The Feast of Peter and Paul

The history of Christianity is filled visionaries who dreamt impossible dreams. The story the church is a of ordinary men and women who dared  who live, suffer and die for Christ. The life of the early believers who stood boldly against the existing religious structures, who were ready to be tortured,  and alienated from their own people, who dared to look beyond what was immediately visible, makes the story of Christianity, an ever exciting and inspiring one. One is remembered centuries after his or her death, only when one lives for a cause, only when one lives for God and for others. We remember the martyrdom of great men who lived and died martyrs death for Christ.

The church remembers and honors today apostles, Peter and Paul. Their journeys, contrasting in style, do tell us that God can write straight on crooked lines, God can bring to perfection, his plan, through imperfect humans agents.

During this reflection I would like to focus on the life and journeys of Peter and Paul.

First the person of Peter in the gospel of John

The first chapter of Johns gospel introduces Peter as a person from Bethsaida (Bethsaida in Hebrew means the house of fish). The last chapter of Johns gospel depicts him as the shepherd of his masters flock. Hence the journey of Simon Peter was – journey of an ordinary fisherman to being the shepherd of his masters flock.

John 1,40 introduces Andrew, but he is referred as „Simon’s brother”. Normally one is introduced with reference to the other person, when the other person is known or influential. This implies that Simon was an influential man. What made Simon come to Jesus? It is the words of his brother Andrew who told him, We have found the Messiah. He was probably a practicing Jew, who was like many others was waiting for the Messiah. Hence came to Jesus probably more out of curiosity to see the promised Messiah than to follow him.

John 1, 42 ἐμβλέψας αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν· ἐμβλέψας means “to perceive”. When Jesus met Simon Jesus perceived him and then said  “you are Simon, the son of John- You shall be called Cephas" . The Greek Petrus and Aramaic Cephas mean Rock or bed Rock. Now rock is a theologically significant metaphor and it stands for strength and permanence and a place, where people who are in danger take refuge. In the Old testament God is depicted as the Rock of Israel. Hence when Jesus called him Peter, it implied  that he will be a symbol of courage, refuge for the needy and a sign of divine proximity.

In chapter 6 John presents the profession of Peters faith. This comes at a crucial stage of Jesus ministry, unlike in the Synoptics. At a moment when many of the crowds left him and the Jews were getting hostile towards him, Jesus turns to his disciples and asks do you also want to leave me and go? It was a question about loyalty. Probably that was a moment of chaos, confusion and self-doubt during Jesus’ earthly ministry and there is Peter standing by Jesus’ side saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; One never know whether Peter really understood what he said, but his response was profound and deep.  

If in chapter 6 Peter shows deep understanding of the person of Jesus, in chapter 13, he shows his lack of understanding at the foot washing event. The foot washing event depicts a reversal of roles, as the master humbles himself to be a the feet of his own disciples and as in many cases Peter has an emotional response, outspoken without much thinking. And then at Jesus’ words, he changes his mind and asks him to be fully washed by Jesus. At the foot washing Jesus was dealing at a spiritual realm, Peter was still moving more at an humanly, superficial realm and fails to understand the meaning behind Jesus symbolic action.  

Having said that, one can never deny Peters deep love for Jesus as in the same chapter he says - I am ready to lay down my life for you. That was his commitment to Jesus. There is no greater love than offering one’s own life to one’s friends

In chapter 18 Peter is seen possessing a sword. The person with the sword in a group often had the responsibility to protect his people. When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, he drew out his sword and cut the ear of a soldier. He was ready to fight for his master and stand up against the political powers. One would never know whether Peter all along saw in Jesus not a spiritual Messiah but a political Messiah.

And then in the same chapter comes the crucial moment, where Jesus is captured and all his friends abandoned him and ran away. That was the time possibly Jesus needed someone to say, Yes, He is my friend, I know him. That was a big time. Though Peter did not run away like others but quietly followed Jesus, when questioned, he out rightly denied any association to Jesus. Peter possibly failed at the crucial point not only of Jesus life but also of his own life. That was Peters moment to stand by Jesus, for Peter had once said, he was even ready to lay down his life for Jesus. Probably all that mattered to Peter at that moment was saving his own life.

 Hence all through Jesus’ earthly life,  Peter lived under his shadow. He was more a person going through various emotions, at times unstable and when mattered the most, unreliable with occasional sparks of spiritual depth. He remained more an ordinary fisherman in his heart.

The change in Peter was seen after the resurrection of Jesus. In the final chapter of Johns gospel resurrected Jesus asks Peter three times, Do you love me? the first two times in the Greek text, the verb used is ἀγαπάω and the third time it is φιλέω. ἀγαπάω generally stands for divine love and φιλέω stands for a deep bond or love between true friends. Hence the third time Jesus asks Peter, do you love me like a true friend? Interestingly, Peter in his all three responses uses the φιλέω, implying you will always be loved as a true friend and it is there Peter receives the mission to be future shepherd of Jesus flock.

But after all this the fear for one’s own life still dominated as the religious authorities were still hunting for Jesus followers. It is at the Pentecost, that the early church received its first leader. That was a moment of light, moment of enlightenment for Peter where Peter a shallow rock often tossed about by situations became a solid bed rock and who came out boldly proclaiming Jesus and healing the sick. The story Peter is the story  like the story of a shallow rock in a sea tossed about by every little wave to becoming a rock that was firm and reliable.

 

During this entire journey of Peter, Paul is nowhere in the picture. He never met Jesus in person, no one ever heard of him during Jesus’ life time and yet the greatest contribution to the early church comes from Paul. One cannot imagine what would have been Christianity without Paul. If Peter and apostles were like the hands of the early Christianity, Paul was the brain and the feet, as he had a profound knowledge of the Jewish scriptures and he travelled extensively on missionary journeys.

He was a Greek speaking Jew. He was a student of Gamaliel, a was a well-known teacher of the Jewish Law as Acts chapter 22 says. Saul, was a Pharisee, whom the Law was everything.

For the first time, Saul appears in the 8^th chapter of the Acts of the apostles as a young man who oversaw the stoning of Stephan. Tradition says that he was after the blood of the followers of Jesus as he found them to be a scandal against what he believed all through his life. Saul was powerful as he had people under him as the martyrdom of Stephan suggests.  He believed that it is his responsibility to guard Judaism from so called Jesus, the false prophet and his followers.

 According to the book of Deuteronomy 21:23 :  The one who dies on the wood is cursed. Therefore logically Jesus who died on the cross cannot be the Messiah. Now Christians were proclaiming Jesus the Messiah but he cannot be the Messiah because it is against Gods teaching in Torah.

The world of Saul collapsed when he was on his way to Damascus as he met the same Jesus who was crucified and dead, now resurrected and alive,. It is there that  Paul realized that the law counts for nothing. Jesus is the end of the law and the fulfillment of the law.  Jesus is alive; risen from the dead; So he is not cursed. Which means he has to be the one whom he and his people were waiting for generations, the promised Messiah.

The Damascus experience of Paul is the story of his vocation and is related to his mission. Significance of Paul’s mission is that he was an apostle to the gentiles. Gal 1,15-16  are the key texts to understand his mission. In Gal 1, 15 he says ‘ before I was formed in the womb, God had set me apart to send me to proclaim to the gentiles.(Gal 1:15)  and in Gal 1:16 he says - Paul is not an apostle by human beings but untimely from God through Jesus Christ – commissioned to present the gospel to the gentiles. By saying these words he identifies himself with two prophets - prophet Jeremiah(Jer 1,5) and Deutero Isaiah( 49,1-6).  Jer 1: 5 reads ‘ before I formed you I chose you as a prophet to the nations’.   Is 49, 1-6 reads ‘.... I will give you as a light of the nations.... to bring the good news to the ends of the earth. With these words Paul, identifies himself with the prophets, who were sent to gentiles.

After the Damascus experience he spent around three years in Arabian desert according to Galatians chapter one, probably deepening and understanding his moment of enlightenment. He grew in determination that God was at his side, in his new journey, in his new mission. In Romans 8 Paul exclaims Ist Gott für uns, wer ist dann gegen uns?

A strong and a powerful Paul, having met the risen Lord chooses to be weak as his external powers were taken away, like having soldiers under him; he was now hated by his fellow Jews, who once saw him as their hero. He was held captive and persecuted and often ran the risk of losing his own life but nothing stopped Paul. All that mattered to Paul now was Jesus and his message. Faced with struggles and challenges at every step along with his own personal struggles, Paul does not fail to listen to the voice of the Lord deep in his heart, as 2 Cor 12,9 reads, Meine Gnade genügt dir; denn sie erweist ihre Kraft in der Schwachheit.    

 Paul’s heart was filled with fire of God’s love and determination to proclaim his message to the ends of the earth.

It is good to remember here that Saul was a guardian of the Jewish traditions until his encounter with the risen Lord as he in Galatians chapter 1 says, In der Treue zum jüdischen Gesetz übertraf ich die meisten Altersgenossen in meinem Volk, und mit dem größten Eifer setzte ich mich für die Überlieferungen meiner Väter ein.  

And then the two stalwarts, Peter and Paul, were up against each other at the crucial council of Jerusalem (Apg 15) discussing on the question of circumcision , a Mosaic practice, (circumcision is the symbol of God’s covenant on human body). Until then it was understood that to be a follower of Christ, one should first be circumcised, in other words one should first be converted into a Judaism and then to christianity.

In fact Circumcision was most essential part of the religion that Saul had all along his life believed and yet Paul is here at the council of Jerusalem fiercely fighting against circumcision. He was arguing against the necessity of circumcision as an essential means to be a Christian.

Peter, an deciding authority, at the council of Jerusalem was not a man of small heart. He, having discerned, tells the congregation that God has given the spirit to us and to them (to the gentiles) and God does not make distinction or discrimination. This paved way to the mission to the gentiles which Paul led and he is known to be the champion of Gentiles. The perseverance of Paul and the large-heartedness of Peter opened the doors and windows of the church to everyone. This saved Christianity from being confined to a little Jewish world. The church would never have been the same, without Peter and Paul, facing each other, for the sake of Gods mission.

The lives of Peter and Paul remind us of God and his love for his creation. Will our stories, our lives long after we are gone from this world, remind the generations to come of Gods mighty works or will it remind them of our own personal achievements or will we be easily forgotten with no contribution worth remembering?

As a priest, seminarian, follower of Christ, do I have the deep love for Christ as Peter had and the undying passion to proclaim his message amidst all odds as Paul had?