Telling the Beads Bead 18 - Episode 3 Peter and Paul

B18 - E3 Peter and Paul

More and more people came to believe in Jesus through the teaching of his disciples as they spread abroad. They would then send a message to the apostles in Jerusalem to ask them to come and pray for the new converts in each town or city to receive the gift of God’s spirit.

Meanwhile, Saul was still going about his self-appointed task of hunting out all the followers of Jesus he could find and having them imprisoned. He even went to the High Priest in Jerusalem to ask for letters to take to the leaders of the synagogues in Damascus, allowing him to arrest and bring back anyone, man or woman, who had converted to the new faith.

He and his entourage were approaching the city when he was suddenly enveloped in a shaft of light. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul cried out loud, “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus of Nazareth,” replied the voice, “and you are persecuting me. Stand up now and go into the city and you will be told what to do.” Saul's companions had seen the light but hadn’t heard the voice so were completely dumbfounded by what had happened.

When he stood up, he found that he was blind and his companions had to lead him by the hand into Damascus. They found somewhere to stay but Saul was unable to eat or drink anything for three whole days. At the same time, a follower of Jesus named Ananias who lived in Damascus had a dream in which he was directed to go to the house where Saul was staying to pray for his sight to be restored.

He was extremely reluctant to go because Saul’s reputation had gone before him but his doubts were reassured in the dream when he was shown that it was to be through this very man that countless numbers of people would become followers of Jesus. Ananias went to the house and prayed with Saul and not only was his sight restored, he was filled with God’s spirit and asked to be baptised there and then.

As soon as he regained his strength, he began to preach to all the Jewish communities in the synagogues of Damascus, proving to them that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah! After some time, this aroused their anger and they attempted to have him killed but he escaped and returned to Jerusalem. He tried to join the disciples there but they were naturally unsure about him at first but as they began to hear that all his strength and conviction were now directed to spreading belief in Jesus, they came to understand and accept God’s choice.

However, even though Jesus had told his apostles to go out to the whole world and spread his message to all people, it took some time before they came to realise that this also included non-Jewish people. As faithful Jews, they had been brought up to believe that their country was the Promised Land and that they were the Chosen People. Their expectation was that Jesus, as the Messiah, had come to set their own people free.

When Peter had a vision telling him to travel to the town of Caesarea to preach to a man named Cornelius and his family, who were foreigners, this caused great consternation amongst many of the disciples. On his return, they argued with him about it and questioned his actions. Peter took great pains to explain that God was leading them in new directions and they came to realise that the message of Jesus was for everyone who was willing to accept him.

This was something which Saul understood very quickly. He had been born in Tarsus, a town in southern Turkey, and was highly educated in the Jewish religion. He had a wider experience of the world than many of the disciples. This enabled him to grasp the needs of the people in each country to which he and his supporters ventured. On their travels, they approached the Jewish communities first and were accepted by some of them but others would have nothing to do with them, even ill-treating them at times.

The group would then approach people of all beliefs and backgrounds, many of whom came to believe in Jesus. He and his companions set up groups of believers in many places they visited on their journeys. Over time, Saul came to be known as Paul, the great traveller and preacher. Wherever he went, he spread the same message of Jesus. The believers became known as Christians, Christ being the Greek word for Messiah and most of the new converts being Greek rather than Hebrew speakers.

Another early debate concerned the subject of circumcision, a deeply held tradition in the Jewish faith. It had been assumed by many of the original Jewish followers of Jesus that non-Jewish male converts would be circumcised as well as baptised. However, with open discussion and debate on the subject by the apostles and the council of elders of the Church which had by now been formed, Peter gave a long speech to them and, as a result, they were able to provide clear guidelines, stating that circumcision was not necessary for men who chose to be baptised into the Christian faith.

These guidelines were sent by letter to be distributed amongst the communities as the Church began to grow everywhere. Sending letters of guidance and instruction became the practice in the Church as other concerns were raised over the years. Peter and Paul had disagreements at times and Paul was always unafraid to criticise Peter to his face when he thought he was in the wrong so, in this way, disputes were resolved. 

There were periods of peace for the new church, interrupted by periods of further persecution when many disciples were imprisoned and suffered all kinds of punishment. John’s brother, James, was the first of the apostles to be put to death, killed on the orders of Herod but their suffering only seemed to strengthen their faith. Guided by God, they continued to reach out to everyone who came to them. 

The apostles were based in Jerusalem until the year 70 AD when the Roman army destroyed the Temple. Many people fled to other countries, including the early Christians who, over the years, were to suffer great hardship. During his frequent journeys, Paul described being beaten, stoned and shipwrecked as he travelled throughout the countries of Syria, Turkey and Greece, also visiting the islands of Crete, Cyprus, Malta and Sicily, proclaiming the message of Jesus fearlessly wherever he went. 

Both he and Peter were eventually imprisoned and executed in Rome, giving their lives for their beloved Master; Peter, as the rock on which the Church was founded and Paul, as the Apostle to all people. Despite the setbacks they experienced and the mistakes that were made, their faith and leadership were to be shining examples to everyone who was to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.