Day 154: He Appeared to Cephas

1 Corinthians 15:1-8

Paul is not the only one who mentions an appearance of Christ to Peter. Luke mentions after the Road to Emmaus account, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” (Lk 24:34). Luke situates this account after John’s footrace with Peter to the tomb: “But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home wondering at what had happened,” (Lk 24:12; see Jn 20:4-7). Though this encounter between Peter and the risen Lord is not retold in Scripture, it is alluded to by both Paul and Luke.

Let us turn our attention to the mention of Peter as Cephas by Paul. For those who have seen The Passion of the Christ, one might remember Mary seeing Peter and calling out to him, calling him Kepha (כֵּיפָא). Kepha is Aramaic in origin, which makes sense why Paul refers to him as such, both of them being Jews. Since the New Testament is written in Greek, Paul transliterated כֵּיפָא (Kepha) into Κηφᾶς (Kephas), which Jerome also transliterated Κηφᾶς into Cephas. Peter comes from the Greek Πέτρος (Petros), which has the meaning of rock or stone: “κἀγὼ δέ σοι λέγω ὅτι σὺ εἶ Πέτρος καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέτρᾳ,” “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock,” (Mt 16:18).

“Our Faith will never be true unless it is united to that of St. Peter and the Pontiff, his successor.”

• Saint Alphonsus Ligouri

If the Church is established and built upon the faith of Peter, why would we separate ourselves from him and those who came after him? If it is the faith of Peter that connects us, the Church, to Christ, why would we not uphold him as the model of faith who we are to emulate in all of our work and ministries?

Luke understand this primacy and importance of Peter because the first third of the book of Acts is devoted to the ministry of Peter and the Holy Spirit working through him, which is seen most clearly in his interaction with Ananias and Sapphira: “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit … You have not lied to men but to God,” (Acts 5:3-4). Peter, here, is clearly a representative of both Christ and the Church. But Luke then has Paul do many of the similar acts the Peter did so show Paul’s legitimacy. In other words, he legitimates Paul by Peter. So it is interesting that both Luke and Paul recount this private encounter between the Lord and Peter. Luke also records Jesus say in the Upper Room “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail;” (Lk 22:32) and that John, who is by Peter’s side throughout Acts, recounts the episode of the Lord and Peter around the charcoal fire after the Resurrection, not only as a moment of reconciliation by as an appointment. Let us not separate ourselves from Peter, who Paul, Luke, and John understand as representing Christ and the Church.

Prayer: Lord, just as Peter was not perfect, no pope will be perfect. I pray for his holy intentions and for the Holy Spirit to guide him so that the Church may flourish