A Study of Peter

As we establish the main characters in our study of Peter, God first shows us in the gospels of Matthew and Luke the family of Joseph and Mary, and Zacharias and Elizabeth. They are related through the maternal side; Mary and Elizabeth share the same blood. When the angel Gabriel announces God’s plan of salvation to Mary and that she would carry God’s Son, the Messiah, he gives her a sign of proof that her relative (kinswoman, possibly a cousin or second cousin) who is old and barren is in her sixth month of pregnancy. So this family has two miracle babies! Nothing is impossible with God. And that also makes Jesus and John related. These two children would grow up to be so vitally important to not just Israel, but to the whole world. John would be the harbinger, ushering in and making the people ready for the Messiah who was to follow.

Peter may have been one of John’s disciples along with Andrew his brother and their fishing partners James and John. So these four men were keeping a watchful eye out for the messiah. James and John we can trace through Matthew, Mark and John’s account of the crucifixion, and of who were there of the women that followed Jesus and witnessed his death are the sons of Mary’s sister Salome, making them first cousions of Jesus. Mary and Joseph had children themselves and they are: James, Joseph, Simon and Judas and daughters though not mentioned by name, making them half brothers and sisters. So if we were to see a gathering of this holy family, they would be: Zacharias, Elizabeth, John, Joseph, Mary, Jesus, James, Joseph, Simon, Judas, Jesus' sisters, Zebedee, Salome, James and John. Look at all the names in this family and you see many of them contributed greatly for the cause of Christ.

Amen! JL