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"Go tell the Disciples AND Peter."  These were our Lord’s words to Mary after his resurrection. Why is Peter’s name mentioned distinctly from the other disciples? Is it because of his supremacy?

It is certain from the Holy Scripture that Simon Peter was one of the first whom our Lord called to be His Disciples and followers. He was bold to execute whatever he knew to be his duty. However, the supremacy or authority of St. Peter over his brethren is nowhere stated by the Lord Jesus Christ, or claimed by St. Peter himself, or accepted by the rest of the Apostles. Let us consider:

1. How did the Lord Jesus Christ regard "supremacy" among the Disciples?
   
   We see that the Lord Jesus Christ was asked this question bluntly and He did NOT say that St. Peter was greater. "Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest." And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors'. But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves" (Luke 22:26). The Lord Jesus Christ placed the Apostles upon an equal level. "So Jesus said to them, Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:27-28).




2. How did St. Peter regard his position among the Apostles?
   
   St. Peter himself did not claim more than an equal position with other officers in the church. "The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed" (1 Peter 5:1-4).
   
   "But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, 'Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.' And he departed and went to another place" (Acts 12:17).




3. How did the Apostles regard "supremacy" among themselves?
   
   The apostles in the subsequent history of the church acted with perfect independence. St. Paul withstood St. Peter to his face "Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed" (Galatians 2:11). If we may judge by the order of the names repeatedly mentioned in the Apostolic lists, St. Paul ranks St. Peter as second in importance to St. James, "And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised" (Galatians 2:9). "On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present" (Acts 21:18). Again, St. James, in summing up the decree which was to be sent to the church at Antioch, gave no precedence to St. Peter, who was then present, but said, "And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, "Men and brethren, listen to me..." (Acts 15:13,19). These words by no means advocate the supremacy of St. Peter. St. Paul also says, "For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles" (2 Corinthians 11:5). And also "for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing" (2 Corinthians 12:11). It is interesting to note that when the Disciples disputed among themselves as to who would be the greatest, (Luke 22:24-27), they seemed unaware that the Lord Jesus Christ had already picked St. Peter. St. Augustine says "He had not the primacy over the Disciples but among the Disciples. His primacy among the Disciples was the same as that of St. Stephen among the deacons."