The Lord names Simon, Cephas or Peter which means rock. He says later “you are Peter” that is ‘rock’, and on this rock I will build my church (Matthew 16:18). It seems the sense is that by changing Simon’s name to rock, the Lord is saying that the church will be built on the foundation of the Apostles. The testimony, teaching and works of the Apostles will be what lays the foundation of the church.
Now this can lead us to a bigger discussion on names and the act of naming things.
God renames Abram Abraham in Genesis.
Genesis 17:5
“No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.”
God renamed Abram as He was giving him a promise. A promise of how God would work through him.
The same with Jacob, who God renames Israel.
Genesis 35:10-11
“And God said to him, ‘Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.’ So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, ‘I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.’”
So these names announce how God would work. Ultimately for the redemption and blessing of man.
Now at the naming of Peter we have a seeming continuation of this. God in human flesh renames Simon. Naming him Peter and announcing how God would work through him for the redemption of men.
Additionally, perhaps there is a connection between new birth and new names. A baby is born and given a name. Throughout the scriptures we see this happening, and in our own day that is how things are.
Genesis 21:3
“Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac”
Additionally when the world was newly created, the Lord brought animals to Adam to name. So even there we see an association between naming and new creation.
Genesis 2:19
“Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.”
Thus when God gives a man a new name perhaps it points to a new birth and new creation. The Lord is creating something new. Simon is Peter, Saul is Paul, behold a new creation is dawning.
Note that our Lord Jesus expects Nicodemus to understand the reality of new birth from the Old Testament scriptures. In the conversation on being born again between Jesus and Nicodemus we read:
John 3:9–10
Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?
That is, are you a teacher, yet you haven’t grasped these realities in the scriptures. Here may lie a clue for Nicodemus; the connection between new names and new birth.
There’s more that can be said and explored on names. It is a vast topic as all the scriptures are vast. So it is worth more consideration, but this marks the end for this blog for today.
