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2 Peter – Introduction to a Second Apostolic Letter
We begin our SERIES from the Epistles of three Apostles with Simon Peter.

Peter – a Foundation of Apostolic Faith

Our best impressions of Simon Peter from the Gospels and the early ACTS of the Apostles cannot fully convey the heart of this ROCK whom JESUS had claimed for building His Church..

We tend to recall moments from back in the AD 30’s with Peter in Jerusalem.. Yet even then the Apostle was sent to surrounding towns with the Gospel.

33 Years – Journeys from Capernaum to Rome

C

Capernaum

Jesus had appeared to Peter and others as they fished near the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The Lord instructed Simon Peter and the Apostles to go into all the world with the Gospel — Good News that they had all seen and touched, and had heard and obeyed the Lord – the risen Christ JESUS.

Now it is Simon Peter who will build not one church in Jerusalem, Capernaum or even Rome, but a living Church throughout the world (of Rome) — connected by the love of Christ and the Holy Spirit into a fellowship of saints sanctified and separated to the faith of eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter’s gospel is an apostolic gospel; Simon Peter’s faith is a Christian faith

ACTS 9-12 Miraculous Missionary Acts of Peter

So now after Jesus’ ascension, the Apostle will sojourn between Capernaum, Jerusalem and other Jewish communities of Galilee, eventually meeting Jewish believers from every corner of the world who will come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Simon Peter, sought out as a criminal by leading Jews opposing their own Messiah, would eventually be brought to Rome. Christ’s leading Apostle would also eventually be crucified there, but not until an appointed time after many years proclaiming the Gospel.

Like Paul and other Apostles, Peter wrote epistles and instructions for many years to those he had encouraged in the churches throughout Asia.

2 Peter

The World into which the Apostles Preached
- ~ AD 30’s – AD 60’s
We cannot fully appreciate the magnitude of Jesus’ great commission with only the Gospel accounts or even all Scripture of the Old Testament.

This is due a historic extended silence of God during a post-exilic gap which includes the powerful reign of Alexander the Great (of Macedonia) prior to the dominance of Rome.

a ROMAN world

The Messiah of Israel was given into a Roman world, not a Judaic land.

This Jewish fisherman, Simon Peter of Capernaum on the Sea of Tiberius (so renamed by Rome), though not a Roman, lived a daily existence dependent on Rome, This same dependence had also Romanized the half-Jewish Herod’s, adopted into an all-inclusive culture of the Caesar’s.

Without stepping into the Jewish controversies into which Jesus sometimes ventured about the state of Abrahamic or Mosaic of Semitic faith, let’s just say that Simon Peter’s faith, both before meeting the Messiah and after Jesus’ resurrection until now, is not specifically tied to either the Jewish sects returned from Medo-Persia or those Jews left in a devastated Israel and Judah.

Simon Peter sought to preach the Gospel to his fellow Jews, many who were local proselytes. Rome frequently rejected Jews, often sent on their way at any sign of controversy in distant provinces.

The Apostle writes to churches in lands once dominated by Alexander. And thousands of Jews had remigrated into a European world from an ancient Asia, once dominated by the Babylonians, Medes and Persians. [See your Old Testament.]

Greek culture prevails long after the return of the Jews into a Herodian re-built Roman Jerusalem.

The Twelve Apostles (and I include Matthias) led by Simon Peter were all Jews. And the scattered Jews throughout a world now dominated by Rome wanted to hear from these Apostolic witnesses of the risen Son of David, the Messiah Jesus.

a Second Epistle of Simon Peter
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In case you missed the definition of Epistle, you may read it HERE from our introduction. 
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Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

2 Peter 1:1 NIV

Who is Peter writing to?

We’ll get back to that in the context of this second letter, but let’s take a quick glance at his first epistle for an introductory clue.

παρεπίδημος Aliens of the Diaspora

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:

Anatolian peninsula

1 Peter 1:1-2a ESV

We can suppose that both epistles of Peter were sent to all of these churches on the Anatolian peninsula — all Roman provinces throughout modern-day Turkie.

some scholars date the Second Epistle of Peter in AD 64

These Jewish Christians, members of the Diaspora, are addressed here as pilgrims or sojourners… Jews expelled.. and living in a pagan environment.

1&2 Peter An Expositional Commentary, R.C. Sproul

Simon Peter: To the pilgrims

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To the pilgrims of the Dispersion..

1 Peter 1:1a New King James Version
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"But WAIT.." as the old late-night TV ad suggested.. 
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You probably have the WRONG PICTURE of PILGRIMS with an implanted prejudice of clashing cultures.

παρεπίδημος – parepidēmos

properly, “one who comes from a foreign country into a city or land to reside there by the side of the natives; hence, stranger; sojourning in a strange place, a foreigner“

Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee,

Genesis 26:3a KJV – Oath of the LORD to Isaac, son of Abraham in Garar, a location south of Gaza – Source BLB
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Alien, migrant, immigrant, foreigner — all have subtle prejudicial meaning.
 
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These Christians to whom the Apostle’s write are rejected by former friends, neighbors and in workplaces. This sect of Jews following the way of the Messiah [or Christos] were also deported along with their families from their homes and Hellenist hometowns.

Therefore Christ-followers must sojourn to distant towns throughout the world of Roman citizens and pagans, those who rejected Jews anyway for the intolerance of their ONE GOD.

Why do they want to hear from Simon Peter?

Place yourself into any of the varied cities or towns in the Roman provinces addressed by the Apostle in ~ AD 64.

RC. Sproul in his PREFACE to 1-2 Peter offers one of the best descriptions of the heart of the saints receiving Simon Peter’s letter in the context of their situation:

Imagine what it would be like to receive a letter from someone who was a personal friend of Jesus during his earthly ministry?
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Referring specifically to Peter, James and John, eyewitnesses to the glory of the transfigured Christ, Dr. Sproul continues:
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A letter from a man such as this is a treasure for the church. His letter, beyond the value of his own eyewitness testimony and his intimate friendship with Jesus carries with it the weight of the divine inspiration of God the Holy Spirit.

ibid. R.C, Sproul

Why does Peter write a SECOND Epistle to them?

Remembering our AD 1st century cultural setting of the Church, as we discovered in Paul’s missionary journeys, the people living here are Hellenists.

Hellenists worshiped the tree of knowledge — towering temples of their gods — where philosophers plucked the forbidden fruit of wisdom.

Roger@TalkofJesus.com

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble

2 Peter 1:10 NKJV
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Again, quoting R.C. SPROUL from: BE ALL THE MORE DILIGENT TO MAKE YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION SURE, concerning the recipiants of 1 Peter (likely the same churches): 
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The gnostics took a variety of religions and philosophies and thought to blend them to produce a new religion or philosophy… They targeted the early Christian community.. The only way the Gnostics could seduce Christians to believe their heresy was to undermine the authority of the Apostles.

ibid. p.6

Therefore,

Simon Peter, doulos and Apostle of Jesus Christ

2 Peter 1:1

writes an epistle —
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(Remember the one definition emphasizing its impact as a letter of written command?) —
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to encourage Elders ‘ (and those saints willingly obedient to their teaching [doctrine] and authority)

in the (precise and correct) KNOWLEDGE of God [epignōsis theos] and of Jesus our Lord..

NEXT .. 2 PETER 1:

His precious and magnificent promises

Partakers of the Divine Nature
October 18, 2025
Julian and Paul: Passengers on a grain-laden slow-sailing ship

When we last left Paul beginning his long journey to Rome, the Apostle had boarded a small ship of Adramyttian sailing from Caesarea along the coast north of Cypress to Myra in Lycia.

There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy, and he put us aboard it.

Acts of the Apostles 27:6 LSB

Now the Roman Centurion Julian boards a larger Alexandrian ship with Paul and other passengers in the Lycian port setting sail for Crete and the open Mediterranean beyond.

Roman Sailing Ships

Thus far, the Centurion Julian has sailed a little less than 500 nautical miles away from Judea with many more miles to sail across the Mediterranean. The next ship is a cargo ship designed to transport grain long distances to Rome.

Rome, with a population of about a million, required about 800 shiploads of grain each year.

The Romans built and operated a variety of cargo ships (naves onerariae, literally “ships of burden”). A typical Roman merchant vessel was a broad, sturdy sailing ship with one to three masts carrying large square sails. These ships relied almost entirely on wind power; unlike war galleys, they had no banks of oars (at most a few oars or sweeps for maneuvering in harbors).

If the wind died, crews might resort to warping – rowing a small boat out with an anchor and then hauling the ship forward by capstan – or else wait for a tow.

Ancient history sites .com Roman Cargo Ships

Acts of the Apostles 27:

And when we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, since the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of Crete, off Salmone; and with difficulty, we sailed past it and came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

Acts of the Apostles 27:7-8 LSB

Paul notes the headings of this ship loaded with grain still quite distant from Rome. Thus far they had sailed a mere 350 nautical miles in windless waters .

More about Roman ships

In sum, the Roman Empire,, had no interest in vertical integration of the supply chain .. its principal interest was the incorporation of private shipping activities deemed useful to the public good into the mechanisms of control exercised by the state.

By contracting out the transport of grain, the Roman Empire also ensured quality service by experienced seafaring professionals, and an avoidance of the costly maintenance, staffing costs and continual provision of suitable vessels – ancient ships, owing to their ‘shell-first’ construction were presumably more expensive to build than later ‘frame-first’ vessels.

source: Ancient Ports Antiques .com THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE GRAIN FLEETS:

Waiting for fair winds

And when considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the Day of Atonement Fast [late September or October] was already over, Paul began to advise them..

Acts of the Apostles 27:9 LSB

What’s going on here?

Julian, a Roman centurion in charge of Paul and any additional prisoners, is an ARMY man.

The Roman Army contracts professional sailors to man and navigate their ships (which could be commandeered, if required, for transport of Roman troops). These professional sailors are NOT in any sense like a unified Roman Navy.

The Centurian Julius has had plenty of time to get to know Paul – a Roman citizen.

Aristarchus (a Macedonian likely of the ruling class of Thessalonica) also accompanies this imfamous Apostle as he had recently on Paul’s third missionary jouney.

Julius had actually allowed them to briefly meet with other Christians at an earlier stop in Sidon.

In a sense, Julius is in charge, but cannot take full responsibility for this grain-hauling merchant ship.

His citizen prisoner Paul, like the grain, is manifested for Caesar in Rome. An entrepreneurial owner of this or any cargo ship would have much at stake, consequently commissioning himself (or a trusted family member) as captain of his ships.

Paul addresses the leaders of his voyage

“Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”
Acts of the Apostles 27:10b LSB

But the centurion {Julius} was being more persuaded by the pilot and the captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul. And because the harbor [Fair Havens] was not suitable for wintering, the majority reached a decision to set sail from there, if somehow they could arrive at Phoenix, a harbor of Crete facing southwest and northwest, to spend the winter there.

Acts of the Apostles 27:11-12 LSB

When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete.

Acts of the Apostles 27:13 NIV

Voyage of the Apostle Paul to Rome — To be continued…

Talk of JESUS . com

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel

September 17, 2025
Transporting Paul – Citizen Prisoner of Caesar- Acts 27
The Apostle Paul, a Jew among Jews commissioned by Christ to go into all the world of the gentiles — after taking the Gospel to the Greeks since A.D. 47 — is now a prisoner sent to Rome.
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In the year of our Lord 59:
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Roman Prisoners (Chattel of Caesar)

Make no mistake about it: ROME rules the world! Their ships have captured it since the days of Julius Caesar and although Judea claims a King, Jerusalem is no exception to Rome’s rule.

Paul – a citizen under Roman rule

In Paul’s lifetime thus far Caesar Augustus had been Emperor when he was a boy in Cilicia;Tiberius during his years studying under Gamaliel in Jerusalem and when Jesus was crucified and up until the day Christ appeared to Saul near Damascus.

Paul had begun preaching the Gospel to the gentiles near the end of the reign of Caligua, who had declared himself a god in A.D. 37.

The Emperor Claudius had made Judea a province of Rome after the death of Herod Agrippa I in A.D. 44, ruling the empire during many martyrdoms of several saints and some Apostle’s during the time of Paul’s missionary journeys.

and he set sail from Ephesus.

In the civil administration, many measures demonstrate Claudius’s enlightened policy. He improved in detail the judicial system, and, in his dealings with the provinces, he favoured a moderate extension of Roman citizenship by individual and collective grants..

.. during a period of troubles Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome for a short time; Christians may have been involved. Elsewhere he confirmed existing Jewish rights and privileges, and in Alexandria he tried to protect the Jews without provoking Egyptian nationalism.

Source: Britannica

Claudius had ruled Rome and the world up until just five years ago, but Paul’s appeal is to a new Caesar.

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus

Up to the year 59, Nero’s biographers cite only acts of generosity and clemency on his account. His government forbade contests in the circus involving bloodshed, banned capital punishment, reduced taxes, and accorded permission to slaves to bring civil complaints against unjust masters.

Source: Britannica

The Apostle Paul is about 54 years old now. He is a Roman citizen of Tarsus, Cilicia who would have been set free by the Roman Governor (with approval of the Judean King) had the Apostle not earlier appealed to Caesar — the 22 year old Nero now ruling Rome under his mother’s tutelage.

Acts 27:

Now when it was decided that we would sail for Italy, they proceeded to deliver Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan cohort named Julius.

And getting aboard an Adramyttian ship, which was about to sail to the regions along the coast of Asia, we set sail accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica.
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Doctor Luke, the historian recording the Acts of the Apostles, tells us a few details of Paul's journey to Rome as a prisoner. 
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We will proceed on this 2200 mile [3500 km] voyage taking into account the perspective of Iulius [Julius], Paul’s Roman Centurio Augustus’ responsible for all prisoners of Caesar Nero.

The Writ of Porcius Festus

Two more years and another administration – Porcius Festus

Before sailing to Rome, the Centurion representative of Caesar —Julius would have been given an official writ of Paul’s court proceedings and judgment.

Porteus Festus may have given written instructions and verbal administrative recommendations as the current Governor of Judea transferring this prisoner Paul into the direct jurisdiction of Nero.

Julius probably would not have known that Paul had been rescued from the Jews two years ago by Judea’s former governor. Antonius Felix, you may remember, had left Paul in prison in Caesarea for two years after another Centurion had rescued the Apostle from an assassination plot of the Jews.

Paul is a Jew (as one might expect of a resident of Judea). But the Governor would want this Centurion Julius to know that his prisoner being sent to Nero is a Roman citizen acquited of the Jewish charges.

BUT, Paul had appealed to Caesar and could not be released until the Emperor agreed to hear or dismiss Paul’s case.

Roman roads and shipping routes

The Centurion Julius would have to plan a route to Rome to deliver his cargo — Paul, a prisoner and Roman citizen. Caesarea Maritime is a port and administrative center of Rome’s eastern army. Like any port ships arrive and depart with cargo and supplies for Rome’s army. Some smaller ships sailed from port to port on what you might call ‘the milk run’ delivering essentials for further transport inland along the extensive Roman roads.

Julius gained passage on such a ship that sailed along the coast, first with a stop in nearby Sidon, with a terminus destination of Myra.

Stop One of a long Voyage
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486 Nautical Miles [~ 900 KM or 660 Miles]
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.. aboard an Adramyttian ship, which was about to sail to the regions along the coast of Asia, we set sail..

The next day we put in at Sidon,

and Julius treated Paul with consideration and allowed him to go to his friends and receive care.

And from there we set sail [leeward] and sailed under the shelter of Cyprus [to the south of us] because the winds were against us.

And when we had sailed through the sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia.

Finding a bigger ship in Myra

The Centurion Julius, probably knowing not only the Mediterranean ports and Roman administrators but also which ships sail further to Rome, will book passage on a larger ship capable of sailing into deeper waters to continue their long voyage.
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To be continued... 
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September 12, 2025