The General Epistes

Chapter 2

Day 4

              The General Epistles were written by several people, however, they carry just as much strength in the scriptures as the Pauline Epistles. The message in these epistles was inspired by God and have His full authority.

James: English form of Jacob. James, the brother of Jesus. Bible students debate the precise meaning of “the Lord’s brother” (Gal. 1:19). Possibilities are the literal brother or stepbrother, a cousin, or intimate friend and associate. The literal meaning is to be preferred.

During the Lord’s ministry, the brothers of Jesus (Matthew. 13:55; Mark 6:3; 1 Corinthians. 9:5) were not believers (John 7:3-5; compare Matthew. 12:46-50; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:19-21). Paul specifically mentioned a resurrection appearance by Jesus to James (1 Corinthians. 15:7). After the resurrection and ascension, the brothers are said to have been with the twelve and the other believers in Jerusalem (Acts 1:14).

Paul, seeking out Peter in Jerusalem after his conversion, reported “other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother” (Gal. 1:19). In time, James assumed the leadership of the Jerusalem church, originally held by Peter. Evidently, such was achieved not through a power struggle but by James’ constancy with the church while Peter and other apostles traveled.

In a Jerusalem conference called regarding Paul’s Gentile mission, James presided as spokesman for the Jerusalem church (Acts 15).

James perceived his calling as to the “circumcised,” that is, the Jews (Gal. 2:9), and is portrayed as loyal to Jewish tradition. He was, however, unwilling to make the law normative for all responding to God’s new action in Christ.

The death of James reportedly was at the order of the high priest Ananus, and was either by stoning (according to Flavius Josephus, first century historian of the Jews) or by being cast down from the Temple tower (after Hegesippus, early Christian writer, quoted by the third-century Christian historian Eusebius). These accounts of James’s death (about A.D. 66), are not confirmed in the New Testament.

1 & 2 Peter: Personal name meaning, “Rock.” Four names are used in the New Testament to refer to Peter: the Hebrew name Simeon (Acts 15:14); the Greek equivalent Simon (nearly fifty times in the Gospels and Acts); Cephas, most frequently used by Paul (1 Corinthians. 1:12; 3:22; 9:5; 15:5; Galatians. 1:18; 2:9, 11, 14) and occurring only once outside his writings (John 1:42). Cephas and Peter both mean rock. Simon is often found in combination with Peter, reminding the reader that Simon was the earlier name and that Peter was a name given later by Jesus. The name Peter dominates the New Testament usage.

Family of Peter The Gospels preserve a surprising amount of information about Peter and his family. Simon is the son of Jona or John (Matthew. 16:17; John 1:42). He and his brother, Andrew, came from Bethsaida (John 1:44) and were Galilean fishermen (Mark 1:16; Luke 5:2-3; John 21:3), in partnership with the sons of Zebedee, James and John (Luke 5:10). Peter was married (Mark 1:29-31; 1 Corinthians. 9:5) and maintained a residence in Capernaum (Mark 1:21, 29). Before becoming disciples of Jesus, Peter and Andrew had been influenced by the teaching of John the Baptist (John 1:35-42).

Role of Peter Among the Disciples Peter is credited with being a leader of the twelve disciples whom Jesus called. His name always occurs first in the lists of disciples (Mark 3:16; Luke 6:14; Matthew. 10:2). He frequently served as the spokesman for the disciples (Mark 8:29) and was usually the one who raised the questions which they all seemed to be asking (Mark 10:28; 11:21; Matthew 15:15; 18:21; Luke 12:41). Jesus often singled out Peter for teachings intended for the entire group of disciples (Mark 8:29-33). As a member of the inner circle, Peter was present with Jesus at the raising of the synagogue ruler’s daughter (Mark 5:35-41), at the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2-8), and at the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemene (Mark 14:43-50). As representative disciple, Peter frequently typified the disciple of little faith. His inconsistent behavior (Matthew. 14:27-31) reached a climax with his infamous denial scene (Mark 14:66-72). Peter was, however, rehabilitated in the scene where the resurrected Jesus restored Peter to his position of prominence (John 21:15-19; Mark 16:7).

Peter’s Role in the Early Church Despite Peter’s role among the disciples and the promise of his leadership in the early church (Matt. 16:17-19), Peter did not emerge as the leader of either form of primitive Christianity. Though he played an influential role in establishing the Jerusalem church (see the early chapters of Acts), James, the brother of Jesus, assumed the leadership role of the Jewish community. Though Peter was active in the incipient stages of the Gentile mission (Acts 10-11), Paul became the “apostle to the gentiles.”

Peter probably sacrificed his chances to be the leader of either one of these groups because of his commitment to serve as a bridge in the early church, doing more than any other to hold together the diverse strands of primitive Christianity.

The Legacy of Peter Tradition holds that Peter died as a martyr in Rome in the 60s (1 Clem. 5:1-6:1). His legacy, however, lived on long after his death. Both 1 and 2 Peter in the New Testament are traditionally attributed to the apostle Peter. Significant also was the presence of a group of devotees of Peter who produced several writings in the name of the apostle—the Acts of Peter, the Gospel of Peter (and some would include 2 Peter). To a great extent, subsequent generations of the church rely on the confession, witness, and ministry of Peter, the devoted, but fallible follower of Christ.

1, 2 & 3 John: See bibliography of the Gospel of John.

Jude: The authorship of this letter has traditionally been ascribed to Jude, the half-brother of Jesus (Mark 6:3). Although the letter says nothing directly about the date, origin, or destination of the letter, it is generally thought that the book was written later than A.D. 60 and earlier than A.D. 100. This is because the content of the faith is clearly fixed (v. 3) and the congregation is comprised of second-generation Christians (v. 17). The recipients were most likely Jewish-Christians in Syria, known to have been a likely place for the kind of heresy the letter addresses.