Saturday, May 10, 2014

"unto him that was cured" - St. Peter's Mysterious Journey


Tokyo


St. Peter's Mysterious Journey 

There is a mystery about St. Peter.

He suddenly disappeared from descriptions of the Acts only to be considered to reach Rome and die there.

The author of the Acts of the Apostles portrays Peter as an extremely important figure within the early Christian community, with Peter delivering a significant open-air sermon during Pentecost. According to the same book, Peter took the lead in selecting a replacement for Judas Iscariot.[Acts 1:15] He was twice arraigned, with John, before the Sanhedrin and directly defied them.[Acts 4:7-22] [5:18-42] He undertook a missionary journey to Lydda, Joppa and Caesarea,[9:32-10:2] becoming instrumental in the decision to evangelise the Gentiles.[10] 
About halfway through, the Acts of the Apostles turns its attention away from Peter and to the activities of Paul, and the Bible is mostly silent on what occurred to Peter afterwards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Peter#Popular_culture
Acts 12:1-19   The narrative now skips a few years to 44AD. Peter (who is regarded as a radical Jew for mixing with Gentiles) is arrested in Jerusalem during the Passover festival on the orders of King Herod Agrippa I, who has recently beheaded the apostle James, the brother of John.

Peter is miraculously freed from prison during the night by an angel. He rejoins the believers – who are meeting at the home of John Mark in Jerusalem. He hands over the leadership of the Jerusalem church to the more traditional James (the brother of Jesus – see Galatians 1:19) and flees elsewhere for safety. St Mark's Church, in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, is believed to mark the site of John Mark's home.

Acts 15:1-21   Peter addresses the assembly of believers in Jerusalem in 49/50AD. James – as leader of the church – concludes that the Jewish believers shouldn't insist that Gentiles who have become believers in Jesus must adopt all the Jewish religious traditions (see Acts 15:12-21).
http://www.thebiblejourney.org/the-bible-journey/7-journeys-of-jesuss-followers/peters-journeys/
However, there is a document from which we can infer that St. Peter was preaching outside ancient Palestine with some followers while sometimes St. Peter was helped by Christ Jesus.
The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles
by Meera Lester 
This document, like so many of the Gnostic texts, relies heavily on allegory for its account of a pearl hawker who does not possess the gem he offers, but instead directs those interested in it to his city. Experts date the first part of the text to roughly the middle of the second century with the remainder dating to the end of the second or beginning of the third century. The beginning of this tractate (in Codex VI, 1 of the Nag Hammadi materials) is missing. 
When the story commences, Peter and the Apostles are on a trip to spread the gospel. After finding a ship to transport them upon the sea, they sailed a day and night. They arrived at a small city called Habitation. The Apostles sought lodging and met a man carrying a book cover in one hand and a wooden staff in the other. He began hawking pearls. Peter asked him about lodging but the man said he, too, was a stranger. The man called out the word “pearls,” and the rich men of the city looked at him, but not seeing a pouch or bag upon his body to contain valuables, they turned away from the hawker. The poor and the beggars heard the hawker's call, and they asked to see the pearl. The man told them that if they would go to his city they could not only see the treasure but he would give it to them for nothing.
...
The story shifts a little awkwardly to the next section where Peter and the others embark upon the journey to the city of the hawker. Peter was told that the inhabitants of the city were people who had endured. Lithargoel now appeared as a physician carrying an unguent box. A disciple followed with a bag of medicines. Peter asked the physician how to get to Lithargoel's house and was shocked when the man called Peter by his name. Jesus then disclosed his identity to Peter. The disciples fell on the ground and prostrated themselves before the Lord. The text says that they comprised eleven disciples (the title states twelve), but does not reveal the identity of the one absent. 
Jesus presented the box and pouch to Peter and told the Apostles to go back to the city of Habitation and give the poor what they required to live. Peter did not understand how they could possibly find food to feed all the poor. Jesus reminded Peter of the power of his name, telling him that the invocation of his name and the wisdom of God surpassed all riches. Jesus gave them the medicine pouch and told them to heal the sick. Peter feared questioning Jesus again, so he pushed John into speaking for the group. John asked Jesus how they could heal bodies since they had not been trained. Jesus said to heal the bodies of the people who believed in him — when you heal bodies without medicines, you can later heal the hearts because they will trust you. Jesus admonished them to stay away from the rich men. 
Certainly, early Christians could see the message here that the wealthy are so preoccupied with appearances (or lack of appearance, in the case of the hawker and the treasure that they could not see) that they would not hear Jesus' message nor know the great treasure that he offered to give them for free. The text also dispels doubt about the power of prayer and of invoking the names of the Father and Son.
http://www.netplaces.com/gnostic-gospels/a-sampling-of-other-gnostic-literature/the-acts-of-peter-and-the-twelve-apostles.htm
More authentic documents back the legend that St. Peter surely reached Rome after all. 
Gal. 2:11-14   Peter meets Paul in Antioch in 50AD, shortly after the Council of Jerusalem (see 4 on Map 19). Paul accuses Peter of changing his mind and drawing back from eating with Gentiles – under pressure from the more traditional Hebraic Jewish believers from Jerusalem.

1 Cor. 1:12     When Paul writes to the Corinthian believers in 56AD, some believers in Corinth claim to follow Peter, while others claim to follow Paul or Apollos. Peter may, therefore, have escaped to Corinth between 44 and 49AD (see 5 on Map 19).

1 Pet. 1:1        In 66AD, Peter writes from Rome to the Jewish believers in the Roman provinces of Asia Minor – in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (see 6 on Map 19).

2 Pet. 1:14-15 In 67AD, Peter writes again from Rome, where he has been imprisoned and is about to be executed.
http://www.thebiblejourney.org/the-bible-journey/7-journeys-of-jesuss-followers/peters-journeys/

Probably somebody helped St. Peter write letters.  That somebody might be the very author of the Gospel of Mark.




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Joh 5:10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.
Joh 5:11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.
Joh 5:12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
Joh 5:13 And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.