Peter, James and John on Paul

The evening sun cast long shadows across the courtyard as three men gathered around a small fire. Peter, his weathered hands wrapped around a cup of wine, gazed into the dancing flames. James sat cross-legged on a worn mat, while John, the youngest of the three, leaned against a stone pillar. The warm Jerusalem breeze carried the scent of burning cedar and distant cooking fires.

“Do you remember,” Peter began, breaking the contemplative silence, “when we first heard about Saul’s conversion? Who could have imagined that the man who hunted our brothers and sisters would become such a vessel for the Lord?”

James shifted, his eyes reflecting the firelight. “I confess, I was among the most skeptical. When the reports reached us that he was preaching in Damascus, I thought it was some elaborate trap.”

“As did many,” John added, a slight smile playing across his face. “Yet here we are, years later, marveling at the works God has accomplished through him.”

Peter took a slow sip of wine before continuing. “I’ll never forget when he first came to Jerusalem after his conversion. Barnabas had to vouch for him before any of us would even meet with him. The fear in the believers’ eyes… they couldn’t believe this was the same man.”

“The same man who held the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen,” James said quietly, his voice heavy with memory. “Yet the transformation in him… it was unlike anything I had ever witnessed. The passion that once drove him to persecute us became a fire for spreading the gospel.”

John straightened from his position against the pillar and joined them closer to the fire. “Tell us, Peter, about your first real conversation with him. You’ve never shared the full story with us.”

Peter’s eyes grew distant as he recalled the meeting. “It was in the temple courtyard. I had agreed to meet him there, partly because it was public – I still wasn’t entirely sure of him. But the moment he began to speak about his encounter with the Lord on the Damascus road… brothers, I’ve never heard anyone describe a vision with such clarity and conviction.”

“The way he talks about the Lord,” James interjected, “it’s as if he knew Him in the flesh, like we did. Sometimes I forget he never walked with Jesus during His earthly ministry.”

“Perhaps that’s what makes his testimony so powerful,” John mused. “He encountered the risen Christ in such a dramatic way. There’s no room for doubt in his story – one moment he was breathing threats against us, the next he was struck blind and face-to-face with the very one he was persecuting.”

Peter nodded thoughtfully. “And look at what the Lord has accomplished through him since then. The churches he’s planted, the Gentiles he’s reached… When I received that vision about Cornelius, I began to understand what God was doing with the Gentiles. But Paul – he’s taken that message further than any of us imagined possible.”

“Not without controversy,” James added, his tone measured. “The questions about circumcision, the dietary laws… these aren’t small matters. Yet when he speaks about freedom in Christ, there’s a wisdom there that can only come from above.”

“Remember the report we received from Antioch?” John asked. “How the believers there were first called Christians? It was Paul and Barnabas’s teaching that helped shape that community into something new – not just a sect of Judaism, but a new creation entirely.”

Peter leaned forward, his voice dropping slightly. “I must confess something to you both. When he confronted me in Antioch about eating with the Gentiles, I was angry at first. Who was this former persecutor to rebuke me, one of the original twelve? But he was right. My actions were undermining the very gospel we preached.”

“It takes a humble heart to admit that, brother,” James said, placing a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “But that’s what makes Paul’s ministry so remarkable – he challenges all of us to examine our understanding of God’s purposes.”

John picked up a stick and stirred the fire, sending sparks floating into the darkening sky. “The letters he’s been writing to the churches… they’re already being shared and copied among the believers. There’s a depth to his understanding of Christ that helps us see everything in a new light.”

“Indeed,” Peter agreed. “When he writes about Christ as the fulfillment of the law, or explains the mystery of God’s plan for both Jew and Gentile, it’s as if scales fall from our own eyes. Remember how he described the church as the body of Christ? Such a simple image, yet so profound.”

James rubbed his beard thoughtfully. “What amazes me is his endurance. The beatings, the stonings, the shipwrecks… any one of us might have given up. Yet he counts it all joy to suffer for Christ’s sake.”

“I heard recently about his work in Ephesus,” John shared. “The silversmiths started a riot because so many people were turning from idol worship. The whole city was in an uproar, yet Paul was ready to face the crowd until the believers physically held him back.”

Peter shook his head in amazement. “It reminds me of when he and Silas were imprisoned in Philippi. Instead of despairing, they sang hymns! And then, after the earthquake, they stayed to prevent the jailer from killing himself. That jailer and his whole household came to faith that night.”

“The fruit of his ministry is undeniable,” James acknowledged. “Yet what touches me most is his deep love for our people. Despite all the resistance he faces from our fellow Jews, his heart breaks for their salvation. Remember what he wrote – that he would be willing to be cursed and cut off from Christ if it meant Israel would accept their Messiah?”

“That’s the kind of love that can only come from Christ Himself,” John said softly. “To love those who oppose you, to bless those who persecute you… Paul doesn’t just preach these things, he lives them.”

Peter stood and walked a few paces, looking up at the stars now visible in the evening sky. “Sometimes I wonder… when Jesus told me that I would strengthen my brothers, perhaps He wasn’t just speaking about us here in Jerusalem. Through Paul, the Lord is strengthening brothers and sisters we never knew we had – in Rome, in Corinth, in Galatia, in places we’ve never even heard of.”

“And yet,” James added, “with all his accomplishments, he never boasts except in his weaknesses and in the cross of Christ. When he lists his credentials – a Pharisee of Pharisees, educated under Gamaliel, blameless under the law – it’s only to count them as rubbish compared to knowing Christ.”

“That’s what convinces me more than anything,” John said, “that his transformation is genuine. The proud Pharisee who once tortured confessions from believers now boasts of the very weaknesses that would have horrified his former self.”

Peter returned to his place by the fire. “Do you remember what he said when we discussed his ministry to the Gentiles? ‘By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain.’ Every time I hear of another church planted, another city reached with the gospel, I think of those words.”

“The grace of God…” James repeated thoughtfully. “Who could have predicted that the greatest persecutor of the church would become its greatest advocate? It gives me hope for even the hardest hearts among our people.”

“And not just our people,” John added. “I’m hearing reports of how the gospel is spreading among all classes – slaves and free, educated and unlearned, men and women. Paul’s message about freedom in Christ is breaking down barriers we never thought could fall.”

Peter picked up his cup again, which had long since gone empty. “I think of the burden we once felt, trying to determine how to integrate Gentile believers into the family of faith. Remember our council here in Jerusalem? Paul and Barnabas’s testimony about their work among the Gentiles was crucial in helping us understand God’s broader purposes.”

“Yes,” James agreed. “Their accounts of signs and wonders among the Gentiles confirmed what we had begun to realize – that God was doing something new, something bigger than we had imagined. The old wineskins couldn’t contain this new wine.”

John’s face grew animated as he remembered something. “Speaking of signs and wonders, have you heard about what happened in Troas? A young man fell asleep during Paul’s preaching – he was speaking until midnight, mind you – and fell from a third-story window. They thought he was dead, but Paul went down, embraced him, and the Lord brought him back to life!”

Peter chuckled. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. Long sermons and miraculous signs… that sounds like Paul. But what moves me more are the stories of changed lives. The Thessalonians who turned from idols to serve the living God, the Corinthians whose list of former sins would make anyone blush, now washed and sanctified in Christ…”

“And yet he never loses sight of the cost of discipleship,” James observed. “He’s clear with new believers about the persecution they may face. He doesn’t promise an easy road, but he shows them through his own life that Christ is worth any sacrifice.”

“That’s what makes his ministry so powerful,” John said. “He’s not just a traveling philosopher or a wonder-worker. He lives what he preaches. When he talks about being crucified with Christ, about carrying around the death of Jesus in his body, the believers can see it in his scars.”

Peter’s expression grew serious. “I worry about him sometimes. The last report I received suggested that opposition in Rome is growing stronger. The believers there are under increasing pressure, and Paul seems to be at the center of every controversy.”

“He wouldn’t have it any other way,” James said with a slight smile. “Remember what he wrote? ‘For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.’ He truly means it.”

“Still,” John interjected, “we should continue to pray for his protection. The churches need his leadership, his wisdom. The way he can explain the mysteries of God’s plan, how he connects the promises to Abraham with what Christ has accomplished…”

“Yes,” Peter agreed, “but I think Paul would be the first to remind us that the work doesn’t depend on him. Christ will build His church, with or without any of us. Though I pray we have many more years of Paul’s ministry ahead.”

James stood and added more wood to the fire. “It’s remarkable, isn’t it? Here we sit in Jerusalem, yet through Paul’s ministry, the message we received from Jesus has spread to the ends of the earth. Syrian Antioch, Cyprus, Asia Minor, Macedonia, Achaia, and now even Rome…”

“And not just spread,” John emphasized, “but taken root. Real communities of believers, wrestling with what it means to follow Christ in their own contexts. Paul doesn’t just evangelize – he disciples, he teaches, he returns to strengthen the churches.”

Peter nodded approvingly. “That’s what impresses me most. He could have been content to merely plant churches and move on. Instead, he carries the burden of all the churches daily. His letters show how deeply he cares for their growth, their unity, their faithfulness to Christ.”

“Speaking of his letters,” James said, “I’m amazed at how he can maintain such deep relationships through his writing. The way he addresses specific situations in each church, remembers names, shares his heart… it’s as if he’s present with them even from a distance.”

“And the depth of insight in those letters!” John exclaimed. “When he writes about the mystery of Christ and the church, or explains how the Spirit works in believers, or describes the armor of God – these aren’t just clever ideas. They’re revelations that help us understand our own experiences with Christ better.”

Peter stroked his beard thoughtfully. “You know what strikes me? How he’s able to be both bold and tender. He doesn’t hesitate to confront error or challenge compromise, yet he also calls himself a nursing mother caring for her children when describing his ministry to the Thessalonians.”

“That’s true,” James agreed. “He can move from stern warning to gentle encouragement in the same breath. Remember how he handled the situation with the runaway slave, Onesimus? Such wisdom in how he appealed to Philemon, not pulling rank as an apostle but appealing to love.”

John gathered his cloak closer as the evening air grew cooler. “And his prayer life… the way he constantly thanks God for the believers, how he intercedes for their growth in knowledge and love. His letters give us a glimpse into his heart for the churches.”

“Yes,” Peter said, “and notice how he always points people to Christ, never to himself. Even when he must defend his apostleship, it’s clear his only concern is protecting the integrity of the gospel message.”

James nodded in agreement. “That’s what sets him apart from the false teachers who trouble the churches. They seek followers for themselves, but Paul’s only ambition is to present everyone mature in Christ.”

“Brothers,” John said after a moment of reflection, “do you ever marvel at how God prepared him for this unique ministry? His Jewish heritage and training, his Roman citizenship, his Greek education – all of it serves the gospel purpose.”

Peter smiled broadly. “Indeed! Who better to articulate how Christ fulfills the Law than a former Pharisee? Who better to engage with Greek philosophy than someone educated in their ways? Who better to appeal to Roman justice than a citizen of the empire?”

“Yet he counts it all as rubbish compared to knowing Christ,” James reminded them. “All those advantages he once boasted in, now he sees them only as tools for serving the gospel.”

The fire had burned low now, casting subtle shadows across their faces. Peter stood and stretched, looking out over the sleeping city. “We should thank God for him, brothers. Despite our initial doubts, despite the controversy his ministry sometimes stirs, who can deny that the Lord is working powerfully through him?”

“Amen,” James said solemnly. “And we must continue to support his work, especially in prayer. The opposition he faces is not just from flesh and blood, but from the spiritual forces he often writes about.”

John rose as well, dusting off his garments. “Let’s pray for him now, shall we? For his protection, for his continued boldness in proclaiming the mystery of Christ, for the churches under his care…”

The three men joined hands in the dying firelight, their prayers rising like incense into the night sky. They prayed for Paul’s protection, for his ministry, for the churches he served, and for the advance of the gospel among both Jews and Gentiles.

As they finished, Peter spoke one final thought: “Brothers, I believe that long after we are gone, believers will still be strengthened and encouraged by Paul’s testimony and teachings. The Lord has given him unique insights into the mysteries of our faith that will guide generations to come.”

“May it be so,” James and John responded together.