St. Peter: the Married Man

The moment one of my priest friends told me to pay attention to what doesn’t make sense in Scripture, my prayer life was forever changed. Rather than shy away from those verses which seem contradictory, out of place, irritating or just plain confusing, he told me to lean in to them. That is probably the Holy Spirit at work.

Leads to a lot more confusion sometimes, but I’ve also experienced the fruit.

One such experience happened to me when reading through the Gospel of Luke. At the end of chapter four of Luke’s Gospel, we hear the story of the healing of Peter's mother-in-law (still Simon, at that time). I had always viewed this as a glimpse in to the fact that Peter was a married man. That’s nice, I’m married. And really left it at that.

But when we read on, the beginning of chapter five tells us about the call of Peter on the Lake of Gennesaret with the miraculous catch of fish.

Something about this order of events does not make sense with me. Something rubs me the wrong way, because I don’t understand. My priest’s voice sounds in my head: lean in here.

Disclaimer: the following is not infallible, but rather the fruit of my own contemplation with the text, so take it or leave it as you want.

The story of the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law seems to take place prior to the miraculous catch of fish, based off location in Scripture. But what’s fascinating to me is that it never actually mentions Peter being there. All we hear is that Jesus entered Peter’s house, healed his MIL of her fever, and then she served them there. Peter is never mentioned as being present. Based off it being in Peter’s house, and his mother-in-law residing there sick, I find it logical to assume that Peter’s wife was present, tending to her sick mother in her husband’s house. But again, Peter was a hard-working fisherman, and is not mentioned as being present during this miracle.

I think, in fact, that based off the interaction that Peter and Jesus have soon thereafter at the Lake of Gennesaret, it makes the most sense that Peter did not witness the miracle of his mother-in-law’s healing.

But let’s be real: not witnessing a miracle, and not hearing about a miracle are two different things. I can only imagine the interaction between Peter and his wife and mother-in-law at the end of the day, when he returns home to a fever-less house and two women who are completely overcome with awe and wonder at this man that they’ve just met. They can’t stop telling Peter about Jesus.

How beautiful is it to ponder that maybe Peter first heard about Jesus from these two important women in his life?

And then we have the event in the boat, the following chapter, when Peter encounters Jesus for himself. Peter first-hand witnesses a miracle being performed by this man, and realizes who it is that is standing before him. Jesus invites Peter to follow Him.

And Peter, a married man, feels the freedom to leave everything and follow Him.

As a married woman, that also can rub me the wrong way. Excuse me, you’re not gonna run that by your wife first? Another invitation: lean in.

But how much more does this story make sense if we know that Peter’s wife was already fully sold on who Jesus was? Rather than taking off and neglecting his family, Peter had the assurance that his wife would support the decision to follow Jesus. And his wife would support it because she had already encountered Jesus.

God never calls us to do anything that violates or takes us away from the duties of our vocation. Jesus, I believe, respected the role of Peter’s wife when He called His first leader of the Apostles. He respected the duties and nature of married life, while still wanting Peter to become the Rock on which He built His Church. It’s as old as Genesis, but we know that if you can get the woman on board, you can frequently convince the man.

Was the call of Jesus in both their lives actually intimately wrapped up in their marriage, their vocation?

So what rubs you the wrong way in Scripture? What doesn’t make sense to you? Also, how do you think God is speaking to you in a way that impacts others in your life? Who is He inviting you to share the miracles He has performed in your life with? I believe He calls us in a way that is deeply personal, but also doesn’t call us to follow Him alone.

No matter your vocation, He is calling. How will you respond?