There are three striking aspects to the author’s self-identification:

1. He says his name is Peter. From Matthew 16:17 we know that his birth name was Simon. Jesus, however, gave him the name Peter, a name that comes from the Greek word for rock. As Jesus explained: You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church… (Matthew 16:18). This name stuck so that Christians in the New Testament era called him Peter (see Acts 2:14; Acts 3:1), and therein gave recognition to the fundamental role this man played in the development of the early church. His readers in Asia Minor clearly knew him as the Rock, Peter.

2. He describes himself as an apostle. The term is formed from the Greek word for to send. As one who was sent, Peter is clearly responsible to his Sender. Whatever he writes (or says) may not come from his own imagination or set of preferences but must instead conform to what his Sender wishes him to write (or say). The implication is that the weight of this letter (and hence how his readers respond to it) depends not on the man Peter—despite his being the Rock!—but on the identity of his Sender.

3. Peter’s sender is Jesus Christ. The term Jesus is the name he received from his parents upon command of the angel and so described his task: he would save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). This is the name by which he was commonly called during his earthly sojourn. The designation Christ describes his office as a result of his anointing by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16) and was the term Simon Peter used to describe Jesus’ identity in Matthew 16:16. It is the term that is more commonly used after Jesus’ triumph on the cross and his ascension into heaven (Acts 2:36; Acts 3:18). Jesus’ anointing has been vindicated with his exaltation so that he has the authority to send ambassadors into the world.