed the transfiguration (1:17-18), which only Peter, James, and John beheld (Matthew 17:1-4). “The earliest definite citation of First Peter outside the New Testament is found in Polycarp (who died AD 155), Epistle to the Philippians. Polycarp quotes First Peter several times. The first extant writing which quotes Peter by name is Irenaeus, Against Heresies (AD 182-188): “Peter says in his epistle: ‘Whom, not seeing, you love; in whom, though now you see him not, you have believed, you shall rejoice with joy unspeakable’ (cf. 1 Pet. 1:8)”. 1 Valuable lessons can be learned from the life of Peter: He was a man from a blue collar background, who was interested in spiritual things (Luke 5:10). His Hebrew name was Simon or Symeon (John 1:41; Acts 15:14), which means “God has heard”. Jesus gave Him the name Peter (Greek), which means “a rock or stone”. He is also called Cephas, which is Aramaic (John 1:42; 1 Cor. 15:5) and is the equivalent of Peter. His father was named John (John 1:42) or Jonas (Matt. 16:17), and his brother was Andrew (John 1:40). The theme of First Peter is suffering and Peter, even previous to his death, had endured his share of suffering. In addition, Peter is a great example of how to 1 1 Peter, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, Wayne Grudem, pp. 22-23 1