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Peter was the main leader from the death of Jesus (around the year 30) to the Council of Jerusalem. Paul then became the main leader of the young Christian movement around the year 50 (after the Council of Jerusalem) because he had the correct understanding of the message of Jesus for the Gentiles. That may sound odd, but usually movements begin with one person or a group of people, and only later do other people fully understand the movement. For example, consider these countries, when they received their freedom, and when their constitutions were written:

• The United States: Became an independent nation in 1776; Constitution ratified in 1789.
• India: Became an independent nation in 1947; Constitution ratified in 1949.
• Kenya: Became an independent nation in 1963; Constitution ratified in 1969; a new Constitution approved in 2010.

The same process happened in Christianity. Peter and the other Apostles traveled with Jesus and began the new Christian movement, but it took Paul (at a later time) to fully understand the message of Jesus. Another way to see this process: Peter played an important role in the development of Christianity and Paul played a different role, just like those who fight to start a country have different skills than those who write the constitution of a country.

In order to fully understand the message of Jesus, though, we have to examine the message of the entire Bible. That means we have to understand how Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Peter, Paul, and the Holy Spirit are connected. And in the process you will understand that Jesus’ message really tied the OT and the NT together and what he meant when he said that he came to "fulfill" the Law and Prophets.

Abraham

God and Abraham formed a Covenant around 1950 B.C. In that Covenant, God told Abraham to begin the practice of circumcision for all baby boys at 8 days of age. God’s people, who became known as the Jews, continued that practice. The Covenant established the people of God (the Jews in the OT).

Moses

Two Cornerstones
• Reminder: the Covenant and the Law were the two Cornerstones of the Old Testament. To Jews in the OT period and into the First Century, these two were sacred and no one was supposed to change them because it formed a complete system. It told people how to join (circumcision for males) and how to live (the 613 rules).

Jesus part 1

By the time of Jesus, the Jews had practiced both the Covenant (with its ruling on infant male circumcision) and the Law for around 1500 years. Jesus was born a Jew, and he was circumcised and followed the Law of Moses. Later, after Jesus was baptized, he began to preach. Jesus preached for about 3 years. In all those years he did not say not to follow the Covenant (and circumcision) and not to follow the Law. The only comment he made about them was in the Sermon in the Mount: Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

When he mentioned the Law, Jews would have understood that this included the Covenant with circumcision as well. But what did it mean to “fulfill” the Law? No one understood while Jesus was alive. We will move on and come back to that later.

Peter

1. Circumcision, if male;
2. Follow the Law; and
3. Believe in Jesus (and to follow his teachings).

This just made sense to Peter. Therefore, Gentiles had to become Jews before becoming Christian. Jesus did not tell the Apostles to stop circumcision and to stop following the Law, and so they didn’t. Jesus did say that he came to fulfill them, but neither Peter nor the other original Apostles really understood what that meant. That was OK at that time because Peter did have one great contribution to the young Christian movement: courage.

Everyone knows people who are courageous, and even people who will do crazy things, but Peter’s courage was beyond that. Here are three stories from Peter’s life to show his incredible courage. (You can skip these three examples if you want to.)

1. Peter and the apostles were with Jesus on the night when he was arrested. Jesus began to pray, and he prayed long into the night. After it was dark, Judas, soldiers, and others approached Jesus to arrest him. Peter had a sword and swung it: he was only able to cut the ear off of one of the servants. But think about it this way: Peter was not a soldier, yet he was willing to attack a group of trained soldiers in the middle of the night with only one sword so that he could protect Jesus. And he was such a terrible swordsman that all he could do was to cut someone’s ear off. Think about it: if someone is standing in front of you, and all you can do is cut off his ear, that shows what a terrible swordsman you are. So Peter was a horrible swordsman, but he decided to defend Jesus anyway. That took a great amount of courage, because Peter probably thought he was going to die fighting to protect Jesus.
2. After Jesus was arrested, he was taken to the house of the High Priest. Peter and John followed. John was probably a teenager at that time and so no one noticed him. The house had a courtyard in the middle of it, and Peter went into the courtyard. Three different people accused Peter of being one of Jesus’ followers, but each time Peter denied that he knew Jesus. Then Jesus looked at Peter and Peter left the house weeping.
• Christians have long used this story to show that Peter denied Jesus at a time when Jesus needed him the most. But this is my question: where were the other Apostles? John was there, but he was young and so was not in considered dangerous. But the other Apostles fled to safety. Only Peter followed Jesus to the house of the High Priest and even went inside to the courtyard in the middle of the house. Yes, Peter did deny Jesus, but at least he was there. That took great courage.
3. After Jesus ascended out of view from the Apostles, they returned to Jerusalem. Think about their situation: their leader (Jesus) had just been crucified, and they probably all thought they were in danger of being arrested and crucified. So their plan was to stay out of sight and not be noticed. Then the day of Pentecost came and many people noticed that they were speaking in tongues. If you think about it from the Apostles’ viewpoint, the worse had happened: they were discovered. What did Peter do? He went out and preached to the crowd. He was probably thinking that he would speak, be arrested, and be crucified, but he spoke to the crowd anyway. Once again that took great courage.

These examples show that Peter had great courage, and that was the quality that the young Christian movement and God needed at that time. Jesus, their leader, had been killed in a gruesome way, and the movement needed someone with an immense amount of courage who would say: “Follow my example: let’s go!” Therefore, Peter had the right quality at the right time. He did not have the full understanding, but he was able to get the movement started. But, from the example at the top, just like a constitution comes after the nation is formed, the proper understanding would appear in the person of Paul 20 years later.

Paul

Think back to the purpose of the Covenant and the Law:

• Covenant: establish the people of God: This is how one joins the people of God. (Circumcision if male.)
• Law: how to live: This is how one is to live after being part of the people of God. (Obey the 613 rules.)

In his writings, and perhaps at the Council of Jerusalem, Paul used Abraham to prove that Gentiles did not need to be circumcised (if male) nor follow the Law of Moses in order to be a Christian. How did he do that? You can answer that for yourself by answering these two questions (think carefully before answering):

1. Did Abraham follow the Law of Moses? No, of course not. How do we know? Because Abraham lived 500 years before Moses. Therefore, Paul pointed out, if a person is to please God like Abraham did, he/she does not need to follow the Law of Moses (which includes the 10 Commandments) but only have faith in God like Abraham did.

2. Was Abraham circumcised before or after he believed in God? He was circumcised after he believed in God. Therefore, Paul would say, all a Gentile needs to do to please God is to believe in God. He said as much in Romans 1:17: "Abraham believed in God and it was credited to him as righteousness [he was pleasing to God]."

Jesus part 2

• Matthew 5:21-22: “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not kill (some translations have ‘murder’),’ and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with is brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca [or you are worthless]’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin [the Jewish court]. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
• Basically Jesus shows here that, not only can we not kill others, but we cannot even think about killing them. The opposite way to express this is that we are supposed to love others. [Remember the parable of the Good Samaritan.]
• Mathew 5:27,28: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
• Once again, Jesus says that now no longer are people not supposed to commit adultery, but they cannot even think about it.

In these two passages, Jesus shows that following the 10 Commandments, and by extension the Law, is no longer sufficient. After him people will be held to a higher standard, that of loving others. When Jesus said he was going to fulfill the Law and Prophets, he meant that he was going to raise the standard or raise the bar. So he did not do away with the Law and Prophets, but he built on them and expected even more from people. But in all fairness, how could he require more of people who came after him than people in the OT?

Holy Spirit

This is possible because of the Holy Spirit. Remember back to a discussion on the Trinity, that the role of the Holy Spirit is to teach. After the time of Jesus, the standard will be raised because the Holy Spirit will teach and remind people how God wants them to live. Jesus mentioned this in John 16:7,8: “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor [meaning the Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness [meaning how to live] and judgment."

Jesus explained that after he left the Holy Spirit would come to those who believe in him. That is how it is possible to not focus on the Law (incuding the 10 Commandments), because the Holy Spirit teaches each believer in Jesus. That is why Christians no longer need to focus on following the 10 Commandments or the rest of the Law: the Holy Spirit teaches them to love everyone and so they don’t need a written law that requires them to do less (love vs. do not kill). This is not to say that Christians should not read the Old Testament, because the nature of God has not changed and the Old Testament describes much of God, but the nature of the relationship between people and God has changed, and so people no longer need or should focus on following requirements of the Law but should lean on following the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Summary