Mark 3:16

Peter. Peter appears first all in all four NT lists of the Twelve (see p. 593). He often took upon himself the role of spokesman for the entire group (Matt. 14:28; 16:16; 17:24; 26:35; etc.). Shortly after the baptism of Jesus, Andrew brought his brother Peter to Jesus, the first Christian convert resulting from what might be called a layman’s efforts (see John 1:40-42). Peter had, at that time, responded to the invitation to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, and had associated himself intermittently with the Lord in His ministry. Nearly two years later, probably in the late spring or early summer of A.D. 29 (see on Matt. 4:12), Christ called him to permanent discipleship, together with his brother Andrew and his business partners James and John (see Luke 5:1-11; see on v. 7).

Possibly Peter, by common consent, acted as the manager of the fishing business he conducted in partnership with the others. At any rate his ardor, eagerness, earnestness, courage, loyalty, vigor, and organizing ability no doubt marked him for leadership among the disciples from the very beginning. Peter was pre-eminently a man of action; his enthusiastic disposition was his strongest personal character trait. He was a man of pronounced extremes, and his strong personality was the source of marked virtues and serious defects. In him, diverse and contradictory traits of character existed side by side. He seems always to have been eager, ardent, warmhearted, generous, bold, daring, and courageous, but too often impulsive, inconsistent, unstable, rash, undependable, boastful, overconfident, and even reckless. In a moment of crisis he was likely to be weak, cowardly, and vacillating; and no one could predict which side of his character and personality would prevail at any given time.

Peter was a native of Bethsaida Julias (see John 1:44), on the northeastern shore of the Lake of Galilee, opposite Capernaum, to which city he apparently later moved (see on Mark 1:29). Peter and his fishing partners, Andrew, James, and John, all seem to have been disciples of John the Baptist (see John 1:35-42; DA 138).