A Johannine Study (John 1:42)

⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

Ask a Christian to name one of Jesus’ disciples and they might mention the name Simon-Peter; he is, after all, one of the more well known disciples. In the midst of remembering him, perhaps they might recall the time when Jesus met him by the Sea of Galilee (Mark 1:16-20; Matthew 4:18-22; Luke 5:1-11). There were crowds of people forming around Jesus seeking to hear his teachings. It grew so large that Jesus climbed onto Simon-Peter’s boat to preach from there. Once on the boat, Jesus instructed him and his brother Andrew to cast the nets down for a catch. Simon-Peter questioned the request because they were unable to catch anything all night. Nonetheless, when he let the nets down they were filled up so much that the nets started to break! It is at that point that Simon-Peter repents of his sinfulness and Jesus responds, “Do not be afraid. Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Their reaction was apparently swift. They left all that they knew, vocation and home, and followed Jesus. There are some who believe that this was an act of radical discipleship. When Jesus calls us, we would do well to follow faithfully, like Simon-Peter and the other disciples. But radical discipleship does not start with us. It starts with a name.

This was not Simon-Peter’s first encounter with Jesus. Prior to the scene by the Sea of Galilee, Andrew introduced them (John 1:35-41). Not much is known about this meeting except that Jesus says to Simon-Peter, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas.” What did Simon think of Jesus’ audacious act of changing his name? We do not know. We do know, however, that when God changed the names of people in the past, it was coupled with a recapitulation of his redemptive purposes.

When God changed Abram’s name to Abraham (Genesis 17:5), it came with his promise “to be God to [Abraham] and to [Abraham’s] offspring” (Genesis 17:7). Even the meaning of the name Abraham reflects this promise, being a denotation of “father of a multitude”¹⁰. God also changes Jacob’s name to Israel (Genesis 32:28). Jacob means “he that follows after,” which was descriptive of how he came out of his mother’s womb (Genesis 25:26)¹¹. Israel, on the other hand, means “one that prevails with God”¹². But more significant than the meaning of his name is the fact that the nation he fathered took on his name - the Israelites. Simon, which means “hearkening,” had his named changed to Cephas, or Peter in Greek, which means “rock.” But the point is not the meaning of the names but the person naming these people.

God alone has the privilege and authority to change our names for his great redemptive purposes. Jesus’ act of changing Simon-Peter’s name is nothing less than the power of God. The name change is symbolic of the transformative work that Jesus is doing on Peter. In other words, God chose Peter. He chose to save him. He chose to use him. He chose to make him his disciple. He chose to change his name.

Radical discipleship starts with God. He gives us a new name in Christ: “and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” (Revelation 2:17). More important than the name or the meaning of the name is the fact that God is for us. He was for us on the cross, and he is for us even now. Christ’s death and resurrection is our call to follow him. Let us, fellow Christian, live up to that call. Be encouraged, because you have a new name in Christ.