Over the years I have given out a lot of nicknames. Why? I don’t know. Nicknames for me are a term of endearment. When I give you a nickname it’s because I like you and you mean something to me.

When two people are in love they often give one another pet names. You know, things like “honey,” “sweetie,” “darling,” and the list goes on. When they get mad at one another they use their “real” names.

Speaking of getting mad, growing up I knew that I was in trouble when my mom used my full name. If your mom drops all three names, that’s when you try to find a place to hide, because it is not about to go well for you.

There is great power in hearing our name. It wakes up the brain. There was a study done that shows the brain lights up like a Christmas tree when participants heard their name (NIH Study on hearing your name). There is also something called the “Cocktail Party Effect,” where hearing your name allows you to focus and also creates a positive response in your brain (Cocktail Party Effect and What Happens When You Hear Your Name).

Names really matter. They shape our identities. As the great theologian, Kenny Chesney wrote, “All you’re given in this life is the sunshine and your name.”

So, this little conversation with Jesus and a guy named Simon is really interesting to me. It takes place at the end of John 1…

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). - John 1:40-42
Andrew had just spent the day with Jesus. After doing so, he was convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. So, what does he do? He goes and finds his brother, Simon. Andrew didn't want Simon to miss out on what was happening. They had likely been waiting for the Messiah to show up. After all, life in first century Judea was not all that great. They were under the thumb of the Roman empire.

Life was difficult.

The hope of the people was for the Messiah to come and free them from the tyranny of Rome and return the rule of the house of David to the throne.

Andrew was convinced that Jesus was that man.

When he brings Simon to Jesus we get this brief interaction between Jesus and Simon. What does Jesus do? He “looked at him.”

The word here is the verb, “ἐμβλέπω (emblepo)”. While it gets translated as “look” it carries this sense of staring, gazing, or looking closely. I think, John is trying to get us to understand that this wasn’t Jesus sizing Peter up but something more.

I imagine that after Jesus' resurrection and ascension that John and Peter spent a lot of time talking and reminiscing about their days with Jesus. It seems likely to me that one of the conversations that they would have had would have been something like this,

*“Bro, do you remember the first time you met him?”

“Oh man, absolutely! It was wild, it was like he looked into my soul. You know how he would do that? That thing where he really saw you? Well, he said my name and then told me he would call me, Cephas. I didn’t know why or what he was getting at. But, it changed everything, you know?"

Can you see that conversation taking place in your mind’s eye? I sure can.

Jesus had this way of seeing people. He looked at Simon son of John and re-named him.

Now, much has been made about the significance of him re-naming Simon to Cephas (which in Greek is Petros which is where we come up with Peter). Some traditions argue that Peter himself is the rock upon which Jesus would build the church. This where the idea of the papacy comes from and why each Pope traces their authority directly back to Peter. Other traditions aruge that it was Peter’s declaration of Jesus being the Messiah that is the rock upon which the church is built.

I have little interest in the debate, I don’t think it matters.

What is of great interest to me is that Peter upon receiving this name change begins to follow Jesus. He also ends up being a leader in the early church. Peter also dies for Jesus' name as a martyr.

All of this because Jesus “looked” at him.

Jesus could see Simon son of John for who he truly was. He was a rock, a cephas, a petros. He was Peter.

As I think about this interaction it strikes me that perhaps as we seek to follow the way of Jesus we become who we truly are, that is, the best version of ourselves. Each of us are uniquely created in the image of God. There are no two of us alike. When our lives are marked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control do we not become the best version of ourselves? Those fruit of the Spirit come about as we are looked at by Christ through the Spirit. We are transformed into who we truly are.

To be seen in this way is frightening. It means that our masks are removed and we will be known at our deepest level.

To be seen in this way is freeing. It means that our masks are removed and we will be freed to live as our most authentic selves.