In one of my favorite scenes from the life of Christ, Jesus meets Peter and says: “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter) (Jn 1:42). Don’t overlook the tense of the verbs: “You are Simon. You shall be Cephas.”
Three names: Simon, Cephas, and Peter. “Simon” was one of the most common names of that day in Palestine. “Peter,” on the other hand, wasn’t a name at all. It is the Greek word for “stone,” and Cephas was its Aramaic equivalent. Calling him “peter” would be like calling someone “brick” or “lemon” or “sugar.” Why would we call someone by a nickname like that? Because it pegs just who they are. That’s what Jesus was doing here—He was giving Simon a new identity, not just a different name.
Recall again the future tense of Jesus’ statement: “You will be called‘stone.’” Jesus is envisioning Simon’s future life, the life that Jesus Himself will shape in him. It’s interesting that, through the rest of the gospels, Jesus continues to call him by his old name “Simon,” not by his new nickname “Peter.”
Why? Because Simon is not yet a rock, but Jesus will make him one. His story in the gospels shows Jesus didn’t name him “stone” because of what Simon was in himself. Preachers love to talk about Peter as this strong and sturdy rock, but that is not a description of Simon as he is. It’s what he will become. The new name Jesus gave him was a prophetic promise.
It wasn’t until years later, deep into their relationship together, that Jesus said to Simon, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church” (Mt 16:18). Jesus’ predictive nickname had begun to come true in Simon’s life. Now that Simon was becoming the rock Jesus intended him to be, He can begin using him to build His church. And only later, in the book of Acts, does the name “Simon” give way to the new identity “Peter, the stone.”
Here’s the lesson for us: Our potential comes from what Jesus can do with us, not from what we can be in ourselves. It just might be that God sees something in you—not some quality you have developed yourself. It’s something only He could do, a person only He could fashion you into. He did it with Peter. Why not with you?