Peter is the most fully-drawn character in the New Testament after Christ Himself. Born Simon, son of Jonah, a fisherman of Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee, he was called by Jesus with the famous promise: "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). Jesus immediately renamed him: "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (that is, Peter, "rock" — John 1:42). The name was prophetic rather than descriptive; Peter had to grow into it. Peter's story is a cycle of boldness and collapse. He walked on water and began to sink (Matthew 14:28-31). He confessed "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" and moments later rebuked Jesus for speaking of the cross — earning the rebuke "Get behind Me, Satan!" (Matthew 16:16-23). He cut off a servant's ear at Gethsemane with the wrong weapon (John 18:10). He swore he would die before denying Christ, and then denied Him three times before a servant girl (Mark 14:29-72). The rooster crowed, he caught Jesus' eye, and "he went out and wept bitterly" (Luke 22:62). But the story did not end there. The risen Christ sought Him out. On the shore of Galilee, Jesus asked three times "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" — undoing the three denials one at a time, and commissioning him: "Feed My sheep" (John 21:15-17). At Pentecost, Peter — who weeks earlier could not face a servant girl — preached to thousands, and 3,000 were saved. He opened the door to the Gentiles at Cornelius's house. He was imprisoned, beaten, and rescued. Tradition says he was eventually crucified in Rome under Nero, requesting to be crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to die as his Lord had died. Peter is the picture of the disciple whose weakness God turned into strength, whose failure became the doorway to usefulness, whose name ("rock") was finally matched by his life.