Examining Peter and Paul's Discovery of the Power of Jesus

Peter and Paul Essay

Peter and Paul are two very different people brought together through the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit. Peter started out as a fisherman by the name of Simon. He discovered Jesus when Jesus walked on water towards him in the middle of a storm. Paul started out persecuting Christians as it went against his own beliefs and the beliefs of Rome. He discovered Jesus after being blinded for three days only to regain his sight after a follower of Jesus had prayed for him.

Peter was a follower of Jesus right from the beginning of Christianity. Jesus decided to change his from Simon to Peter because Peter means “rock”. This signified he would be the rock of the Church. After the death of Jesus, Peter believed the apostles should stay hiding and wait to proclaim the good news. He doubts the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit many times and even denies Jesus. Paul believes he has to take God’s word elsewhere and spread the good news across the world, but Peter tries to tell him to stay more local and let it spread by itself. Paul decides he has to take matters into his own hands and begins preaching right away. He begins to preach openly, but soon after is found out by the Romans and is tied up to be whipped for his actions. Paul manages to escape the whipping and decides to lie low for some time.

Peter was very skeptical of Paul when he first heard Paul wanted to become a Christian. Peter was sure this was just a way for Paul to persecute the Christians easier, but eventually came around and accepted Paul after hearing his story of being blinded. Even after Peter became martyred Paul continued to speak and travel across Europe and the Middle East. After being arrested numerous times Paul decided to appeal to Caesar. This was allowed because he was a citizen of Rome. On his way to Rome he gets into a shipwreck and lands on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. Paul shows the power of the Holy Spirit in Malta by surviving a snake bite. When he finally made his way to Rome he was greeted by many followers. They followed him until he was to Caesar. After meeting with Caesar, Paul met with Mark and explained to him how he thinks he will end up as Peter did. Paul was very accepting of this. It soon came true and Paul was martyred.

Although they started off as enemies, Peter and Paul gave a very strong effort to make peace and accept each other. This would have been hard to do because they both began on opposing sides but the power of the Holy Spirit brought them together and showed them the way. If it was not for them, Christianity may have never gained as much popularity as it has now. These two men made a large effort to follow in Jesus’ footsteps through the power of the Holy Spirit.