Did Peter believe Jesus was God?
No. Peter did not believe any such thing. At Matthew 16:15–17 Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was.
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”. Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”
We notice two things here.
- If Jesus was God, this would have been the time to explain this to Peter. But he did not.
- Those things that Peter believed were revealed to him by the Father.
This revelation by the heavenly father did not reveal to Peter that Jesus was God, but that he was the “Son of the living God”.
Also at Luke 9:18-20 it reads, “Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”
Peter knew who God was. Later he said: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
- 1 Peter 1:3
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