The Apostle Peter — Sinai Icon

Byzantine iconographer (6th–7th century) — c. 600 · Encaustic on panel · Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” — Matthew 16:18 (KJV)

About

This wax-painted icon of the apostle Peter survived at Sinai from the sixth or seventh century — half-length, grey-bearded, holding a cross-topped staff, with three small roundels of Christ above him. It is among the oldest portraits of an apostle we possess.

The Meaning

The church kept Peter's face because it kept Peter's witness. The man who denied Christ with oaths stands here restored, staff in hand, a shepherd of the flock he once fled — the icon is a sermon on restoration before it is anything else.

For Us Today

Failure is not the end for a man who returns to Christ. The Peter who wept bitterly became the Peter who fed the sheep — bring your denials to the same mercy (John 21:17).

Image: Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons — the file’s page. Tap the picture to open the full-size original there.