And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
Andrew seems to be always bringing people to Jesus. (John 6:8-9, 12:20-22) How about you?
John 6:8-9 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
John 12:20-22 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
Jesus renamed Simon. The name of a person stood for the whole person. It summed up the whole person, speaking of his personality and other attributes. Thus when Jesus said to the Father, “I have manifested Thy name” (John 17:6 KJV), it indicated that He had revealed the whole divine nature of God. (NIV even translates it that way.) Also, when a person changes another’s name, it indicates that authority rests in the personage of the changer. (2Kings 23:34, 24:17) When God changes someone’s name, it indicates a change in character or nature of the changee. (Gen 32:28, 17:5)
John 17:6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.
2 Kings 23:34 Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, and there he died.
2 Kings 24:17 He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.
Gen 32:28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”
Gen 17:5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
When Jesus saw Simon, He immediately changed his name. This is an indication of the authority possessed by Jesus. Simon is from henceforth Jesus’ man. This name change also indicated a change in the character of Simon; he was now Peter, or “rock.” But, as Morris points out, “Peter appears in all the Gospels as anything but a rock. He is impulsive, volatile, unreliable. But that was not God’s last word for Peter. Jesus’ words point to the change that would be wrought in him by the power of God.” (p. 161)
This shows us how Jesus looks at men. He doesn’t just see us as we are; He sees us as what we can become. Jesus looked at Peter and saw not just a headstrong Galilean fisherman, but the one who had it in him to be the rock on which Jesus would build His church.
The question becomes: what does Jesus see in you? What vast potential has He spotted? Has He changed your name? Have you ever asked Him? If you know, are you living up to it?