Exploring The Chosen: Simon Peter
This week we continue our exploration of The Chosen by learning more about one of the show’s main characters: Simon Peter. Now, those familiar with the Bible know that Simon eventually became known as Peter after Jesus changed his name. Simon Peter became one of the most influential figures in the formation of the early Christian Church and the spread of the Gospel following Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension into Heaven.
While entire books could (and have) been written about Simon, I wanted to take a closer look at what The Chosen gets right about Simon Peter, what is extrabiblical narrative (not in Scripture), and what we can expect from the character in future seasons (if the show continues to follow the Gospels).
What The Chosen Draws Directly from Scripture
There is a lot in The Chosen about Simon that is drawn from Scripture. Simon was a fisherman, who was called by Jesus from mending his nets in his boat after a night of fishing (Luke 5:1-11). Simon, along with his brother Andrew (another Apostle) were partners in the fishing business on the Sea of Galilee with the Apostles James and John, also brothers and sons of Zebedee (Luke 5:10). We know from John 1:40 that Simon’s brother Andrew had met Jesus prior to Simon’s encounter with Him on the boat, as The Chosen portrays, and Jesus probably met Simon prior to calling Simon to follow Him.
Another aspect of Simon’s life that is supported by Scripture is his family life. The account of Jesus healing Simon’s mother-in-law is found in Luke 4:38-39; therefore, we know Simon was in fact married (also confirmed in 1 Corinthians 9:5). Many of the encounters Simon has with Jesus are taken from Scripture, most notably when he walks to Jesus on the water (Matthew 14:22-33). Furthermore, we know that Simon was among Jesus’ innermost circle, which included Simon Peter, John, and John’s brother James (Matthew 17:1) (Note that there is another Apostle named James sometimes referred to James the Less (younger) or son of Alphaeus, and Jesus had a brother also named James, all of which can be confusing when reading Scripture if you don’t know which James is being referred to).
The Chosen portrays Simon Peter as a bit headstrong – hotheaded, even. This lines up with the biblical narrative in several accounts. We’ll see later in the story of Jesus’ ministry that Simon even cuts off a soldier's ear when they are taking Jesus into custody (John 18:10-11). Many other accounts in the Bible show that Simon was a bit on the impulsive side, with Jesus sometimes rebuking him (Mark 8:33). Jesus usually calls him Simon when he is acting according to the flesh, and calls him Peter when he is being an obedient disciple. The name translated to English and Greek as Peter, comes from the word Cephas (Aramaic) that means rock (John 1:40-42), as Peter was the spokesman for the Apostles (Matthew 15:15), and Jesus wanted Peter to be steadfast in his faith to begin to build the early Church.
While The Chosen adds a bit to Simon’s story to fill in what might have happened, his general characterization in The Chosen seems to be consistent with Scripture.
What The Chosen Adds to Simon Peter
A lot of Simon’s backstory is fabricated by the producers of The Chosen, though nothing has directly contradicted Scripture. For instance, there is nothing in Scripture to indicate that Simon had massive tax debts or that he struck a deal with the Romans to cancel this debt. Likewise, we don’t know if he held a grudge against Matthew the tax collector, though almost all Jews hated the tax collectors who were aligned with Rome in collecting taxes (the Jewish tax collectors could charge the Jews more on top of what Rome required and keep the rest).
In season three of The Chosen, a large subplot focuses on Simon and his wife Eden (whose name is not mentioned in Scripture) suffering a miscarriage. This is not found in the Bible but is an interesting exploration of how the disciples might have dealt with personal tragedy during Jesus’ time on earth. Scripture never mentions Simon having children.
The Rock the Church is Built Upon
At the conclusion of season three of The Chosen, there is a lot of remaining ground to cover in Jesus’ earthly ministry. We can expect to see a few key stories from Simon along the way. Simon will witness Jesus’ transfiguration along with brothers James and John, the three Apostles closest to Jesus (Matthew 17:1-13). He will deny knowing Jesus three times while Jesus is facing trial before His sentence to be crucified (Luke 22:54-62). He will be one of the first two Apostles to see the empty tomb (John 20:1-9), and he will be restored by Jesus following his three denials (John 21:1-19), even though in his brashness he swore he would never forsake Jesus (Matthew 26:33-35). A very interesting fact to me is that while Peter’s three denials were around a charcoal fire, Jesus restores Peter as Jesus cooks him a fish dinner on a charcoal fire.
If The Chosen continues the story of the disciples into the book of Acts, we will see a few more important stories with Simon. On the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given to indwell the Christian believers, Simon Peter preached a famous sermon through the power of the Holy Spirit, after which 3,000 people came to faith in Jesus (Acts 2). He healed multiple people in the book of Acts as well (Acts 3:1-10, Acts 9:32-35, Acts 9:36-42). He received a vision from God in Acts 10 that made clear that God no longer held his followers to the law of the Old Testament which had been fulfilled by Jesus, and that God’s Kingdom was open to Gentiles who would place their faith in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation.
Jesus’ promise that Peter would be foundational in building the early Church was fulfilled in the following three stages: Peter preached on the day of Pentecost that Jesus was the promised Messiah and that God the Father had raised Him from the dead. They all as believers had just received the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised (Acts 2). Then, he was present when the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:9-25). Finally, he was summoned to the home of the Roman centurion Cornelius, a Gentile, who also believed and received the Holy Spirit (Acts 10). In this way, Peter “unlocked” three different worlds and opened the door of the Church to Jews, Samaritans (the hated enemies of the Jews), and Gentiles (all non-Jews). And while Peter was instrumental in the formation of the early Church, Scripture makes clear that the Church is built upon the foundation of all the Apostles, with Jesus as the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-22).
Peter was bold in his faith, spreading the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles alike. While not mentioned in Scripture, church tradition holds that Peter was martyred for his faith by being crucified upside down as he didn’t want to take anything away from Jesus’ crucifixion in payment of the debt for our sins which we cannot pay and only Jesus could.
What Can We Learn from Simon
Simon is a beautiful picture of how God can take an imperfect human and use them for His Kingdom. The Gospels do not shy away from putting Simon’s shortcomings on full display. He was impulsive, rash, and often put his foot fully in his mouth. So what can we learn from the Apostle Simon Peter:
Jesus can help us overcome our fear. Peter found courage from his faith in Jesus Christ in many ways, including stepping out of a boat to walk on water (Matthew 14:22-33) and going in faith to share the Gospel with the first Gentile Christians (Acts 10).
Jesus will forgive our unfaithfulness. Even though Peter had confidently boasted of his devotion to Jesus, Peter adamantly denied the Lord three times. Yet Jesus lovingly restored Peter so that he could be instrumental in building the early Church. This should greatly encourage us all, as we see that Jesus can work within us in spite of our failures, if we will just allow the Holy Spirit to work.
Jesus is very patient in teaching us. While we see Peter stick his foot in his mouth and fail over and over, Jesus was always there to teach him with love and patience. Peter was willing to learn and to be coached and corrected. Are we willing to be coached and corrected by the Holy Spirit?
When Jesus looks at us, He sees us as He wants us to become. From the very beginning, Jesus called Peter the Rock. There were many times in Scripture when Jesus returns to calling him Simon when he exhibits his fleshly self, but Jesus always saw Peter as what he would eventually become through his faith in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. This reminds me of one of my favorite verses in Scripture that gives me encouragement: “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion” (Philippians 1:6).
Jesus seldom uses that high and mighty for His biggest work, and typically chooses the messed-up and lowly people for His work. Peter was a lowly fisherman from Galilee, but Jesus called him to be a fisher of men (Luke 5:10) and the Rock of the early Church. Peter was devoted to Jesus and was willing to leave all he had to follow Jesus. So God was able to use Peter in great ways. Scripture says that when Peter preached, people were amazed at his boldness because he was not schooled in Scripture and was just an uneducated fisherman. But they knew that Peter had “been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Peter became one of the most important leaders of the early Christian Church. Being with Jesus makes all the difference. What are you doing as a follower of Jesus to reflect Him to others? Do other people know by the way you act and the words you use that you have been with Jesus?
Praise God that He does not leave us as He finds us! He wants to do amazing things in and through us if we will just let Him!