19 May. Peter spreads the Good News about Jesus
"When the Day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a noise like a strong, blowing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting... They were all filled with the Holy Spirit... Peter stood up with the eleven apostles, and in a loud voice he spoke to the crowd... Change your hearts and lives and be baptised, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:1-2,4,14,38)
"One day Peter and John went to the Temple at three o'clock... There, at the Temple gate called Beautiful Gate, was a man who had been crippled all his life... Peter said, 'I don't have any silver or gold, but I do have something else I can give you. By the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, stand up and walk!'" (Acts 3:1-2,6)
"A man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold some land. He kept back part of the money himself... but he brought the rest of the money and gave it to the apostles. Peter said, 'Ananias, why did you let Satan rule your thoughts to lie to the Holy Spirt and to keep for yourself part of the money you received for the land?.. You lied to God, not to us.'" (Acts 5:1-3,4)
"The high priest and all his friends (a group called the Sadducees) became very jealous. They took the apostles and put them in jail. But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and led the apostles outside... Then someone came and told them [the Sadducees], Listen! The men you put in jail are standing in the Temple teaching the people... The soldiers brought the apostles... and made them stand before the Jewish leaders. The high priest questioned them... Peter and the other apostles answered, 'We must obey God, not human authority.'" (Acts 5:17-19,25,27,29)
"When the apostles who were still in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When Peter and John arrived, they prayed that the Samaritan believers might receive the Holy Spirit... Then, when the two apostles began laying their hands on the people, they received the Holy Spirit." (Acts 8:14-17)
While Luke (who was a close friend of Paul) recounts the story of Paul's ministry as an almost consecutive narrative in the Acts of the Apostles, his re-telling of Peter's ministry is broken up into isolated incidents which have to be extracted from the text and sewn together to make a full chronological account.
Luke makes it clear that Peter was the first leader of the early followers of Jesus in Jerusalem. It was Peter who stood up and spread the Good News of Jesus's resurrection in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost in 30AD. And three thousand people who heard his message became believers on that one day alone. (Acts 2:14-41)
In Acts 3:1-4:22, Peter healed a lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. He and John were arrested by the temple guards and told not to preach.
As the leader of the church in Jerusalem over the next few years, Peter had pastoral oversight of the group of believers, and rebuked Ananias and Sapphira when they lied to the Holy Spirit about the money they had received from selling some land. (see Acts 5:1-16)
In Acts 5:17-42, Peter was the spokesperson when he and other apostles were arrested in Jerusalem.
And in Acts 8:14-24, it was Peter and John who were sent to Sebaste in Samaria in 35AD and who prayed for the new Samaritan believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Peter was the most prominent leader and the main spokesperson for the early Christians during the first 14 years of the young church's existence, from 30AD to 44AD, but it's difficult to recognise this from reading the isolated incidents featuring Peter in the Acts of the Apostles. Indeed, it's not until chapters 9 to 12 that his leadership role becomes clearer. We shall find out more about this tomorrow.
The photo shows The Temple Mount in Jerusalem (by Avram Graicer).
You can read more about Peter's ministry @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/…/7-journe…/peters-journeys/