St.+Peter+Essay+FB

Many people know why Peter was chosen to be the first pope by Jesus. People will say, because he was Jesus' closest friend and follower, because he stayed faithful to Jesus, which are all true. Peter beared all qualities Jesus needed for a pope.

Peter had qualities Jesus needed in a Pope. He was brave, loyal, and loved Jesus. Peter was also human. He didn't have any supernatural gifts, and wasn't divine. He also sinned just like you and me. He denied Jesus three times before his death, and sometimes had a hard time having faith in Jesus, like when he was trying to walk on water. Jesus needed someone the people could relate to. After Jesus ascended, Jesus needed his apostles to proclaim the Gospel to all nations. The Holy Spirit gave Peter the gift to have courage to proclaim Jesus' Gospel message (Acts 4:1-20). Jesus needed the quality of a Pope that is powerful and will get his message across. I think Peter was a good choice for the first pope.

Like the qualities just explained, Jesus had reasons to have Peter be his first pope. He was Jesus' closest friend and Jesus knew he would stay loyal to God. He was close to Jesus and knew who Jesus needed to lead the church after he was gone. Jesus needed someone to have faith in him, even if he wasn't there on earth. Since he was not divine, he sinned and the people could relate to him. If they had a divine pope, people may think too much of him, and that he wasn't a head of the church, but someone like Jesus. There are probably many reasons Jesus chose Peter over anyone else to be the head of the church.

Since Peter was the first pope, he set the bar high for other popes to come after him. He was the only pope to personally know Jesus, so many other popes probably didn't know what Jesus needed them to do as a visible head of the church. The other popes can learn from Peter that it's okay to sin. Peter was very human and sinnned, and even denied Jesus. Many popes didn't do very holy things, but as a successor of Peter, they should realize that Jesus does forgive. Peter should be a reference to the popes to see how they have to live holy lives with God.

Now we've seen how Peter was the best choice to be the first pope. He had the qualities Jesus wanted and was an example to the popes that would come after him. He proclaimed the Gospel of the Lord and carried out Jesus' mission. Peter should always be an example we try to follow.